AFRICAN DIASPORA INVESTMENT SYMPOSIUM 2023

SPEAKERS

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS AND CONTEXT SETTERS

The Honourable Ms. Mia Mottley

The Honourable Ms. Mia Mottley

Prime Minister of Barbados

The Honourable Mia Mottley is the 8th Prime Minister of Barbados. She became the first woman to occupy the high office, following General Elections on May 24th 2018, in which she led the Barbados Labour Party to an emphatic victory, winning all 30 seats in the House of Assembly by the largest margin ever seen in the electoral history of the country.
An Attorney-at-Law and Queen’s Counsel, Prime Minister Mottley has been active in the political life of Barbados for almost three decades. First elected in 1994 she is presently serving her sixth term as Member of Parliament for the constituency of St. Michael North East.

Travis Adkins

President and Chief Executive Officer, USADF

Travis Adkins is USADF’s 10th President and CEO, effective January 18, 2022. Previously, he served as the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Africa at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Mr. Adkins is also a Lecturer of African and Security Studies at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where he concurrently teaches in the Prison Scholars Program of Georgetown’s Prisons and Justice Initiative. As an international development leader, he has over two decades of experience working in governance, education, humanitarian affairs, and women’s and youth empowerment in over 50 nations throughout Africa and the Middle East.

Monica Shupikai Simmons

Head of Africa – ICON Tech Investment Bank

Monica Shupikai Simmons is Head of Africa at ICON Tech Investment Bank, London. She launched the Africa practice to advise African businesses seeking global investors and acquirers. Monica specializes in fundraising and M&A. She has 20+ years of experience, including senior roles at Deloitte and PwC in New York and London. Monica is passionate about supporting founders. She mentors at Europe’s leading incubator, SETsquared and teaches at Foundervine and IFC SME Ventures. Monica, a native of Zimbabwe, has an MBA from the University of Oxford, a bachelor’s from the University of Cape Town and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

Patrick Awuah

Founder & 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.

Kaye-Anne Greenidge

Chief Executive Office, Invest Barbados

Kaye-Anne Greenidge is the Chief Executive Officer of Invest Barbados, the national investment promotion agency of the Government of Barbados. She assumed this leadership role effective September 2019. Kaye holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Accounting, as well as a Master of Science in Business and Financial Economics. An Economist by training, she worked as a Senior Economist in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs until 2007. Desirous of learning all aspects of Business and Finance, she then entered the world of banking and credit. During her twelve-year stint in banking, the former executive banker managed an extensive portfolio, providing financial and investment solutions to players in a wide range of industries.
Iyinoluwa Aboyeji

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji

CEO and General Partner of Fund for Africa's Future (Future Africa)

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji is currently the CEO and General Partner of Fund for Africa’s Future (popularly known as Future Africa), Africa’s largest seed stage investor which has invested millions of dollars into over hundred startups across Africa. Prior to that, he co-founded Flutterwave, a billion-dollar global payments platform connecting African businesses and individuals to the global economy and served as its Founding CEO from May 2, 2016, to October 5, 2018. In those years, he led the company to become one of the fastest growing payments technology businesses of all time, processing over $2 billion across over 50 million transactions.

Mary-Ivy Mbayah

Global Innovation, EY Sustainability

Ivy is a Technology Consultant with 8 years of experience at Ernst & Young LLP. She currently works on the Global Innovation and Global Sustainability teams, managing the strategic ESG investment portfolio across Asia Pacific, Europe & Middle East, and the Americas. Prior to this role, Ivy advised leading US banks on sustainable finance and climate risk management. She leads EY’s Americas-Africa Market Network (AAMN), an affinity group focused on being the pre-eminent connector and influencer in the EY US and Africa marketplace ecosystem. Prior to joining EY, Ivy worked in global wealth management at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, editorial finance at the Financial Times in London, and communications at the Coca-Cola Foundation in South Africa.

