Andrew J. Young

In the decades since Andrew Young helped change the course of history as a leader in the Civil Rights movement, he has built a remarkable legacy as a civic activist, elected official, groundbreaking ambassador, social entrepreneur, and adviser to presidents. Today, he leads the Andrew J. Young Foundation’s efforts to develop and support new generations of visionary leaders who will create sustainable global approaches to economic development, poverty alleviation, and the challenge of hunger.

Young attended segregated schools in New Orleans and graduated early from Howard University before attending Hartford Theological Seminary. It was during his time as a pastor in southern Georgia that he became active in the Civil Rights movement, organizing voter registration drives in 1954 in the face of death threats. After a few years with the National Council of Churches in New York, he returned to Georgia in 1961 to lead the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s “citizenship schools,” working closely with Dr. King to teach non-violent organizing strategies. He was a key strategist and negotiator during campaigns that led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

In 1972, Young was elected to Congress, becoming the first African-American representative from the Deep South since Reconstruction. He sponsored legislation that established a U.S. Institute for Peace, The African Development Bank, and the Chattahoochee River National Park while negotiating federal funds for MARTA (Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority), the Atlanta highway system, and a new international airport for Atlanta.

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed Young to serve as the nation’s first African-American Ambassador to the United Nations. Young was an architect of the first U.S. Africa policy grounded in human rights rather than simply cold war calculus, and he helped negotiate an end to white-minority rule in Namibia and Zimbabwe.

Young was instrumental in the building of modern-day Atlanta. He was elected Mayor in 1981 and re-elected in 1985 with nearly 85 percent of the vote. Hartsfield International Airport, whose development he championed, made it possible for Atlanta to attract 1,100 new businesses, $70 billion in foreign direct investment, and 1 million new jobs to the region during his tenure. It is now the busiest airport in the world. The city hosted the Democratic National Convention in 1988. Young also led the successful effort to bring the 1996 Olympic Games to Atlanta.

Young’s involvement with Africa has continued in the years since his term as ambassador. President Bill Clinton appointed him founding chair of the Southern African Enterprise Development Fund, and in 1996 he co-founded Good Works International, where for more than 15 years he promoted an approach to sustainable economic development in Africa and the Caribbean grounded in profitability and social responsibility. Through the Andrew J. Young Foundation and its partnerships with international agencies and the private sector, he continues to focus on expanding educational opportunities as well as innovative approaches to alleviating hunger and poverty in the U.S. and abroad.

Young is the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the French Legion d’Honneur and has received honorary degrees from more than 100 colleges and universities.

Young was born in 1932 in New Orleans, and he currently lives in Atlanta with his wife, Carolyn McClain Young. He is also a father of three daughters and one son, and a grandfather of eight.

President Joyce Hilda Banda is a Malawian politician who was the President of Malawi from 7 April 2012 to 31 May 2014. President Banda took office as President following the sudden death of the former President and was Malawi's fourth president, its first female president, and the second woman to become president on the African continent. Before becoming president, President Banda had served in various roles as a Member of Parliament, Minister of Gender and Child Welfare, Foreign Minister, and served as the country's first female vice-president. She is also the founder and leader of the People’s Party created in 2011.  

Before her active career in politics, President Banda was an educator and grassroots women's rights activist having founded the Joyce Banda Foundation, the National Association of Business Women (NABW), Young Women Leaders Network, and the Hunger Project. In June 2014, Forbes named President Banda as the 40th most powerful woman in the world and the most powerful woman in Africa. In October 2014, she was included in the BBC’s 100 Women.

 His Royal Majesty Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II is the Ooni of Ife (King of the Yoruba people, Federal Republic of Nigeria). His Majesty was selected as a king-elect out of 21 contenders to the Ọo ̣̀ni stool in an announcement by the Governor of O ̣̀ ṣun State, as a prince from the Giesi Family whose turn it was to produce a king. He received his Staff of Office from Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Raufu Adesoji Aregbesola on Monday 7 December 2015 at Enuwa Square, Ile-Ife in the presence of several dignitaries from all walks of life. He is the 51st Ooni of Ife. He graduated as an Accountant from The Polytechnic Ibadan. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and he is the Chancellor at the University of Nigeria Nsukka. 

His Royal Majesty Drolor Bosso Adamtey I -Advisory Board Chair

His Royal Majesty Drolor Bosso Adamtey I, is the SUAPOLOR of the SE (Shai) Kingdom and State, King of Kordiabe-Madaam, Ghana, West Africa. His royal lineage is through both parents’ ancestry.

He chairs the Africa Traditional Rulers Association, Drolor Centre for Strategic Leadership, and the Global Leadership Center.

His Royal Majesty King Adamtey I, who is a world-renowned visiting professor holds three doctorates in Philosophy, Theology, and Education.

His Royal Majesty is the first Chancellor of three universities, the University of Professional Studies, Accra, Ghana (2014-2019), the Caribbean Maritime University (Kingston, Jamaica 2017-Present), and the Truth Bible College and Seminary (Jacksonville, Florida 2001-2017). He is Chairman of the University Council of Laweh Open University College (Ghana, 2015-Present) and the Truth Bible University (Jacksonville, Florida 2017-Present) and is a best-selling author.

His Royal Majesty King Adamtey I is former Special Advisor to the Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Director of the UNDP-Africa.

 As a Visionary Leader, King Admatey founded Life International in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina in 1985 where he leads to present. His mission has taken him to over 100 countries where he addresses major global forums in the areas of leadership, global partnerships, economic empowerment, conflict resolution, development, and sustainability. 

 Her Excellency Ambassador Arikana Chihombori Quao MD-Founder and President of the African Diaspora Development Institute (ADDI). 

Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of ADDI, Her Excellency Arikana Chihombori Quao MD is a medical doctor (having practised medicine for over twenty-five years), founder and owner of medical clinics, diplomat, public speaker, educator and an entrepreneur. She is also an author and her recently published book Africa 101: The Wake-Up Call is a best seller on Amazon. 

Prior to this, in her role as Permanent Representative to the African Union Mission in Washington DC (2016-2019), Her Excellency Arikana Chihombori Quao MD worked tirelessly towards fulfilling her mandate which was to undertake, develop and maintain relationships between the African Union and the Executive and Legislative branches of the US Government, the African Diplomatic Corps, the Africans in the Diaspora and the Bretton Woods Institutions. This was specifically in relation to the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and advancing the priority areas of Agenda 2063. Her efforts at mobilizing the Diaspora as people of African descent and not as citizens of any single African country is unprecedented and exemplifies her ability to unify people around a common goal, speaking with one voice as one Africa and one Continent. 

Before her appointment as AU Ambassador, H. E. Arikana Chihombori Quao MD contributions to the cause of Africa had earned her many prestigious honors and awards. She has two awards which she cherishes the most. The first one was the Achievement Award which she received in 1996 from the incumbent President at the time, H.E. the late President Nelson Mandela of the Republic of South Africa. On the stage as she received the Award were both President Mandela and President Mugabe of the Republic of Zimbabwe. The second on was the African Woman of Excellence Award which she received in July 2015 during the AU Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. She received this award alongside 15 other prominent African Women including the former President of The Republic of Liberia, Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the former President of The Republic of Malawi, Madam Joyce Banda, Mama Winnie Mandela (Republic of South Africa), Mama Ngina Kenyatta (Republic of Kenya) Mama Asigwe Anyiam (Federal Republic of Nigeria) and Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (Republic of South Africa). 

During her 3-year tenure as AU Ambassador to the United States, H.E. Ambassador Arikana Chihombori Quao MD received over one hundred awards and attestations from many organizations including from the African Diaspora within the Americas. She received the 2018 Ambassador of the Year Award from Howard University in Washington DC. She also received numerous recognitions from Members of Congress as well as Governors, Mayors and County Executives from across the United States as well as the Caribbean and South America. 

The African Continent is also recognizing the noble contributions that H.E. Ambassador Arikana Chihombori Quao MD is making to the development of Africa as evidenced by the following accolades. 

In January 2020, after being featured having “A Profile in Courage”; H.E. Ambassador Arikana Chihombori Quao MD was honored to be named 2019 Person of the Year by The Guardian Newspaper which is the largest Newspaper in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In an article published on June 12 2020 by Eye Gambia, a reputable Gambian newspaper, H.E. Ambassador Arikana Chihombori Quao MD was listed fourth amongst their list of ten most influential Africans for 2019. She was the only female to make this list. Reputation Poll, a leading global reputation-management firm in its July 29th 2020 release of the 2020 list of 100 Most Reputable Africans also features H.E. Ambassador Arikana Chihombori Quao MD as one of the most reputable Africans. 

She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and a member of the American Association of Family Physicians as well as the Tennessee Association of Family Physicians. 

Her Excellency Arikana Chihombori Quao MD was born and raised in Zimbabwe where she attained her primary and secondary education. She then left Zimbabwe for the United States of America where she obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in General Chemistry, a Master’s Degree in Organic Chemistry as well as a Doctor of Medicine Degree. 

Her Excellency Ambassador Arikana Chihombori Quao MD is married to her Ghanaian husband and is a proud mother of five children and a very happy grandmother of five grandchildren. 

"Professor PLO Lumumba is the Founder of the PLO Lumumba Foundation and a consultant with Lumumba and Lumumba Advocates, a member of the Africa Justice Group (AJG).

Prof. Lumumba whose full name is Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba was born on 17th July 1962 and raised in Usenge and Nairobi Kenya. He received his LL.B and LL.M Degrees in Law at the University of Nairobi, followed by a PhD in the Law of the Sea at the University of Ghent in Belgium. He holds honorary Doctorate degrees from the University of Cape Coast in Ghana and Bells University in Nigeria. He is an Advocate of the High Courts of Kenya and Tanganyika and a certified mediator. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya FCPS (K), a Fellow of the Kenya Institute of Management (FKIM) and Honorary Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (FAAS). He is the Chairman of Farafina Investment Group in Monrovia, Liberia and Economic Strategic Growth and Development Initiative of Africa based in Nigeria.

He is the former Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya School of Law, a former Secretary and Chief Executive of the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission (CKRC) and a former Director and Chief Executive of the defunct Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) now Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC). He is a former lecturer at the University of Nairobi (UON), the United States International University (USIU Africa) and Widener University USA (Nairobi Summer School). A former and Founding Dean of the Kabarak University School of Law.

He was the Distinguished Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam for 2014. He was the 11th Kwame Nkrumah Lecturer at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana in 2016. He was the 5th Abram Tiro Onkgopotse Lecturer at the University of Limpopo in South Africa for the year 2017. He was the Nelson Mandela Centenary Memorial Lecturer at Walter Sisulu University in South Africa in 2018. He has authored several books on diverse subjects. With several thousand speeches on diverse subjects delivered in and outside Kenya, Lumumba is recognized as one of the leading public speakers in Kenya and across the African Diaspora. Prof. Lumumba is also the founder of several organizations including the PLO Lumumba Foundation, a charitable organization that has been in operation since 1990, The Association of the Citizens Against Corruption (ACAC) and Movement for Dialogue and Non-Violence (MODAN). He has also been twice recognized as one of the 100 most influential Africans."