Today we celebrate the groundbreaking of our 10th Team Dayā school. On Monday, June 23, 2025, our group worked with the community of Lambwe in the Dowa district of Malawi to break ground on a new school.
Please consider a donation to the group or to one of our team 2025 Malawi team members. All funds go towards school construction.
Our 10th school is only possible because of our myriad of supporters in the United States and around the world that support our work with financial donations and various expertise including marketing, technology, financial planning and legal assistance.
Our 2025 Malawi team of Michael Benedek, Serge Matta and his son Gabe, Andy Srubias and Jay Sears merit special thanks for all their fundraising work.
Lambwe, Malawi
Our 10th school is in the village of Lambwe, Malawi. With a population of approximately 1,609, Lambwe is an agricultural community dependent on farming – mainly corn, tobacco, soya and peanuts.
The community operates an existing school for grades 1st – 8th with 603 students (298 boys and 305 girls). The children are taught by seven teachers.
The existing school is in poor condition, including one school block (a block is a building with classrooms) that has no roof at all. Team Dayā is funding a new school building with two classrooms as well as a new boys and new girls latrine. It is expected the school will be completed in approximately two months.
Visit to the 2023 M’mbula School
On Friday, June 27, 2025, Team Dayā visited the M’mbula school it funded back in 2023. Team members Riley Jacobson, Davina Kent, Chevan Nanayakkara, Kerri Olson, Nicolle Pangis, Vib Prasad, Lauren Rosen and Jay Sears all worked to raise funds and ground break on this project.
We’ll write about our visit in a subsequent post, but suffice it to say it is always a special day when you see one of our completed schools filled with learners. Wow!
Malawi ’25 Team
Meet our Malawi ‘25 team and please consider supporting them. All contributions go directly to our school building fund. Team members pay all their own travel costs.
Benedek. Mike “The Bricklayer” Benedek joined the team during the depths of the pandemic and immediately started fundraising. The Malawi project will be his fourth Team Dayā school. Beyond being an inveterate travel and supporter of our efforts, Mike is president and CEO of the data marketplace Datonics. Read his first person account from one of our Guatemala projects Mike Benedek on Building Change in Caserío Sector Los Castro. Donate.
Matta. Gabe is a rising senior at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C., where he plays on their nationally ranked varsity rugby team and is a member of the National Honor Society. Outside of school, he enjoys working with kids by coaching youth football, teaching Catholic Faith Formation classes and volunteering with the Young Men’s Service League and the Downs Syndrome Association of Northern Virginia. Donate.
Matta. Serge is the president, Global Ad Sales at LG Ad Solutions. His expertise lies in leading sales teams across industries to meet revenue goals and creating strategic, symbiotic partnerships. Prior to joining LG Ad Solutions, Serge held multiple leadership positions at different companies – he was the CEO at comScore, president of global sales and marketing at GroundTruth, and CEO at video audience and content intelligence provider ICX Media. Donate.
Sears. Jay is the founder and CEO of Team Dayā, Inc. He also operates the local community news site MyRye.com in his hometown. He spent over 25 years at media and technology companies including mastercard, Rubicon Project, Pulsepoint, ContextWeb, EDGAR Online and Wolff New Media. Donate.
Sriubas. Andy was Chief Commercial Officer of OUTFRONT Media (NYSE: OUT) until January 2025. Prior to media, he spent 25 years in the investment banking industry. Andy held Managing Director roles at JPMorgan, UBS, and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, where he provided strategic advice to, and raised capital for, technology, media & telecommunications industry clients. Donate.
Your Support & The Team
Please consider supporting Team Dayā. We cannot build these schools without your support. Example investment opportunities:
- $40,000 Fund an entire school
- $1,000 Paint for a school
- $500 In-country mason during the entire construction of the school
- $250 All the nails, nuts, and bolts to build a roof for the school
Three Ways You Can Help
- Make a Donation Online
- Example investment opportunities:
- $250 All the nails, nuts, and bolts to build a roof for the school
- $500 In-country mason during the entire construction of the school
- $1,000 Paint for a school
- $40,000 Fund an entire school
- Example investment opportunities:
- Spread the Word
- Share our mission with your friends, your company and your industry
- Invite us to speak about our mission to your network
- Follow us LinkedIn, X / Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
- Join the Team & Travel on a School Build
- If you have a combination of fundraising chops, an adventurous spirit and the belief each of us has the capacity to be Building Change, get in touch with us and have a conversation.
Team Dayā 2025 Plans
We are now actively recruiting members for our 2025 groundbreakings. These builds represent our second schools in Nicaragua and Malawi and our third school in Nepal.
Our Team Dayā 2025 school building dates:
Nicaragua, Central America [school completed]
Sunday, February 9, 2025 – Saturday, February 15, 2025
Malawi, East Africa [groundbreaking completed]
Sunday, June 22, 2025 – Saturday, June 28, 2025
Nepal, South Asia
Sunday October 26th, 2025 – Sunday, November 2nd, 2025
2026 Project Dates [available after October 1, 2025]
If you are curious to learn more about joining a build, please reach out to our Head of Recruiting Jaryd Knutsen. Not sure? Watch the documentary Building Change, the Team Dayā Story (8 minute run time), by Kathmandu based filmmaker Shyam Karki of Samson Film Productions.
Thanks again for your continued support,
All of us at Team Dayā