Stephen Gelb, PhD

Senior Research Associate, ODI

Stephen Gelb is a Senior Research Associate at ODI in London. He has a PhD in economics and forty years of research and policy experience in South Africa and a dozen other countries. He grew up in South Africa and studied in Canada, where he was also an activist in the anti-apartheid movement. In 1984 he returned to South Africa, where he was an economic policy adviser to the trade union movement, the mass democratic movement, and the ANC when it was unbanned in 1990. After democratic government was established in 1994, he advised President Mbeki and the ministers of finance and of trade and industry on macroeconomic and international economic policy.
Latanya Mapp Frett

Latanya Mapp Frett

President and CEO, Global Fund for Women

Latanya Mapp Frett is President and CEO of Global Fund for Women and serves on the Board of Directors for Global Fund for Women and Global Fund for Women UK. As a feminist fund, Global Fund for Women offers flexible support to a diverse group of partners – more than 5,000 groups across 175 countries so far – to create meaningful change that will last beyond our lifetimes. Previously, she was the Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Global, the international arm of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, with regional and country offices in Africa and Latin America.
Amadou A Sall

Dr. Amadou A Sall

CEO, Institut Pasteur de Dakar in Senegal, Director, WHO Collaborating Center for Arboviruses and Viral Hemorrhagic Fever

Dr. Amadou A Sall is the CEO of Institut Pasteur de Dakar in Senegal and director of the WHO collaborating center for Arboviruses and viral hemorrhagic fever. He has been chairman of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network and a member of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation (CEPI) Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Sall is a virologist with a Ph.D. in Public health. He is an expert in epidemics response and control, more specifically for arboviruses and viral hemorrhagic fevers (Ebola, Zika, Yellow fever…). He is a member of several expert committees for WHO (GOARN, TDR, SAGE, STAG-IH…) and OIE. Dr. Sall is the co-chair of the COVID-19 laboratory technical working group of the Africa Center for Disease Control and a member of the task force for COVID-19 in Senegal.

Senator Warner

Honorable Senator Warner, U.S. Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia

Sen. Warner was elected to the U.S. Senate in November 2008 and reelected to a third term in November 2020. He serves as Chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence and as a member of the Senate Finance, Banking, Budget, and Rules Committees.
During his time in the Senate, Sen. Warner has established himself as a bipartisan leader who works across the aisle to accomplish real solutions for Virginians. He has served as a key author and negotiator of several pieces of critical legislation aimed at rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, improving cybersecurity, restoring domestic manufacturing, protecting national security, rebounding from the COVID-19 crisis, and investing in underserved and underbanked communities.
Motaz Attalla

Motaz Attalla

Senior Program Officer, Engagement, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Motaz Attalla is Senior Program Officer, Engagement on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s North America team, where he supports the Foundation’s partnerships with civil rights and diaspora organizations. Previous areas of work have included environmental health, climate change and systems change philanthropy in the United States, as well as education reform in his native Egypt.
Innocent Shumba

Innocent Shumba

US-West EY Private Leader and Assurance Partner, Ernst & Young

Innocent Shumba is a member of EY’s Assurance practice and has diverse accounting and auditing experience. He is involved in several organizations, including the EY Black Professional Network, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Certified Fraud Examiners, Institute of Internal Auditors and the National Association of Black Accountants
Mohy Omer

Mohy Omer

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

Master of Ceremonies

Yohannes Assefa

YOHANNES ASSEFA

Director of Market Systems, DT Global, Inc.

Yohannes Assefa is an experienced international development professional with senior management experience spanning over 25 years of experience in the United States and Africa. Mr. Assefa served as Chief of Party, Director, Senior Technical Adviser and consultant on various donor funded projects in 16 African countries. Mr. Assefa served as Chief of Part of the USAID-funded Ethiopia WTO Accession Plus Project, Country Director/CoP for USAID Market Systems for Growth and was Senior Technical Advisor during the establishment of the Ethiopian Commodities Exchange (ECX). He is currently the Director of Market Systems for DT-Global, an international development consulting firm.

