Waswa Balunywa, PhD.
Professor Waswa Balunywa is presently the Principal of Makerere University Business School (MUBS). MUBS is an institution affiliated to Makerere University, one of the leading Universities. He is a Professor of Entrepreneurship and has a PHD in entrepreneurship from the University of Sterling in the UK. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Masters of Business Administration, both from the University of Delhi. He has taught, researched and published in areas of Entrepreneurship, Strategy, General Management and Change Management. He is and has been a member of various Boards of Directors of various organizations including the Uganda’s Central Bank, Madhavani group, Uganda Airlines and several educational institutions.
Albert G. Zeufack
Chief Economist, Africa
Albert Zeufack, a Cameroonian national, is the World Bank’s Africa Region Chief Economist. He joined the World Bank in 1997 as a research economist in the Macroeconomics Division of the Research Department. Since then, he has held several positions in the East Asia and Pacific region, as well as in the Macroeconomics and Fiscal Management Global Practice with a particular focus on Africa, Europe and Central Asia.
Zeufack’s main research interest is in the micro-foundations of macroeconomics. Prior to his appointment as Chief Economist, he was Practice Manager in the Macroeconomics and Fiscal Management Global Practice and leader of the World Bank-wide Community of Practice for the Management of Natural Resources Rents, a group interested in sovereign wealth, fiscal rules, public spending patterns, and macro-modeling in natural resource-rich economies.
Before joining the World Bank, Zeufack taught Economics and Applied Econometrics at the University of Clermont-Ferrand, France, where he received his Ph.D. in Economics. He holds a Master Degree in Economic Analysis and Policy from the University of Yaounde, Cameroon.
Nadia Salma Assad
Nadia is the Girls and Technology Specialist for the Population Council in Sierra Leone where she was born and raised. Nadia’s educational background is in mechanical engineering. Before joining the Council, she interned at the National Power Authority in Sierra Leone. Having been exposed to thermal plants and seeing how much of the country lacked electricity despite having so much renewable energy potential, only if harnessed, Nadia’s interest in renewable energy and off grid electrification grew. Her final dissertation was based on home solar systems. She is also passionate about the social, educational, and economic development of girls and increasing the number of females in the field of STEM. In addition to working with the Council, Nadia is an active member of STEM Women Sierra Leone. In her free time, Nadia enjoys driving to far away destinations, taking photos, and playing with her dogs.
David Shinn
David Shinn has been teaching in the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University since 2001. He previously served in the U.S. Foreign Service for 37 years with assignments at embassies in Lebanon, Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritania, Cameroon, Sudan, and as ambassador to Burkina Faso and Ethiopia. He served in the State Department as desk officer for Somalia and Djibouti and assistant desk officer for Ethiopia, desk officer for Tanzania and Uganda, State Department Coordinator for Somalia during the international intervention in 1993, and director of East African and Horn of African affairs.
Ambassador Shinn serves on a number of non-governmental organization boards and is a frequent contributor to Voice of America, BBC, Al-Jazeera, China Central Television, and Radio France Internationale. He is the author of numerous articles in policy and academic journals and contributor to edited books dealing with Africa. Dr. Shinn is the co-author of China and Africa: A Century of Engagement (2012) and Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia (2013) and the author of Hizmet in Africa: The Activities and Significance of the Gülen Movement (2015).
He has a PhD in political science from George Washington University and blogs at http://davidshinn.blogspot.com. He speaks at events around the world concerning Africa and China-Africa.
Frank Gupton, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering
Leader of the Medicine for All Initiative
Dr. Frank Gupton is a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and holds joint appointments in the Departments of Chemistry and the Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering. He also serves as Department Chair of the Chemical and Life Science Engineering Department. His thirty year industrial career has centered on the development and commercialization of chemical processes for pharmaceutical applications. Dr. Gupton’s research group is currently focused on the development of continuous processing technology to facilitate the discovery, development and commercialization of drug products. Dr. Gupton received his Bachelors of Science degree in chemistry from the University of Richmond and graduate degrees in organic chemistry from Georgia Tech and Virginia Commonwealth University.
