Directors
The ASSIST is run by a dedicated team of undergraduate students at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
Program Manager
Founders
A native of Granite Bay, Calif., Dennis studied History of Art and Architecture with a focus on architecture at Harvard College, where he also completed his premedical requirements. In his free time, Dennis served as Sports chair for The Harvard Crimson and spent four years reporting on men's basketball. A summer spent working with the Special Olympics South Africa inspired Dennis to return to Johannesburg after graduation to help found the ASSIST. Having graduated from the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, Dennis is now a general surgery resident physician at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Patrick Li
Patrick studied Psychology at Harvard College, where he also directed PBHA's Chinatown Afterschool Program, which provided academic mentoring to underserved elementary school children in Boston's Chinatown community. He combined this experience mentoring children with his love for basketball through the ASSIST. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball, boxing, and of course, watching his beloved Boston Celtics. Patrick is now an internal medicine resident physician at New York University.
Ian Choe
Ian spent his undergraduate years at Harvard College as a student of Psychology. During his time there, he cultivated a wide range of interests, taking a year off to work at Samsung in Seoul, Korea and then at JYP Entertainment in New York, USA. He has loved basketball since he was two years old and has loved learning and education all his life. Ian has experience teaching/mentoring secondary school students in a classroom and has dunked a basketball on a regulation rim.
An enthusiastic, energetic, and driven fourth-year Chemical Engineering student, Busisiwe greatly values education for all. She has been involved with the ASSIST since her first year of study at Wits — first as a mathematics tutor, then as Learner Relations Director in 2016, before taking on her current role as Executive Director. She also conducts research on slow sand filtration systems for domestic use in an effort to address the challenges faced by water-scarce communities. She spends her spare time writing, reading, and singing.