Panelists

Stacy Amity Feld

Regional Head, Johnson & Johnson Innovation,West North America

Stacy is the Regional Head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, West North America, Australia & New Zealand, and is based in South San Francisco, California. In this role, she leads a team of scientific and business leaders to build, advance, and manage a portfolio of co-investments and collaborations spanning the pharmaceutical, consumer health, and medical device sectors. Stacy is also responsible for expanding and nurturing the external networks within the innovation community, including academia, venture capital, entrepreneurs, and other governmental and private organizations. Stacy has 25 years of diverse business experience translating innovative science and technology into transformative commercial solutions for patients and consumers.

Romi Bhatia

Senior Finance and Investment Advisor, USAID

Mr. Romi Bhatia is the Senior Finance and Investment Advisor for USAID’s Africa Bureau focused on the implementation of its Africa Trade and Investment (ATI) Program. Mr. Bhatia has worked for the past 20 years in the international development and finance field with a focus on microfinance, small business development, and mobilizing private capital for development. During his 7-year span at USAID, Mr. Bhatia has also served in roles as the Sr. Advisor for Diaspora Engagement and Africa Team Lead for the former Office of Development Credit. Mr. Bhatia also served as a Senior Credit Analyst for the U.S. Development Finance Corporation prior to his return to USAID in 2022. Mr. Bhatia was a Fulbright scholar in India with SKS Microfinance (2001) and received his Master’s Degree in International Finance and Business from Columbia U (2004).

Abiola Afolayan

Co-Director of Bread for the World’s Policy and Research Institute

Abiola Afolayan is Co-Director of Bread for the World’s Policy and Research Institute. She advances global food security by utilizing her background in international development, policy, law, academia, and women’s empowerment. She is an adjunct Professor of Gender, Conflict, and Security at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, in Washington D.C, and has lectured at Temple University School of Law, International Law Program in Rome, Italy. As a thought leader, she has been invited to keynote on the theme “Integrating Gender, Youth, and Social Inclusion in Dryland Agri-Food Systems” at the international conference on “Innovations to Transform Drylands” held at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics.
Hanane Chaibainou

Dr. Hanane Chaibainou

CEO and Founder, Biotessia

Dr. Hanane Chaibainou’s passion for social work led her to become the President of Association Nahda for Education and Development in rural Morocco focused on supporting women and children in underserved areas. Dr. Hanane Chaibainou is now the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Biotessia, S.A., based in Casablanca, Morocco. As soon as Dr. Chaibainou is done seeing neurosurgical patients, she is fully dedicated to Biotessia. The company is centered around access to all diagnostic and genetic testing, oncology and biosample collection in rural and underserved populations in Morocco with the vision to make Point-of-Care testing faster, cheaper, and accessible to all patients.

Josh Ghaim, Ph.D.

Founder and Managing Partner, Ignite Venture Studio; Board Chairman, African Diaspora Network

​​Josh Ghaim is the Founder and Managing Partner of Ignite Venture Studio, a new brand and innovation accelerator focused in the Health and Beauty markets as well as investments and support of Women and Minority led start-ups. Prior to his new venture, Josh was the former Chief Technology Officer of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health.

Emma Andrews, Pharm.D.

Vice President, Global Patient Advocacy, Pfizer

Emma Andrews, Pharm.D., is Pfizer’s Vice President, Global Patient Advocacy, leading the organization’s work to embed the patient perspective across all of Pfizer’s efforts – from bench to bedside, and beyond. A registered pharmacist, Emma is passionate about helping people live longer, healthier, and more productive lives. In her current role, Emma works with internal and external stakeholders to advance patient-focused programs across the enterprise. Emma joined Pfizer in 1999 and has held a variety of positions in Operations, Research, and Strategy. Most recently, Emma was Senior Director US/Global Medical Affairs Team Lead for the Women’s Health Franchise.