Prof. Dr. Manfred Psiorz
Prof. Psiorz studied Chemistry in the Universities of Kaiserslautern, Freiburg and finally Braunschweig, where he obtained his PhD degree in Organic Chemistry.
He also concluded his studies in Pharmacy there to become a licensed pharmacist.
After his academic activities he joined Dr. Karl Thomae GmbH in Biberach / Germany as a research scientist, where he successfully worked on cardiovascular agents. Several publications and patents document his achievements there.
In 1991 he accepted the position of as group leader at Boehringer Ingelheim KG in Ingelheim where he was responsible for the development, manufacturing, and commercial activities with natural products. During this period he continued to teach at the University of Kaiserslautern, where he became honorary professor in 1998.
In 2000 he took over the responsibility for the Pharma Chemicals business of the company. During this time he spent 2 ½ years in Petersburg, Virginia, as a VP of Technical Operations at the Boehringer Ingelheim Chemicals, Inc.
In 2009 he was appointed President and CEO of Boehringer Ingelheim Chemicals, Inc. in Petersburg / Virginia and was a Trustee of the School of Engineering at VCU.
Since 2013 he is Corporate Vice President of Chemical Manufacturing & Supply at Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH. In this role he oversees all chemistry related activities in Operations worldwide.
Anne Lynam Goddard
Anne Lynam Goddard is president and CEO of ChildFund International, a global development organization dedicated to serving children in the world’s poorest places. She has been a passionate voice for protecting the world’s most vulnerable children for more than 30 years.
Goddard began her career in the Peace Corps, living in a mud house in Kenya and traveling among remote villages by motorbike. After earning a master’s degree in public health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she joined the international humanitarian organization CARE and lived and worked overseas for almost 20 years, serving in a variety of roles in Somalia, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Egypt.
In 2007, Goddard joined ChildFund as president and CEO. At ChildFund, she has drawn on her personal experiences to direct the organization’s efforts to promote child protection strategies around the world, raising awareness of the threats to children’s ability to find opportunity, hope and self-sufficiency. Building on the organization’s nearly 80-year history, Goddard has also implemented a strategy that expands and deepens ChildFund’s worldwide efforts to improve children’s health, education and economic conditions.
Goddard is active in her own community and in other nonprofit organizations. She serves on the board of directors for InterAction, the Basic Education Coalition, and the Richmond Forum. She is currently a board member of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, a member of the federal Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid, and serves on the executive advisory committee for the University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business. In 2009, Goddard received an honorary Ph.D. from Assumption College (Mass.).e
Grace Festa
Grace Festa is a Business Development Manager for the Greater Richmond Partnership (GRP), the Richmond region’s economic development group. She works with the business attraction team, helping both domestic and international businesses choose the Richmond region as their new home. Grace is also responsible for the coordination of the Business First Greater Richmond program, a collaboration between the GRP’s four local government partners to retain existing businesses and help them grow in the region.
As a value-add to local businesses, Grace recently helped establish the Metro Richmond Exports Initiative (MREI), in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University’s Center for Urban & Regional Analysis (CURA@VCU) and Virginia’s Gateway Region (VGR). MREI was established to educate central Virginia businesses about the benefits of exporting and drive increased gross domestic product (GDP) in the Richmond MSA.
Grace holds a B.A. in both German and Spanish from the University of Connecticut and spent extensive time in Europe during her studies. After moving from Connecticut to Virginia, she worked briefly in residential real estate appraisal before enrolling at Virginia Commonwealth University to earn a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning with a focus on economic development. She has been with GRP since 2009 and is passionate about fostering economic growth and prosperity in the Richmond region.
Tanyelle Richardson
She is a Senior Program Officer in ISD. In this capacity, Tanyelle administers the Title VI Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language (UISFL) program, and the Fulbright Hays Senior Consultant. Tanyelle has past experience overseeing the Title VI Business and International Education (BIE) program, Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program, National Resource Centers, and the Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowship program. She frequently represents ED at national conferences.
