User:Smart.baitani

Smart Baitani:

Smart Baitani was born and raised in Bukoba, Tanzania, in East Africa. He began singing in the Sunday school of his church as a child, and his peers and teachers recognized him as a natural leader and talented musician from an early age. At age 9 he was already directing a choir. Despite lacking formal training in music, Smart was put in charge of his youth church and school choirs as director due to his exceptional talent and leadership.

Smart was the choir leader of a nationwide organization called The Christian Students' Fellowship of Tanzania, also known by its Swahili acronym as UKWATA. He taught his choirs the songs he composed and those he had learned from his friend, Israel Kagaruki, a talented blind man in his village.

Throughout his life, Smart has found music to be the most powerful tool in transforming people’s lives socially, spiritually and economically. Smart argues that music, as a cultural force, can inspire, bring people together and encourage individuals towards positive change.

In 1998, Smart enrolled at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, to pursue Computer Science and music studies. While in Iowa, he regularly visited the Twin Cities to direct the Swahili Choir. He now divides his time between in Minneapolis and Bukoba, Tanzania where he oversees COSAD operations and co-directs several choirs in Tanzania—including Imuka Singers, and continues to co-direct the Swahili Choir when he is in the Twin Cities.

Smart holds a BA in International Relations and Communication from Dar es Salaam University, Tanzania and an MBA degree from Minnesota. Combining his knowledge of the business world and love for singing and choral music, Smart co-founded a nonprofit organization called COSAD. COSAD’s main goal is to create in Tanzania, The COSAD Center for Enterprise and Community Development, whose mission is to help community groups, and hard working, talented, and creative individuals develop a vision for their own futures and become productive citizens. Driving this ambition is Smart's strong community values, love for music, and deep compassion for underdeveloped populations. Until 2007, before committing his full time to COSAD as Executive Director, he worked as a banker at Northeast Bank in Minneapolis for seven years.

In May 2010 Smart partnered with Silicon Valley investors in California and Minnesota professionals to form Imuka, LLC, a marketing and technology company that promotes values and cultural creativity of the East African communities through music and social enterprise development. As Chairman and CEO his strategic mandate is to oversee Imuka investments and partnerships transformed into economic opportunities for the people of East Africa.

See more about Smart’s Vision and Work at: www.cosad.org or www.cosad.ca | www.Imukasingers.com