Eric V. Guichard

Founder and CEO, Homestrings

Eric V. Guichard is founder and CEO of Homestrings, a diaspora investment and research platform. Prior to Homestrings, Eric founded GRAVITAS Capital, a boutique institutional asset management company with $1.5 billion under advisory. Prior to his stint in the private sector, Eric was Portfolio Manager at the World Bank. Eric has advised the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, The World Bank, and USAID on diaspora investment engagement matters. He has published research papers on connecting remittances to development finance in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka for the Asian Development Bank.
Dr. Josephine Fubara

Dr. Josephine Fubara

Chief Science Officer, Consumer Healthcare; Sanofi

Dr. Josephine Fubara is the Chief Science Officer for Sanofi’s Consumer Healthcare business, where she leads a global team responsible for managing the organization’s end-to end science agenda and operations spanning five categories covering pain care, allergy, digestive wellness, cough, cold & flu, and physical & mental wellness, representing over €5.0 billion (2022) of business. Josephine is a purpose-driven leader, building high-performing teams and delivering impactful everyday health & well-being for consumers & patients  around the world, with the goal to make self-care simple and bring health in their hands.
Shasha Jumbe

Shasha Jumbe

Co-Founder and CEO, Level 42AI

Shasha has led big data initiatives at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, advanced drug development through modeling and simulation at Roche, Genentech, and Amgen, and co-founded Level 42 AI, Inc. Level 42 AI, Inc’s mission is to follow nature’s instruction to unveil and interpret functional health information hidden in plain sight and in “noise” for actionable insights. Level 42 AI software-defined hardware captures broad frequency, low amplitude human health information traditionally discarded as “noise” at accuracy and densities required for Level 42’s novel structured machine learning edge inference tools for real time actionable insights and lifestyle modification coaching.

Mary-Ivy Mbayah

Global Innovation, EY Sustainability

Ivy is a Technology Consultant with 8 years of experience at Ernst & Young LLP. She currently works on the Global Innovation and Global Sustainability teams, managing the strategic ESG investment portfolio across Asia Pacific, Europe & Middle East, and the Americas. Prior to this role, Ivy advised leading US banks on sustainable finance and climate risk management. She leads EY’s Americas-Africa Market Network (AAMN), an affinity group focused on being the pre-eminent connector and influencer in the EY US and Africa marketplace ecosystem. Prior to joining EY, Ivy worked in global wealth management at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, editorial finance at the Financial Times in London, and communications at the Coca-Cola Foundation in South Africa.

Ermias Kebreab

Associate Dean and Professor of Animal Science, University of California, Davis

Ermias Kebreab is Associate Dean and Professor of Animal Science at the University of California, Davis. He holds the Sesnon Endowed Chair in Sustainable Agriculture. He conducts research in animal nutrition, mathematical modeling of biological systems and impact of livestock on the environment. He is contributing author to the 2019 IPCC update on enteric methane emissions. Ermias co-chaired the feed additive and methane committees of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN. He has authored over 250 peer-reviewed articles and received several awards, including Excellence in Ruminant Nutrition and International Agriculture from the American Society of Animal Science and the 2022 Chancellor’s Innovator of the year award.

Almaz Negash

Founder and Executive Director, African Diaspora Network

Almaz Negash is a recognized thought leader and sought-after expert on entrepreneurship, innovation, and investment for international markets, especially high growth African and Diaspora. Leveraging 25 plus years of experience in international trade, business management, and social innovation, Negash is able to build successful partnerships with a variety of stakeholders, including Fortune 500 companies, academic institutions, investors and entrepreneurs based in the USA and around the world. As a result, she is named as one of the 100 outstanding Silicon Valley Women of Influence for her work in social innovation. In 2010, Almaz founded African Diaspora Network (ADN) to inform and engage Africans in the diaspora and facilitate direct collaboration with social entrepreneurs, innovators, and business leaders to invest and improve the lives of everyone on the continent.

