Who We Are

Ahuma Adodoadji

(Chairman), Founder/CEO

Ahuma completed his graduate studies in the University of London and, has worked for three decades in the Development and Humanitarian sector. He served in various leadership capacities in World Vision, Carter Center, MAP International, World Relief, CARE USA and Plan USA where he served as President/CEO At CARE USA he led an Emergency Capacity Building initiative that brought 7 agencies (CRS, IRC, Save the Children, Mercy Corps, World Vision and CARE) together. This project was funded by the Gates Foundation. (2002 to 2005) After spending years fighting global poverty, he has concluded that Enterprise needs to be deployed as an additional tool to fight global poverty and improve the lives of the poor. He founded AFRILINK Entrepreneurs International in 2010, to advance this agenda.

Prof Barrett Hazeltine

Professor of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, RI

BARRETT HAZELTINE is now Professor Emeritus at Brown University and continues to teach at Brown. In 1991-1992 he held the Robert Foster Cherry Chair for Distinguished Teaching at Baylor University. From 1972 to 1992 he was also Associate Dean of the College at Brown. His teaching and research interests are in management, technology planning, and entrepreneurship. He has taught at the University of Zambia, the University of Malawi, at the University of Botswana, and Africa University in Zimbabwe. Other foreign countries in which he has done teaching or consulting are Bangladesh, Indonesia, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, The Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand. He received awards for teaching from thirteen senior classes at Brown, 1972 to 1984, and 1990. In 1985 the award was named after him. He was a Fulbright lecturer in 1988-89 and 1993. He received an honorary Sc.D. from the State University of New York in Stony Brook in 1987.

Dr (Mrs) Eva N Adodoadji (Secretary)

Institute of Community Health, Brown University, Providence, RI

Eva studied medicine at the University of Nairobi, Kenya and did her residency in London, UK. She has practiced as a doctor in the UK, Kenya and Zambia. She completed a Master of Public Health degree in the University of Loma Linda, CA in 1990 and has since worked in Public Health at the University of Zambia, Dekalb Board of Health, Atlanta and World Relief. She is currently working at the Institute for Community Health of Brown University, on community research that seeks to improve the health of women. She is committed to a better quality of life for low income communities and particularly that of youth in Africa.

Ellen Donahue-Dalton

Dalton Marketing Group

Ellen Donahue-Dalton is responsible for executive business development as well as all aspects of strategic planning, high-level account interaction and alliances. A 20-year marketing executive with experience in global and start-up organizations, Ellen founded DMG in 1998. Since that time, the DMG team and specialty network have expanded to include personnel in 3 major market areas and expertise in a variety of industry verticals. With years of experience working as a consultant and coach to commercial and social entrepreneurs, Ellen and the DMG team now work with management teams in start-ups and marketing staffs in fast-growth mode, assisting with strategy and marketing programs for high-growth companies, divisions within major organizations and non-profit endeavors. She has participated in Springboard Ventures, Fountainhead (a training program for entrepreneurs), and Entrepreneur LaunchPad. Ellen currently serves on the board of Social Venture Partners – RI, a state affiliate of an international organization that helps non-profits grow social enterprises (businesses that create jobs and/or revenues for a mission). As an active member of SVPRI, Ellen provides advice, planning and marketing program management services to non-profit management teams who seek to build sustainable businesses. She is also on the Development Committee of Crossroads Rhode Island. Previously, Ellen served on the board of the Atlanta Day Shelter for Women and Children – the largest community shelter in the Southeast – and helped launch Dress for Success – Seattle.

Paul Leys

Owner Gustav White Sothebys International Realty, Newport, RI

Besides a 2 1/2 year stint while living in Ghana, West Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer, Paul is a lifelong Rhode Islander and lives in Newport, RI with his wife Mardie Corcoran and his five children. He is a 1983 graduate of Providence College and is a broker/co-owner of Gustave White Sotheby’s International Realty. Paul has been active in the real estate industry since 1988. He is a past President of both the Newport County Board of Realtors (NCBR) and more recently of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors (RIAR). In 1999, he was selected by his peers as the Realtor of the Year for NCBR. Paul keeps active in his personal life by coaching his children on several different youth sporting teams. He also enjoys surfing, playing ice hockey and traveling to Maine for family vacations. Paul is a member of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Newport. He has also been active over the years on several different Newport based Board of Directors.

