Sherie Valderrama is the President of Songea’s Kids, an all-volunteer nonprofit organization dedicated to building hope and transforming the lives of orphans and vulnerable children in southern Tanzania. Songea’s Kids supports more than 120 children and their communities in Songea and Hope Village by providing safe shelter, clean water, food, clothing, education, and health care.  

Sherie’s professional career has included leadership roles in both nonprofit and commercial organizations as an international human resource professional. Her experience includes work with a multinational quality-of-life services company, where she led talent acquisition for executive and management-level roles, and developed programs for mentoring, internal mobility, employee engagement, and succession planning.  She also created and directed the recruiting operations for an international development consulting organization that implemented programs funded by the United States Agency for International Development, the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the World Bank. Earlier in her career, she was a volunteer in Tanzania, where she worked on programs to support appropriate technology and women in development. 

Sherie has served on the Boards of Directors of Songea’s Kids and Development Alternatives, Inc.; was a member of the American Culinary Federation Certification Commission, and served on the Advisory Board of the University of Houston Hospitality Industry Diversity Institute. She holds a BA degree in international affairs from George Washington University.