Board of Trustees

Halima Aliko Dangote is the Group Executive Director, Commercial Operations of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), one of the largest and most diversified business conglomerates in Africa. She is responsible for the implementation of the Group’s shared services strategy with specific oversight for the Commercial, Strategic procurement, Administration and Branding & Communications functions. Ms. Dangote joined DIL in 2008 and has held a number of executive management roles including her most recent role as Executive Director of Dangote Flour Mills, where she led the turnaround and recent sale of the business to Olam. Previously, she served as Executive Director of NASCON, a manufacturer of salt, seasonings and related consumer products. She started her career as a Business Analyst with KPMG Professional Services, serving private and public sector clients on topics related to business performance improvement, strategy, and policy formulation. She is also a Trustee of the Aliko Dangote Foundation; a Board member of Endeavour Nigeria and a member of the Women Corporate Directors (WCD). Halima holds a Bachelors’ Degree in Marketing from American Intercontinental University, London, United Kingdom and a Master’s in Business Administration from Webster Business School, United Kingdom. She has attended a number of high-profile leadership development programs including: the Program for Leadership Development (PLD) at Harvard Business School; Executive Development Program at Kellogg School of Management; Finance and Accounting for Non-Financial Executives at Columbia Business School. She is married with three children.

Chelsea Clinton, Vice Chair of the Clinton Foundation, works alongside Foundation leadership toward a shared goal of making the Clinton Foundation one of the most effective and efficient global NGOs in the world. Chelsea works in-depth across a number of the Foundation’s programmatic areas including: No Ceilings: The Full Participation Project working to advance the full participation of women and girls; the Clinton Global Initiative University, a program focused on empowering the next generation of change-makers; the Clinton Foundation’s Day of Action program which she founded; the Foundation’s various health programs and the conservation of Africa’s Elephants through the Clinton Global Initiative. Chelsea currently teaches at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and previously worked at McKinsey & Company and Avenue Capital. Chelsea also serves on the boards of the Clinton Foundation’s affiliated Clinton Health Access Initiative, the School of American Ballet, the Africa Center and the Weill Cornell Medical College. She is the Co-Chair of the Advisory Board of the Of Many Institute at NYU. Chelsea holds a B.A. from Stanford, an MPH from Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health and both an MPhil and a Doctorate in International Relations from Oxford University. Chelsea is the author of It’s Your World: Get Informed, Get Inspired & Get Going, a book for young readers ages 10-14 which explores some of the biggest challenges facing our world today, particularly impacting kids and shares inspiring stories of young people who are already making a difference in their own communities and around the globe. She lives with her husband Marc, their daughter Charlotte, and their son Aidan in New York City.

Jendayi E. Frazer is the President and CEO of 50 Ventures, LLC. A global policy leader and expert on African Affairs, she currently heads the Mo Ibrahim Leadership Fellowships Program.  She is the Managing Partner of Africa Exchange Holdings, Ltd. that owns commodity exchanges in East Africa (EAX) and Nigeria (AFEX Nigeria). Ms. Frazer was a distinguished public service professor at Carnegie Mellon University from 2009 to 2014, where she was the director of Carnegie Mellon’s Center for International Policy and Innovation (CIPI). Ms. Frazer was the leading architect of U.S.-Africa policy for nearly a decade, serving as the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from August 2005 to January 2009. Previously she was Special Assistant to the President, Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council, and the first woman U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, appointed in 2004. Jendayi was also an assistant professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and Denver’s Graduate School of International Studies. Jendayi is a recipient of numerous awards and honors. She is Dame Grand Commander in the Humane Order of African Redemption.

Ben Stein is a Founder and Managing Member of The Spruce House Partnership, a New York-based investment partnership founded in 2005. Spruce House has investments in public and private companies globally and seeks to invest alongside management teams that are focused on growing the value of their companies over the long term. Mr. Stein serves on the board of Colliers International, one of the largest commercial real estate services companies in the world. Ben received his Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania in 2008. Ben has traveled extensively throughout East and Southern Africa and in the past has been a Goodwill Ambassador for the African Wildlife Foundation.