She recently served as a Presidential Management Council Fellow assisting in the efforts to implement President Obama’s Executive Order 13583 – Establishing a Coordinated Government-wide Initiative to Promote Diversity and Inclusion in the Federal Workplace. In 2006, the National Association of Small Business International Trade Educators (NASBITE) named Tanyelle the “International Trade Educator of the Year.” Before joining IFLE, Tanyelle was a Program Officer for OPE’s Division of Higher Education Incentive Programs. During her tenure, she administered fellowships and grants to institutions of higher education under the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need, the Law School Clinical Experience, and the Patricia Roberts Harris Fellowship programs. Tanyelle also serves on the Departments Diversity Council.
Tanyelle has pursued studies in business, administrative management, and the liberal arts. She received a Master’s degree in Administrative Management and Public Policy from Bowie State University in Maryland, and a B.A. in Law and Society from Hood College in Maryland. Tanyelle also attended the American University in Washington D.C. while completing her internship with the Association for Public Administrators.
Florizelle (Florie) Liser, President and CEO
CORPORATE COUNCIL ON AFRICA
Florizelle (Florie) Liser is the third President and CEO of CCA. Ms. Liser brings expertise and an extensive network on trade and Africa to her new role, along with a strong track record of working with the private sector to translate policy into action. She is the first woman to lead the Council since its founding in 1993.
Ms. Liser joined CCA from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), where she was the Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa since 2003. At USTR, she led trade and investment policy towards 49 sub-Saharan African nations and oversaw implementation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
Previously, Ms. Liser served as Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Industry, Market Access, and Telecommunications from 2000-2003. She also served as Senior Trade Policy Advisor in the Office of International Transportation and Trade at the Department of Transportation from 1987-2000; worked as a Director in USTR’s Office of GATT Affairs, and served as an Associate Fellow at the Overseas Development Council (ODC) from 1975-1980.
Ms. Liser holds a M.A. in International Economics from Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and a B.A. in International Relations and Political Science from Dickinson College. Ms. Liser is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, on the Board of Women in International Trade (WIIT), and in 2017 won the WIIT Government Service Award.
Larry Morgan – President Nations Roof Sales and Marketing, President Nations Solar, President of Nations EnerGen graduated in 1976 from Ferrum College in Virginia. Larry is a 35-year veteran in national/strategic sales with 32 years in the commercial roofing industry. The last 8 years he and his team have been developing a domestic and international market for the Nations Solar Micro Off-Grid Water Purification System, Solar Streetlights, Smart Metering and SHS Solar Home Systems that all local villagers to have solar lighting and charging ports to charge cell phones. This initiative was under taken to assist African governments who have struggled due to energy distribution constraints in reaching the neediest of their citizens by providing local solutions until the energy grid can perform these services. Larry has been working closely last three years with their new energy division Nations EnerGen to deliver their Nano and Micro Grid rural electrification model coupled with a concept for rural areas in these countries that lack any clean water, housing and electric services. This model serves as a catalyst to develop customer and market driven sales strategies that allow Nations Roof and Nations Solar to successfully penetrate existing, new and target markets domestically and internationally. The Nations Roof, Nations Solar and Nations EnerGen teams have developed this strategy in multiple companies and in just 12 short years at Nations Roof has resulted in business that will exceed 195 million dollars annually executed contracts domestically. Nations Solar after 3 years of product development will have Clean Water contracts that exceed 15 million dollars annually by the end of 2016. The successful pilot project in 2011 has resulted in 250 units of additional clinic contracts alone. The implementation of a similar country level customer share strategy in several African countries has resulted in 5 other African companies looking to establish initial pilot projects for this product. Larry currently serves as an Honorary Ambassador to Namibia and in the past has served as Chairman of several executive sales committees along with helping develop a sales training manual specifically for the roofing industry. Has been a leader in the developing the solar renewable energy sector with a focus on roof top and utility grade ground mount solar systems. By removing water borne diseases that lead to early death for children in undeveloped countries, Nations Solar believes it can help keep many of the rural areas start to achieve an environment where they can move from finding enough water daily to exist to being able to live and develop communities with local crops, livestock and fish to improve daily diets ultimately creating local commerce for themselves and their families. This coupled with local affordable clean energy solutions will help these countries make the necessary next steps to creating economies that can drive advancement for all in Africa.
