George William Lugalambi — Executive Director
George William Lugalambi, PhD, leads ACME’s work across all its programme areas, with overall responsibility for the centre’s strategic direction, partnerships, and operations.
George brings wide experience in journalism, academia, and international media development. A former journalist and newspaper editor, he spent a decade as an academic at Makerere University before moving into media development work in 2011, leading capacity development projects across Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Myanmar, Guinea-Conakry, and Lebanon. He has also worked as a communication practitioner specialising in social and behaviour change, with assignments in Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Zambia.
He holds a PhD and is a co-founder of the African Society for Social and Behaviour Change.
Yusuf Ziraba — Finance and Administration Manager
Yusuf Ziraba is responsible for the financial health and integrity of ACME’s operations. He oversees financial management, accounting, budgeting, and grants administration, including compliance with the regulations and reporting requirements of ACME’s development partners.
Yusuf brings a strong background in auditing and extensive experience managing the financial dimensions of donor-funded programmes in the non-profit sector. Prior to joining ACME, he worked as a financial accounting specialist with the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda, as a project accountant on the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council’s USAID-funded HIV/AIDS programme, and as an audit assistant with PKF Certified Public Accountants. Across these roles, he developed a thorough understanding of financial accountability in complex, multi-donor environments.
He holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Islamic University in Uganda and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Makerere University Business School. He has also completed part II of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants qualification.
Rachel Mugarura-Mutana — Programme Manager
Rachel Mugarura-Mutana manages ACME’s training programmes and online learning initiatives, and provides strategic direction for the Uganda National Journalism Awards. Her work spans programme design, budget and donor relationship management, cross-team coordination, and results monitoring.
Rachel brings more than two decades of experience in journalism, editorial leadership, training, and programme management. Before joining ACME in 2012, she served as Editor-in-Chief of Uganda Radio Network for six years. Earlier in her career she held roles at Monitor FM, the U.S. Embassy in Kampala, and Media Plus (U) Ltd, working across radio news management, public affairs communications, and broadcast journalism.
At ACME, her focus has been on building the skills and institutional conditions that allow journalists to cover public affairs with greater depth and rigour. She has developed training curricula on data journalism, multimedia reporting, and coverage of specialised subjects including energy, environment and climate change, taxation, land, and sustainable cities.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Daystar University, Nairobi.r