Dr KY Amoako

President, ACET Accra, Ghana

K.Y. Amoako, Founder and President of the African Center for Economic Transformation and former Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, has dedicated his career to solving the development challenges of the world’s poorest countries, especially those in Africa. Amoako began his career in 1974 at the World Bank, becoming the Bank’s Director for Education and Social Policy from 1992-1995. From 1995-2005, Amoako served as Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) at the rank of Under Secretary General of the UN, during which he transformed the institution to more effectively serve African policy-makers, to amplify the African voice internationally and to influence African partners. After his 10-year stint at ECA, Amoako spent 2006 as a Distinguished African Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. Amoako has worked with leading development experts and political leaders on high-level international commissions and task forces that address the development prospects of Africa and many of today’s central global issues. Among many others, he chaired the Commission for HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa, convened by Kofi Annan and was a member of the Commission for Africa established and chaired by Tony Blair as well as a member of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health chaired by Jeff Sachs and the Task Force on Global Public Goods co-chaired by Ernesto Zedillo. Amoako holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Ghana, and a PhD in Economics from University of California, Berkeley.

Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas

Secretary-General, African Caribbean Pacific Group of States, Brussels, Belgium

Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas was appointed Secretary General of the ACP Group on 16th November 2009 by the ACP Council of Ministers and took up office at the ACP Secretariat on 1st March 2010. Dr. Chambas came directly from the Economic Community of West African Sates (ECOWAS), where he had been serving as President of the Commission since January 1st 2007. Prior to this, ECOWAS was a Secretariat and Dr. Chambas had been serving as Executive Secretary since February 1st 2002.

N Justin Chinyanta

Founder and Chairman Loita Holdings Corporation

Loita Holdings Corporation is a Mauritius-based holding company for Loita Capital Partners International, a pan-African investment banking firm; Fintech International, a financial IT firm, and Loita Transaction Services, which specializes in African bank switching and electronic transfer operations. A former Vice President at Citibank and HSBC’s Africa Regional offices, Justin, a barrister with an LLB degree from the University of Zambia, is a graduate of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University) and Fellow of Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. He also serves as Executive Vice President (Southern Africa) for the Africa Business Roundtable and is one of the pioneer members of the Initiative for Global Development’s Frontier 100 CEOs. Justin is a specialist in the financial markets of Sub-Sahara Africa; he has over twenty-five years of professional experience in commercial and investment banking in the Africa region, and has played a leading role in developing African capital markets, particularly in East and Southern Africa, pioneer debt paper structures for issuers and structuring trade and project facilities for Loita’s various clients in the region exceeding $3 billion. He sits on the world-wide boards of Junior Achievers International and Orphan Support Africa and has been an honorary member of the President of Zambia’s International Business and Advisory Council. Justin is a Zambian national residing in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is married to Helen. They have two daughters, Mwanga and Chantal, and a boy, Justin Jr.

Frank M D’Alessandro, MD

Founder and Medical Director of Lincoln Primary Care Undergraduate Education: Boston University, B.S. in Biological Sciences Medical Education: Ross University, M.D. 1988 Post-Graduate Education: Yale University School of Medicine, Waterbury Hospital, Internal Medicine Clinical Interests: Sports Medicine, Hypertension, Diabetes, and Preventative Medicine

Ahuma Adodoadji, President/CEO

[email protected]

Ahuma completed his graduate studies in the University of London and, has worked for three decades in the Development and Humanitarian sector. He served in various leadership capacities in World Vision, Carter Center, MAP International, World Relief, CARE USA and Plan USA where he served as President/CEO At CARE USA he led an Emergency Capacity Building initiative that brought 7 agencies (CRS, IRC, Save the Children, Mercy Corps, World Vision and CARE) together. This project was funded by the Gates Foundation. (2002 to 2005) After spending years fighting global poverty, he has concluded that Enterprise needs to be deployed as an additional tool to fight global poverty and improve the lives of the poor. He founded AFRILINK Entrepreneurs International in 2010, to advance this agenda.

Julius Kolawole, MBA – Director, AFRILINK Leadership Council in USA

[email protected]

An engineer by training, Julius has 20 years plus experience in operations in the cooperate sector. He is a highly respected as a leader in various community groups in Rhode Island.  He has also spent 5 years teaching engineering to African students, in the University of Ilorin, Nigeria.

Salil Patel, MD – Director of Strategy & Advisor to CEO

[email protected]

Salil is the co-founder of two Big Data startups in Boston, and a consultant to private investors and hedge funds.  He brings expertise in seed-stage capital, due diligence, analytics, and business-model generation. A physician and a Fulbright Scholar, Salil offers 20 years of experience in evidence-based product/process development; in sectors including the life sciences, IT, security, and applied technology. As a member of the global cohort of young entrepreneurs, with personal ties to the Africa, Salil believes strongly in AFRILINK’s promise of creating connections – and creating change, through enterprise.