Inspired to find solutions to the social problems faced in her country, Ms. Elizabeth Tanya Masiyiwa has been involved in charitable work from a young age. She was recently a finalist of the Hult Prize Challenge, a startup accelerator for young social entrepreneurs from universities across the world held in partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative. As a result of the competition, she is now the co-founder of an early childhood education startup. She served on the youth board of Afrika Tikkun where she was awarded for creating the most impact during her tenure. Since 2005, she has been working at Higherlife Foundation founded by her philanthropist parents Strive and Tsitsi Masiyiwa. She is also the creator and editor of the Yearbook, a publication that documents the impact of philanthropic efforts in Zimbabwe. Masiyiwa is currently a fellow at UNICEF and works on special projects in the executive chair’s office at Higherlife Foundation. Masiyiwa completed a Bachelor of Science in banking and international finance. In line with her passion to find sustainable solutions to the world’s most pressing issues, she also holds a master’s degree in social entrepreneurship.

Temi Adeniji holds a combined role of Managing Director of Warner Music South Africa and SVP, International Special Projects & Sub-Saharan Africa Strategy. She oversees WMG’s business on the continent out of Johannesburg and is in charge of expanding the company’s footprint across the different subregions. Additionally, she works with other senior leaders to develop the overall strategy of WMG’s international business, including corporate development and M&A. Prior to her current role, Temi reported directly to Warner Music Group’s CEO of International Recorded Music, with a broad range of responsibilities inclusive of managing the portfolio of 40 international affiliates of the Warner Music Group. She led WMG’s growth via recorded music acquisitions and has played a central role in developing the Company’s moves to build and buy innovative music-adjacent businesses in order to diversify its revenue mix. Temi has also spearheaded efforts to ramp up WMG’s activities in key emerging markets (India, Sub-Saharan Africa and Middle East North Africa) with tailored approaches (investments, partnerships, etc.) to fit each market as well as the company’s broader commercial objectives. Temi serves as WMG representative on the board of Africori, the largest music distribution platform in Sub-Saharan Africa, in which WMG is a lead investor. Recently, Temi was appointed to serve as Vice President of the Board of the Warner Music Group / Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund, which is endowed with $100M to further the advancement of underrepresented (principally black) populations around the globe. In this role, she draws experience from the seven years spent on the Board of Youth Represent, a nonprofit which provides legal representation for young people (primarily from minority communities) affected by the criminal justice system. Temi holds a BA degree from Princeton University, a JD from Columbia University and an LLM from University College London.

Mrs. Kanayo Awani is the Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade Bank (IATB) at Afreximbank. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Nigeria (Enugu Campus) and a Master of Public Administration in International Trade and Finance from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge, USA. She is also a recipient of the Edward S. Mason Fellowship in Public Policy and Management from Harvard.

Mrs. Awani has garnered extensive banking experience with Citigroup in Nigeria, serving for nearly 17 years and leaving as the Vice President and Head of Industrial & Commercial Corporates before joining Afreximbank in 2009. As the Executive Vice President, she provides strategic and operational leadership in implementing the Bank's Intra-African trade and industrialization objectives, in support of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). Under her leadership, the Bank’s support for the AfCFTA negotiations led to the historic signing of the Agreement in Kigali in March 2018. Committed to the industrialization of Africa, Mrs. Awani has championed various initiatives, including the development and expansion of Industrial Parks and Export Processing Zones across the continent. Her efforts were also instrumental in the harmonization of standards in pharmaceuticals and medical consumables during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, she led the development of the African Collaborative Transit Guarantee Scheme to facilitate cross-border trade and championed innovative programmes such as the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX), which has allocated a $1 billion facility to finance and support several sectors.

Mrs. Awani has actively promoted Africa-Caribbean trade and investment flows by directing the Bank's Diaspora Strategy in accordance with the African Union (AU) agenda for the 6th Region. Since Mrs. Awani joined Afreximbank in 2009, she has supported the growth of the Bank from total assets of US$1.4bn to approximately $30 billion in 2022.

