FIRESIDE CHAT

Agnieszka Winkler ,
Board of Directors, ADN and other public & private boards

Ms. Winkler currently serves on the Board of ADN, the Board of Directors of Virco (NASDQ), the Board of Trustees of Santa Clara University, the Board of Trustees of the Jesuit School of Theology, the Advisory Board of the Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship and is chair of the Board of Trustees of Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County.

She has served on numerous public and private company boards such as RenoAir, Supercuts, The Cheesecake Factory, and Intertel (all NASDAQ companies), Ascension Health CareNetwork, a private equity funded company, Ascension (a $20B not for profit healthcare system), Iplocks, TeamToolz and Winkler Advertising, (private and VC funded) and many non profit and professional organizations.

Patrick Awuah,
Founder and President, Ashesi University

Patrick Awuah is the Founder and President of Ashesi University, an institution that has gained a global reputation for innovation and transformation. Located in Ghana, Ashesi aims to contribute to a renaissance in Africa by educating a new generation of ethical, entrepreneurial leaders with the critical thinking skills and ethical courage it will take to transform their continent. Over 1600 Ashesi graduates are now working across sectors and countries to tackle some of the continent’s greatest challenges.

Before founding Ashesi University, Patrick worked as a Program Manager for Microsoft where, among other things, he spearheaded the development of dial-up internet working technologies and gained a reputation for bringing difficult projects to completion.

FIRESIDE CHAT

PANEL

Kofi Appenteng

PRESIDENT, AFRICA-AMERICA INSTITUTE (AAI)

MODERATOR

Kofi Appenteng is the President of the Africa-America Institute (AAI), which was founded in 1953 with a mission of promoting enlightened engagement between Africa and America through education, training and dialogue. With more than 15,000 African alumni from more than 50 African countries, AAI has tremendous reach and is a trusted brand.

 

Appenteng has 30 years of domestic and international experience as a corporate lawyer, investment banker and board director. He serves as Chair for Africa at Delphos International and is a senior advisor to The Rock Creek Group.

Stéphan-Eloïse Gras

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DIGITAL AFRICA

SPEAKER

An entrepreneur and a researcher, Stéphan-Eloïse Gras, is the executive director of Digital Africa, a not for-profit initiative and 65M€ fund launched by the French president Emmanuel Macron to support African entrepreneurial ecosystems. Until February 2020, she was the director of Strategic Partnerships in Africa for OpenClassrooms, an EdTech company specialized in lifelong learning and currently the leading online education platform in EMEA. In 2016, Stéphan-Eloïse co-founded Africa 4 Tech, a 72hs training bootcamp that convened 200 world leaders, entrepreneurs, and technologists from across Africa to source, design and code solutions to tackle some of the continent’s most significant challenges.

Diane Saty Kouame

LEADER OF SCHOLARS PROGRAM E-LEARNING INITIATIVE, MASTERCARD FOUNDATION

SPEAKER

Diane Saty Kouame is with the Mastercard Foundation, where she is also leading the Scholars Program e-learning initiative.

 

Before joining the Foundation, Diane was an IT Specialist at Morneau Shepell in Canada. Earlier, she was a Lecturer in Applied Mathematics, Decision Tools, Statistics and Finance at University of Lorraine, France and at 2ie in Burkina Faso.

 

Diane grew up in Ivory Coast. She holds a Ph.D. in Finance from University of Lorraine, a Master’s of Business Analytics from Schulich School of Business (York University) and a Bachelor’s degree in Business from Institut National Polytechnique Houphouet-Boigny of Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast.

Demilade Oluwasina

FACULTY AFRICAN LEADERSHIP UNIVERSITY

SPEAKER

Demilade is an educator and entrepreneur. He works with the African Leadership University as Faculty for International Business & Trade and Entrepreneurship. He is also Programme Lead for the ALU-Alibaba Global E-Commerce Talent Programme and other Digital Economy initiatives. Prior to joining ALU, he was Programme Manager at The Bridge Program, a Change-maker Education Initiative.

 

He started and ran a media/publishing business for more than 5 years before transitioning into Education. He is co-founder of Amplyfy Works, a consumer engagement and marketing agency based in Kigali, Rwanda.

 

He studied for his MBA at the African Leadership University School of Business and holds a Digital Business Transformation Management Certificate.