Meet Edmund: The Expert on the Ground for BuildRight

The Right Person, at the Right Time

When Edmund first met Dorothy in 2024, he had no idea how significant that conversation would become.

By that point, Edmund had spent six years on the ground in Uganda, managing construction and training projects across the country, including in the northwest and in refugee settlements where need runs deep and resources run thin. As Area Manager at Haileybury Youth Trust, he helped triple the organization’s construction capacity over five years, building partnerships with local communities, the private sector, UNHCR, and the Ugandan Government along the way.

He had seen what works in development. And increasingly, he had also seen what doesn’t.

“Over time, I began to feel that nonprofits are often responding to urgent needs with short-term solutions,” Edmund reflects. “There always seemed to be another immediate problem to solve,  food insecurity, shelter, healthcare and the scale of need could feel inexhaustible. Working within that cycle can begin to feel somewhat hopeless, as the underlying issues remain unchanged.”

What became clear to him through those years was straightforward, if not easy: the most meaningful long-term outcome for a family is a reliable source of income. With that, people can meet their own needs, make choices for their future, and reclaim a sense of control over their lives.

That conviction is what brought him to The Market Project.

Building Something Real

When Dorothy and Edmund connected, they discovered they had been looking at the same opportunity from different angles. Edmund had spent years watching Uganda’s construction sector grow. Arua alone is visibly transforming with development projects rising across the city. Uganda has one of the fastest population growth rates in the world, and the infrastructure demand is struggling to keep pace.

“Those selling picks and shovels benefited most during the gold rush,” Edmund notes. “I believe those selling construction materials are equally well positioned in a rapidly developing environment.”

But BuildRight isn’t just positioned to meet market demand. It’s designed to meet it differently.

As Business Development Advisor, Edmund has spent the past year conducting market research, exploring suppliers, customers and products, and developing a comprehensive business plan for BuildRight Construction Services Limited. 

“We want to provide stability to people who have experienced nothing but uncertainty,” Edmund explains. “From the foundation of stable employment, BuildRight will support our employees to build resilience in themselves, their families and their finances.”

Intensive Impact

Edmund holds a Master’s in Conservation Science and Policy from the University of Exeter and the Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification. He has overseen projects funded by UKAID, GIZ and ENABEL. He knows what rigorous, accountable development work looks like, and it’s exactly that standard he’s applying as BuildRight takes shape. 

But when you ask him what kind of impact he hopes to see, he doesn’t talk about numbers. He talks about depth.

He draws a distinction between extensive impact, reaching as many people as possible, and intensive impact, transforming the lives of the people you do reach, deeply and lastingly.

“What I want to see through BuildRight is intensive impact,” he says. “We want our impact to have incredible transformational depth in our employees’ lives, depth that will radiate out through their families, the futures of their children and their wider community.”

This is what sustainable work actually means. A steady job due to demand in the market, money to put children in school, meals on the table and, for the first time, the breathing room to heal. 

The Experts Behind the Work

Your gift helps fund the programs inside BuildRight, the trauma healing groups, the mentors who help guide the employees, and the community that forms around shared meals and shared purpose.

Edmund brings the business expertise to make BuildRight viable. Your generosity brings the programs that make it transformational.

Together, that’s how lasting change gets launched.

Edmund holds a Master’s in Conservation Science from the University of Exeter and the PMP® certification. He and his wife make Uganda their home.

If you would like to make a donation in support of The Market Project’s vital work in Uganda, you can do so here.