Team Dayā will be groundbreaking a new school in Boof Louloum, Senegal on Monday, November 30, 2026. This is our third school project in Senegal and our fourteenth school project overall.

Our work is only possible with the support of people who join us for school builds and our supporters, over 1,500 strong.

Please consider supporting our work.

Team Dayā’s first two school projects in Senegal were completed in 2022 and in 2024, both in the community of Nguiddine Keur Sara.

“If we had the word that expressed more than thank you, we would use that,” said Chief Khokhan Nolong at a closing ceremony with Team Dayā and Nguiddine Keur Sara community members in 2022. “We pray for you, the way you come in peace here. May you also go in peace in your country.”

“We thank Team Dayā,” said Nguiddine Keur Sara School Principal Coumba Sanou Diouf in 2024. “As a professional in the educational system, if we had more like Team Dayā, we would have got good things in Senegal. I have been teaching for twenty years, but I have never seen a team like Team Dayā work, helping kids have a school.”

The Community of Boof Louloum, Senegal

The community of Boof Louloum is in the Fatick Region, approximately three hours to the east-southeast of the capital of Dakar. The estimated population is 800 including the hamlets of Mbine Coly and Keur Diogoye. The primary economy is subsistence agriculture including millet, peanut, beans, hibiscus, and cattle. Residents are primarily of the Serer ethnic group, speak Serer and Wolof languages and most practice Christianity.

A school serving grades 1 – 3 with 61 students and two teachers was established in 2025. The grade and gender breakdown is:

Grade 1:

Girls 8

Boys 13

Total 21

Grade 2 :

Girls 8

Boys 9

Total 17

Grade 3:

Girls 13

Boys 9

Total 23

The school now uses temporary structures only: one classroom built from millet stalks and pieces of sheet metal, and a second classroom in a grain bank building where the community stores its harvests. Students in grades 4 + walk to Boof Poupouye, a nearby community.

You can see the community location on this map pin.

2026 Senegal Team Members

Heather Carver McWilliams. Heather Carver is chief customer officer at tvScientific by Pinterest and a board member of The Women in Programmatic Network (TWIPN), where she supports its mission to increase women’s pay, power and parity in advertising technology. Her commitment to creating opportunities extends beyond work, from running to support the MS Support Foundation in honor of her mother to joining Team Dayā to help build a school in Senegal. Married for 11 years and a mom to two boys, ages 6 and 9, Heather hopes to lead by example, mentoring others and showing her children the value of showing up, giving back and turning purpose into action. “As a former colleague, I’ve watched Jay Sears go from being a highly respected adtech executive to intentionally using his relationships, credibility, and platform to create real, lasting impact by helping build schools and expand access to education. That evolution has been incredibly motivating to me and has challenged me to think more deeply about how I can give back in a meaningful way. Team Dayā represents a rare opportunity to move beyond writing checks and instead show up, contribute directly, and be part of something tangible. Education is foundational to breaking cycles of poverty, and being able to help build a school alongside a committed community feels like a powerful way to align purpose with action. This project allows me to use my network and energy for good while supporting long-term change where it matters most.” Donate.

Jordan Mitchell. Jordan is a founding member of Team Dayā, Inc. and an alumnus of multiple school building projects. He has spent his career across ad tech including as an SVP at IAB Tech Lab (head of consumer privacy, identity and data), VP product at Rubicon Project and founder, chairman and CEO at Others Online. “I think about the legacy I want to leave. I understand that after I’m gone, it’s not the things I have (or had) that matter; rather, it’s the respect I’ve built for myself in my community and the lives I’ve touched.” Donate.

Marco Sabbi. Marco was introduced to Team Dayā when Isabella, his partner, joined the organization as its first executive director. He works in logistics, but his passion is global politics. “I feel touched and humbled to be able to travel halfway around the world to stand with people who are building their futures. This is something that brings us together as humanity.” Donate.

Isabella Winkler. Isabella is excited to join the team going to build the first permanent school in Boof Louloum as Team Dayā’s first executive director. A former educator with experience in international advocacy, she knows that the most important first step to opportunity for children and the broader community is having a school. “There is something special happening here. By connecting the adtech world to a remote community in Senegal that shares the same values of education, resilience, and hard work, Team Dayā is proving that collaboration can spark generational change.” Donate.

Jay Sears. Team Dayā Founder Jay Sears started the group in 2018 with peers from the technology and advertising industries to fund the construction of primary schools in remote, rural communities in Africa, Asia and the Americas. In addition to running Team Dayā and the local community news site MyRye.com in his hometown, Jay has worked at mastercard, Rubicon Project, ContextWeb, EDGAR Online and Wolff New Media. “LET’S GO! 🧱🧱🧱” Donate.

Team Members from 2022 and 2024

Team members who worked on our Senegal projects in 2022 and 2024 include:

• Hasan Arik (read Hasan Arik on Team Dayā’s Return to Nguiddine Keur Sara, Senegal)
• Michael Benedek (read Michael “The Bricklayer” Benedek on Building (hopefully) the First of Many Schools)
• Jeff Green and the Green family (read and watch Jeff Green Joins Team Dayā’s School Groundbreaking in Senegal)
• Terra Ingalls (read No AC, Manual Labor & A Lot of Joy in Senegal)
• Steve Katelman (read Katelman on Team Dayā, and the Love & Joy of Senegal)
• Jay Sears (read AdExchanger: Meet The Executives Taking A Break From Ad Tech To Build Schoolhouses Around The World)
• Paul Wyrembak (read Finding Joy & Building Change in Nguiddine Keur Sara, Senegal)

Your Support & The Team

Please consider supporting  Team Dayā. We cannot build these schools without your support. Example investment opportunities:

• $50,000 Fund an entire school
• $1,250 Paint for a school
• $625 In-country mason during the entire construction of the school
• $312.50 All the nails, nuts, and bolts to build a roof for the school

Three Ways You Can Help

1. Make a Donation Online
   • Example investment opportunities:
     • $50,000 Fund an entire school
     • $1,250 Paint for a school
     • $625 In-country mason during the entire construction of the school
     • $312.50 All the nails, nuts, and bolts to build a roof for the school
2. 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
3. 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 2027 School Project Dates:

We are now actively recruiting members for our 2027 groundbreakings. 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.

Guatemala 2027

• Sunday, March 7, 2027 – Sunday, March 14, 2027
• Arrival by 2pm on first day, departure after 10am on last day
• Arrive & depart: Guatemala City, Guatemala (GUA-La Aurora Intl.)

Senegal 2027

• Sunday, April 18, 2027 – Saturday, April 24, 2027
• Arrival by 2pm on first day, departure after 10am on last day
• Arrive & depart: Dakar, Senegal (DSS-Blaise Diagne Intl.)

Nepal 2027

• Sunday, November 14, 2027 – Sunday, November 21, 2027
• Arrival by 2pm on first day, departure after 10am on last day
• Arrive & depart: Kathmandu, Nepal (KTM-Tribhuvan International Airport)

Malawi 2028

• Sunday, February 6, 2028 – Saturday, February 12, 2028
• Arrival by 2pm on first day, departure after 10am on last day
• Arrive & depart: Lilongwe, Malawi (LLW-Kamuzu Intl.)

Thanks again for your continued support,

All of us at Team Dayā