Sid Mofya

Executive Director, Draper Venture Network

Sid Mofya is the Executive Director of the Draper Venture Network, a global consortium of 20 venture capital firms investing in early-stage technologies across the globe. In this capacity, he serves as an advisor to firms that invest in technology companies across the globe. He also co-founded DVN’s Draper Round Table – a platform for aggregating capital for co-investment into top Web 3 companies from the Draper Network’s global portfolio. A Zambian native, Sid Mofya’s previous work includes strategy, finance, and operations roles with Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Royal Dutch Shell, and the UK Ministry of Justice. He is a member of the Kauffman Fellows, one of the premier investment networks in the world.

Hugh Molotsi

Founder, Ujama Inc.

Hugh Molotsi is the founder and CEO of Ujama Inc, the makers of Soko, the farmers’ market app that makes it easy to discover farmers’ markets near you and connect with their sellers. Hugh is a seasoned product and technology leader with over 30 years of experience including 22 years at Intuit where his last position was VP of Innovation and Engineering Fellow. Hugh is an accomplished innovator and has helped launch several disruptive products. He has expertise in leadership development and digital transformation and has led diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Stella Opoku-Owusu

Co-Executive Director, AFFORD

Stella has over 20 years’ experience in the development sector at community, national and international levels, working with diaspora communities. She has extensive experience and knowledge of diaspora, migration and development, in policy and practice. Stella is responsible for overseeing AFFORD’s work on Diaspora Investment, Enterprise and Employment. She also oversees AFFORD’s engagement with Diaspora & Migrants, Network Building and Training. She was nominated Co-Chair for the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD – Quito) Civil Society Day 2019. Stella has provided expertise to governments on diaspora engagement policy through consultancy, training programmes and speaking engagements. In 2022, she was selected as a Steering Committee member of the UN’s Migration Multi-Partnership Trust Fund.

Dr. Martin Russell

Founder, Global Diaspora Insights

Martin completed his PhD at the Clinton Institute (University College Dublin), where his research focused on strategic diaspora engagement in areas such as diaspora media, diaspora philanthropy, and diaspora politics. He is the founder of Global Diaspora Insights, which provides advisory, research, policy, and training on diaspora engagement through its in-house expertise and network of global experts. He was also a visiting fellow at the United Nations University in Maastricht and currently sits on the Advisory Board of Ireland Reaching Out, which is a volunteer-based, non-profit initiative that connects people of Irish heritage with their place of origin in Ireland. He is also an advisor at The Networking Institute, and in collaboration with colleagues at the Institute, he has worked in approximately 30 countries on diaspora engagement.

Darius F. Teter

Executive Director, Stanford Seed

Darius Teter, executive director, is leading Seed’s growth and expansion, building upon the success achieved since its inception in 2011. Before joining Stanford Seed, Teter served as vice president of global programs at Oxfam America, where he oversaw regional development and human rights programs in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, humanitarian response to natural disasters and conflict, and managed the research, learning, and evaluation teams. His experience spans the field and geography of international development, from financing infrastructure megaprojects to advising governments on economic policies. Prior to Oxfam, he held leadership positions with the Asian Development Bank, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, an independent U.S. government foreign aid agency.

Dana Weeks

CEO, MedTrans Go

Dana Weeks is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of MedTrans Go. MedTrans Go is a B2B healthcare appointment optimization platform solving the $150B problem of medical appointment cancellations in the US. Their tech-enabled portal provides healthcare facilities access to a customizable suite of services to address the root causes of their cancellations in one easy-to-use, integrated digital platform. Dana previously led several entrepreneurial ventures and held leadership positions at Pfizer, AT&T, and the Black Angel Tech Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization she co-founded to support and increase the number of underrepresented minorities in technology.