One of her noteworthy initiatives, the "Intra-Africa Trade Fair," also known as the “AfCFTA Marketplace,” has attracted over 40,000 attendees and facilitated deals worth more than US$75 billion. Recognizing her outstanding leadership and dedication to African trade, Mrs. Awani has been honored with numerous accolades by various organizations, including:

• Named as a Top 100 Most Influential Person of African Descent by MIPAD, 2020.

• Recognized as one of the 100 Leading Nigerian Women in the 2022 edition of “Nigeria Women Annual: 100 Leading Women.”

• Conferred the Africa Financial Industry Summit (AFIS) Woman Leader Award, 2022.

• Featured among Forbes Afrique’s list of “The 50 Most Influential African Women, 2023.

• Received the African Economic Integration Champion Award at the 13th Africa Economy Builders Forum & Awards, 2023.

• Recently proclaimed Africa Inspirational Personality of the Year by the Africa Women Impact Summit (AWIS).

• Received the Empowering Women Award at the 2023 Rebranding Africa Forum 2023.

Mrs. Awani is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Management and currently serves as the Chairperson of the Africa Chapter of FCI, a global factoring association.

Jim Bildner is the CEO of the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation. Jim is also an Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and a Senior Research Fellow at the Hauser Institute for Civil Society and the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University. Jim is a trustee of The Kresge Foundation and Chair of its Investment Committee. He serves on the board of Public Citizen Foundation, CAST, Education SuperHighway, OpenBiome, Open Up Resources, The GroundTruth Project, Climate Central, Service Year Alliance, Education Pioneers, Landed, Inc., UpTrust, Healthy Americas Foundation, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Dallas Symphony Association, Perez Art Museum Miami, Museum for African Art, and on the Board of Advisors of the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College.  He is a Trustee Emeritus at Case Western Reserve University, an Overseer Emeritus of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a member of the Board of Overseers of WBUR (Boston Public Radio) and a trustee emeritus of the Lizard Island Research Foundation in Australia.  He is a member of Young Presidents/World Presidents Organization and a member of the Chief Executives Organization. In his board service, Jim serves on the Investment Committees of boards with aggregate endowments in excess of $4B as well as a member of numerous finance, investment and/or audit committees of these boards. Jim’s government service included an appointment by the US Secretary of Health and Human Services to the Advisory Panel on Medicare Education for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Jamie Cooper is the founding Chair and President of Big Win Philanthropy, an operating foundation that partners with driven and committed African leaders to deliver on their transformational visions for children and young people. Ms Cooper has more than 25 years’ experience in roles supporting and bringing leaders together from the public, private and philanthropy sectors to pursue innovative policy and programming around a broad array of economic and social issues. Prior to launching Big Win Philanthropy, she co-founded theChildren’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer. Jamie serves on several boards, including the: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development Board; The Africa Center Board; Advisory Board of the Ministerial Leadership Program at Harvard; Board of Advisors to the Dean at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH); Board of Advisors to the Dean at the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government; Board of International Friends of Elton John Aids Foundation; and Greenwood Place Advisory Board. She is a High-Level Council Member of The Aspen Institute High-Level Council on Leadership & Management for Development. She also serves as a mentor at Mentore Consulting LLP. Ms Cooper received a Bachelor of Arts from Smith College and a Master of Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Fatima Aliko-Dangote is currently the Group Executive Director of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL). In this role, she oversees the Group's Commercial operations across the Dangote Business units, activities of the Group’s Brand and communications, Strategic Procurement and the general administration of the Group. In her previous role, Fatima was the Executive Director of Commercial at NASCON Allied Industries Plc (NASCON), the leading player in Salt Refining and Marketing across Nigeria. She was responsible for developing and implementing NASCON’s Commercial Sales and Marketing strategy with additional oversight for Logistics, Transportation and Branding. Prior to this, Fatima held multiple roles within Dangote Industries Limited (DIL)the parent company of the Dangote Group,

Ms. Aliko-Dangote is a Member of the Nigerian Bar Association and previously held the position of Associate at Banwo Ighodalo, one of the leading law firms in Nigeria.

Fatima is passionate about philanthropy. She is a trustee on the board of the Aliko Dangote Foundation and a trustee on the board of PDAA. She holds a law degree from the University of Surrey, United Kingdom and has attended leadership executive programs from institutes such as the University of Columbia, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Cambridge.

