Empowering African Nations Since 1981
Board of Directors
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Dr. Eamon Kelly is President Emeritus (1981-1998) and Professor, Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer, at Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana. Dr. Kelly was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the National Science Board (NSB) and chaired the governing board of the National Science Foundation. He is currently active on the boards of many professional, philanthropic, civic and corporate organizations.
Dr. Julie Helen Sullivan is President and Chief Executive Officer of IFESH and holds a Bachelors Degree in English from Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania, a Masters Degree in Journalism from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a Doctoral Degree in International Development from Tulane University. Dr. Sullivan, who has taught at the college level, has traveled to Benin, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Djibouti, Nigeria, Sierra Leon, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Malawi to monitor and set up grassroots, community development programs. She has also made presentations at numerous seminars and symposiums throughout the U.S. and Africa. She resides in Scottsdale with her three children, Leon Todd, Elisabeth Helene, and Grace Harris.
Dr. Bernard E. Anderson is a Former Whitney Young Professor of Management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He earned a Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Anderson served as Assistant Secretary of Labor in the Clinton Administration and was on the Board of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, as well as the Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America.
Mr. Alan Detheridge graduated from Oxford University in 1969. He is Associate Director of The Partnering Initiative, a global program of the Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum in association with Cambridge University. Before joining the initiative, he spent 30 years with the Royal Dutch Shell Group, retiring in April 2007 as Shell International's Vice President for External Affairs. In that capacity, he liased with governments, non-governmental organizations, multi-lateral agencies and foundations. Before moving to the position of Vice President for External Affairs, Mr. Detheridge was the Shell Group’s Chief Internal Auditor. He also serves on the boards of the Synergos Institute, Africare and Management Sciences for Health and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Revenue Watch Institute.
Mrs. Esther Ferguson is the Founder of the National Dropout Prevention Fund in Charleston, South Carolina. A former high school dropout, she returned to school, earned her college degree, and went on to become an advocate of community improvement.
Mrs. Bettye Jackson is President and CEO of Jackson Airport Enterprises, Inc. and a former Joint Venture Partner of HMS HOST, Sky Harbor International Airport, Phoenix, Arizona. She is the National Chair of Education Across the Miles, an initiative of The Links, Incorporated and IFESH to provide support to build 61 schools in South Africa. In addition, she has held volunteer leadership positions with the Maricopa Community College Foundation Board and the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce. Mrs. Jackson obtained a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education from Tuskegee University.
Dr. Ronald F. Mason, Jr. is the seventh president of Southern University System, one of the nation’s only historically black university system. He was former President of Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi; and enjoyed an18-year successful tenure at Tulane University that encompassed several positions, including Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Vice President for Finance and Operations. He is a native of New Orleans, LA and received his B.A. and J.D. degrees from Columbia University in New York City. He is a graduate of the Harvard Institute of Educational Management. Dr. Mason has been involved in numerous public service and professional activities including current membership on the White House Board of Advisors for Historically Black Colleges, the boards of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund, and the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO).
Madame Faida M. Mitifu, Ph.D. is the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R.C.) to the United States and has served in this position since 1999. During her tenure, she has testified before the U.S. Congress on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Africa’s Great Lakes region. Ambassador Mitifu has also lectured extensively on various topics ranging from conflict resolution to issues affecting Africa’s social and economic development. She holds a Ph.D. in romance languages from the University of Georgia, Athens, and a Masters of French Studies from Auburn University, Alabama.
Dr. Mac A. Stewart is the Former Special Assistant to the President for Diversity and Vice Provost for Minority Affairs at The Ohio State University. As the university’s chief diversity officer, Dr. Stewart worked to foster an affirming, productive and welcoming environment for minority students, faculty, and staff.
Dr. C.T. Wright is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of IFESH. He assisted Reverend Sullivan in all diplomatic and international negotiation efforts resulting in funding and implementation of the organization’s programs. With a Ph.D. in history from Boston University, he previously was the Provost and Executive Vice President of Florida Memorial College, the President of Cheyney University of Pennsylvania and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Talladega College.
Honorary Board Members
The Honorable Mary Robinson is Executive Director, The Ethical Globalization Initiative. Mrs. Robinson, the first woman President of Ireland and more recently United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, has spent most of her life as a human rights advocate. She was educated at the University of Dublin (Trinity College), King’s Inns Dublin and Harvard Law School to which she won a fellowship in 1967. In 1988, Mary Robinson and her husband founded the Irish Centre for European Law at the Trinity College. The recipient of numerous honors and awards throughout the world, Mary Robinson is a member of the Royal Irish Academy and the American Philosophical Society and, since 2002, has been Honorary President of Oxfam International. A founding member and Chair of the Council of Women World Leaders, she serves on many boards including the Vaccine Fund, and chairs the Irish Chamber Orchestra.
Issakha Diallo, MD, MPH, DrPH, IFESH Board Member Dr. Issakha Diallo is the Principal Program Associate for the Center for Health Outcomes in Reproductive Health and Family Planning (April 2006 – present). His professional career in public health spans 24 years and is highlighted by a range of technical and management leadership achievements promoting health in sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Diallo has worked with major institutions in the international community, including USAID, the World Bank, World Health Organization, UNICEF and the European Union, on major public health programs in sub-Saharan Africa, Haiti and Mali. He holds a M.D. from the University of Dakar, Senegal, a Master of Public Health (MPH) from Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and a degree in Public Health (PH) from the African Malagasy accreditation of University Teachers in Cotonou, Benin. He is fluent in French has published (in both French and English) numerous papers in the field of public health in professional journals and international publications.