Dr. Kwasi Boahene

Director Health Systems, PharmAccess Group

Kwasi Boahene is Director of Health Systems at PharmAccess Group. He is a champion of sustainable financing and innovations of African health and development systems for the past 3 decades. Dr. Boahene believes that with good governance, sustainable investments and innovations, everybody in Africa, irrespective of their wealth, can have access to better care. The work of PharmAccess has received many international recognitions, including G20 SME Finance Challenge Award 2010 (received from President Obama), Saving Lives at Birth Award (2014) – a global call for groundbreaking solutions to infant and maternal mortality, Financial Times/IFC Transformational Business Award in Health (2016, 2017) and Commonwealth Digital Health Awards for Maternal Health (2020).

Prof. Kevin Chika URAMA, FAAS

Acting Chief Economists/Vice President for Economic Governance & Knowledge Management, African Development Bank Group

Kevin Chika URAMA, FAAS is currently the Acting Chief Economists/Vice President for Economic Governance & Knowledge Management, African Development Bank Group. He is also the Senior Director of the African Development Institute at the African Development Bank Group, responsible for shaping and leading the bank-wide capacity development in the Regional Member Countries (RMCs) to accelerate delivery of the High 5 priorities of the Bank, the 2030 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Agenda 2063. Prof. Urama is an elected Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS); a Distinguished. Professor of the University of Nigeria; an Extra-Ordinary Professor in the School of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University, South Africa; an Adjunct Professor at the Sir Walter Murdoch School of Public Policy and International Affairs, Murdoch University, Western Australia, and an Expert Partner of the Africa Progress Group Chaired by Former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Chris Folayan

Head of International Growth, Interswitch

Chris Folayan is the Head of International Growth at Interswitch (North America) an African born multi-billion dollar fintech business. Chris is an award-winning serial-entrepreneur who has started, built and exited multiple multi-million dollar businesses globally. He was recently named one of Africa’s most influential people in 2022. Born and raised in Nigeria, Chris started his first company before he turned 8 years old and has been passionate about building businesses, fund raising, mentoring and expanding companies globally ever since. Chris is an author, mentor, inventor, public speaker, and sits on several global boards. A graduate of San Jose State University Chris is an out of the box thinker always looking to help everyone succeed.
omolara

Omolara Awoyemi

Co-Founder and Operating Partner, Fast Forward

Omolara is a Nigerian technology executive and investor who co-founded and serves as an Operating Partner at Fast Forward, an African impact venture studio and early-stage fund that aims to drive prosperity through technology. Previously, she worked as a Senior Program Manager at Facebook (Meta), served as the Managing Director at SureGroup, Nigeria and Kenya’s leading provider of retail, corporate gift cards, and reward solutions, and was the founding Managing Director of Jumia Pay, where she was also head of partnerships for the Jumia Group. With an MBA from MIT and a Bachelor’s in Computer Science, Omolara is an Obama Foundation Fellow and a judge for the Ali Baba Africa Fellowship.
Stephen Ozoigbo

Stephen Ozoigbo

Senior Director for Emerging Economies at Arm

Stephen Ozoigbo is the Senior Director for Emerging Economies at Arm. He leads regional strategies around business development, technology, and ecosystem engagement activities across Arm’s multiple lines of business in South America and Africa. He also supports Arm’s Sustainability strategies across industry and partner networks, including government, education, and impact stakeholders within the emerging digital economies.

Olivia Lynch, Ed.D

Education Coordinator, The Africa America Institute and Independent Educational Consultant

Dr. Lynch’s experience as an educator in New York and California is multifaceted, having served as a teacher, principal, director, superintendent, leader of educational organizations, professor of education, and educational consultant. Dr. Lynch deeply believes and knows that education is key to promoting positive life outcomes for all students. She received her B.A. from New York University, her M.A. from Adelphi University, her principal and district leadership certificates from The City College of New York, and her Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) from Mills College. She was also the recipient of a Revson Fellowship from Columbia University. Her research, presentations, workshops, and writing focus on school creation and innovation, educational leadership, culturally responsive curriculum and teaching, English Language Learners, and urban education.
Nicholas M. Bassey