Fatima is happily married with children.

Dr. Michaela de Pury was until recently Senior Director at Phillips de Pury & Company and before Senior Partner. She joined the firm in 2001. She has been instrumental in securing major consignments and private transactions surrounding key works in all sales categories of Contemporary Art, Design and Photography. Her consignments include the Hoener Collection of German Expressionist Art in 2001, the FER Collection in 2004, the Princess Gloria Thurn and Taxis Collection in 2006 and the largest-ever single-owner collection of contemporary Russian art in February 2007. Prior to joining Phillips de Pury, she was the CEO of Neumeister Auctions in New York; the leading Munich auction company that was started by her father Rudolf Neumeister. After having obtained her PHD from the University of Hamburg and having written her Doctoral thesis on Medieval and Renaissance Art, she was trained at Christie’s in their London department of Old Master Paintings, at Sotheby’s in their New York department of Modern and Impressionist Art and at Taijan in Paris. Michaela is married to Simon de Pury, former Chairman of Phillips de Pury. She is an auctioneer and avid collector. Today Michaela is Co-Founder and Partner of de Pury & de Pury, a company specialising in private treaty sales and advising major private collections.

Maja Hoffmann is a contemporary art collector, and a supporter and producer of international art, film, publishing and environmental projects. She is the Founder of the LUMA Foundation (2004) whose aim is to launch and produce cultural and art projects worldwide. It also supports a number of art-based international initiatives and institutional projects, such as Kunsthalle Zurich and Kunsthalle Basel, the Fotomuseum Winterthur, the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, the Venice Biennale and Artangel and the Serpentine Gallery in London. It is also involved in planning one of the major cultural sites in Europe, the Parc des Ateliers in Arles. She is President of the Kunsthalle Zurich Foundation, and Vice-President of the Council of the Emanuel Hoffmann-Stiftung in Basel. She is a Trustee of the Tate, a Board Member of the New Museum of Contemporary Art and the Bard College Center for Curatorial Studies at Annandale-on-Hudson in New York State.

Meredith James received a BA from Harvard University in 2004 and an MFA from Yale University in 2009. James has exhibited throughout the United States and internationally. She recently completed public art commissions for Manif d’Art in Quebec City, Canada and the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway in Boston. She had solo exhibitions at Jack Hanley Gallery (NYC), LaMontagne Gallery (Boston, MA) and Marc Jancou Contemporary (NYC). The artist has participated in numerous group exhibitions including at CPM Gallery (Baltimore, MD), The Drawing Center (NYC) Museum of Contemporary Art (Detroit, MI), SculptureCenter (Queens, NY), The Queens Museum (Queens, NY), and Socrates Sculpture Park (Queens, NY). James has received numerous accolades and fellowships, notably from The Sharpe-Walentes Studio Program, The Jerome Foundation, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, The Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Lighthouse Works, Abrons Art Center and Socrates Sculpture Park.

Mr. Marshall is a co-founder and Managing Partner of BRP Companies, a vertically integrated owner, operator, developer and manager of transit-oriented, mixed-use, multifamily properties in the NY Tri-State area. With over 50 employees and a track record of $1.7 billion of completed real estate projects, the firm has an additional $1.3 billion in transactions currently under development. Mr. Marshall is responsible for executing BRP’s investment strategy including deal origination, acquisition, finance and development. He has also led the firm’s strategic partnership initiatives such as the firm’s decade long partnership with Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group and BRP’s active relationships with all of the New York City Agencies. Prior to co-founding BRP, Mr. Marshall was a Managing Director at Musa Capital Advisors, an emerging markets private equity and financial advisory firm based in New York City. Musa Capital managed a Separate Account for Kingdom Holding Africa, HRH’s Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s investment vehicle for Sub-Saharan Africa. At Musa Capital, Mr. Marshall was instrumental in executing cross-border transactions including the $37 million development of a mixed-use office complex and mall in Harare, Zimbabwe. Mr. Marshall also led successful investments in the Telecommunications and Financial Services sectors. Prior to Musa Capital Advisors, Mr. Marshall was a Senior Associate at Wasserstein Perella & Co., an investment banking firm based in New York City. While at Wasserstein, Mr. Marshall was an integral member of the firm’s Telecommunications and Media, Mergers and Acquisitions practice, where he assisted in transactions exceeding $15 billion. Mr. Marshall is a Founding Member of the Council of Urban Professionals, and is a Member of the Executive Board of the New York State Affordable Housing Association. Mr. Marshall also proudly serves on the Boards of Enterprise NYC Advisory Board and Citizens Housing and Planning Council since 2018, and is a Trustee of Xavier University of Louisiana. Mr. Marshall holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Boston University and a Master of Business Administration in Finance and International Business from Columbia Business School.