Nicholas M. Bassey

Deputy Vice President, Congressional and Public Affairs, Millennium Challenge Corporation

Nicholas M. Bassey is Deputy Vice President for MCC’s Department of Congressional and Public Affairs, where he works to strengthen relationships with Congress, NGOs, businesses, government officials, and the U.S. public. His portfolio includes the planning, implementation, and oversight of domestic and international communications, media relations, events, and digital and outreach strategies, as well as nurturing strategic relationships with key partners. Mr. Bassey previously served as Division Chief for Private Sector Engagement (PSE) Institutional Capacity in the U.S. Agency for International Development’s PSE Hub. There, he fostered strategic alliances to enhance the Agency’s capacity to leverage private sector resources for international development.
Agnieszka Winkler

Agnieszka Winkler

Founder, Winkler Group; Board Member, African Diaspora Network

Agnieszka has held numerous leadership positions as founder of two companies, Winkler Advertising and TeamToolz until they were acquired and on boards of directors of public and private companies such as RenoAir, SuperCuts, Cheesecake Factory and numerous not for profits such as Ascension Health, Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County, the board of trustees of Holy Names University. She currently serves on the board of African Diaspora Network, the Executive Committee of the Board of the Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship at SCU, as a Trustee of Santa Clara University and is Chair of the Board of Directors of the Jesuit School of Theology. She has a deep interest in building more equitable societies through social impact enterprises.
Sr. Juunza Christabel Mwangani

Sr. Juunza Christabel Mwangani

Emerging Farmers Initiative

Sr. Juunza Christabel Mwangani is one of the Religious Sisters of the Holy Spirit, a congregation of women based in Zambia whose charism is “Dedication and openness to the personal action of the Spirit continuing Christ’s mission.”
Sr. Juunza has been a Religious Sister for 20 years. She currently serves as Senior Hospital Administrator at Monze Mission Hospital, where she coordinates and supervises all the non-clinical departments and manages all developmental and income-generating activities of the Hospital. She has served at this facility for the past 16 years.
Sister Juunza is one of the founding members of the Emerging Farmers Initiative, while serving as the congregation’s councilor for finances, projects manager, and executive secretary for the Sisters Blended Value Project. She completed the Start Your Social Enterprise training and is recognized by ADN as one of the 2022 Builders of Africa’s Future.
Clarence George III, Ph.D.

Clarence George III, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Pan African Studies Program, Department of Ethnic Studies, California State University, Sacramento

Dr. Clarence George III’s research focuses on Afrocentric pedagogy and African historiography. In addition to the study of Afrocentric pedagogy, Dr. George III has a strong concentration in the study of classical civilizations such as the early civilizations of the Great Lake region of central Africa and early Nile valley civilizations. Dr. George III holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies from Sacramento State University, a Master’s degree in Ethnic Studies from San Francisco State University, and received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University in the Department of African American and African Studies. He is also a member of the Ankh Maat Wedjau honor society.
Philip Clay

Phillip L. Clay

Professor and Former Chancellor

Phillip L. Clay, Ph.D. is the former Chancellor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Professor of City Planning. He served as Chancellor from 2001 to 2011. He was a Founding Director and Vice-Chair of the MasterCard Foundation Board, 2007-16. Professor Clay is active in higher education. He is an Advisor to the Africa-American Institute and is a Trustee of the Aga Khan University with campuses in East Africa and South Asia. Professor Clay has an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Johannesburg. Professor Clay resides in Boston.

Caleb Edwards,

Co-Founder and CEO, Wami Agro Limited

Caleb Edwards is a self-motivated and success-driven business development manager with 12+ years of experience in solution-selling and new business development across financial services, logistics, fintech, and construction industries. He is a founding member of Wami Agro Limited, an AgTech company with a mission to deliver tech-enabled solutions to secure sustainable sourcing, improve farmer quality of life, and protect the environment. He is a focused senior management executive with exceptional planning and implementation capabilities.