Blair Miller is the founder of NextWork, an investment firm building companies addressing the opportunities and challenges related to the future of work. Prior to NextWork Blair co-founded Blue like an Orange Sustainable Capital, an emerging markets sustainable investment fund. Previously Blair was Vice President at the office of philanthropist and Founder of Wesray Capital Corporation, Ray Chambers, where she led the offices efforts in innovative financing to address global health challenges. Blair spent her early career at Acumen, an impact investment fund. At Acumen, Blair spearheaded the talent platform, conceptualizing, capitalizing, and launching programs globally as well as leveraging the curriculum to develop online courses. Blair is a sought-out advisor on talent and impact investing and has worked with firms such Andela, Learn Capital, and Roundtable Investment Partners. Blair serves on numerous boards including The Africa Center, InvestAfrica, and Venture for America. Blair is a senior fellow at Yale University lecturing on “Aligning Profit and Purpose” and is a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations. Blair holds an MBA from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and BA in English Literature.

Gbenga Oyebode is the Chairman of Aluko & Oyebode, (Barristers & Solicitors) one of the largest integrated law firms in Nigeria, with offices in Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt. Gbenga was an Associate with White & Case, New York between 1982 and 1983. Gbenga was educated at the University of Ife (LL. B Honours), and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (LL.M) graduating in 1979 and 1982, respectively. He is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria (admitted June 1980) and an attorney-at-law of the Supreme Court of New York State (admitted November 1983). He was conferred Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa), by the Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti (2016) and Elizade University, Ilara Mokin, Ondo State, Nigeria (2017). He is the Chancellor of Elizade University, Ilara Mokin, Ondo State, Nigeria. Gbenga sits on the Africa Advisory Committee of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), is the Chairman of Teach for Nigeria, Director Teach for All, New York, Member of the Global Advisory Council of the Africa Leadership Academy, Johannesburg, Director Jazz at the Lincoln Centre, New York and Director African Philanthropy Forum. Member Board of Trustees Carnegie Hall, New York. Member, Board of Trustees Ford Foundation, New York. Gbenga was conferred with one of Nigeria’s highest honours, the Member of the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (MFR) in the year 2000. He was also conferred with the Belgian Royal Honour of ‘Knight of the Order of Leopold’ in2007.

Dana Reed is an Impact Investor. She was the CEO of PanAfrican Investment Co., a private investment company that made impact investments in SMEs in sub-Saharan Africa. Dana continues to advise and invest in SMEs on the continent. Prior to joining PIC, Dana was a Managing Director at Semper Capital, a structured credit asset management company with $1.5 billion AUM. Her responsibilities included marketing, product development, and strategic growth of the firm. Before Semper, she was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. Dana began her career as a Fellow at the Export-Import Bank of the United States. She received a BBA in International Business from Howard University and a MBA from Howard University. She is a Trustee of Harlem Tech Fund, BrightPoint Health and Randall’s Island Park Alliance. Dana was appointed by New York Governor Paterson to serve as a Director of the Harlem Community Development Corp. and continues to serve in that capacity today. Dana is on the Advisory Board of Uncharted Play, a renewable energy company based in Harlem that provides energy solutions on the continent. She is an active member of the African Leadership Network, International Women’s Forum, and the Vice President of the Metropolitan Chapter of Jack & Jill. She has received numerous awards for her work both on the continent and in the U.S. Dana lives in Harlem with her 11-year-old twin boys who enjoy traveling to the continent with her.