Leadership in Business
Leadership in Business Institutes are tailored to Fellows aspiring to become leaders in the private sector or to start their own business ventures in Africa. The Institutes introduce participants to business and entrepreneurial approaches in the United States, including those that address social issues. Institutes also help Fellows build technical and leadership capacity in areas such as innovation and technology, business plan development, financial management, business ethics, the intersection of business with civil society and government, and the role of public-private partnerships.
Solange Niba Ansah Mbom Epse Rfanyu Ngala
Ansah Mbom Solange is a fashion entrepreneur with over 10 years of experience in marketing and business management. Currently Solange is the Co-Owner and Creative Director of LUSHFABRICBYS&N, a brand focusing on designing and producing off-the-rack and custom-made outfits for local African and global markets. LUSHFABRICSBYS&N currently has showrooms in Yaoundé Bastos Cameroon and in Lomé, Togo. Solange aspires to open business incubators for youth entrepreneurs in fashion to serve as apprentices for industry experts who can mentor them into becoming creative designers or start-up business owners and managers. Solange holds a B.A. degree in business management sciences with a specialization in marketing.
Brice Albin Yamedzeu
Brice Albin Yamedzeu is the Founder and CEO of Y Productions (Y Prod), which focuses on the development of Cameroon’s cultural and creative industries. With over 13 years of experience in media as a radio and TV host, he has also been Cameroon’s official correspondent for Radio France International (RFI)’s program, “Couleurs Tropicales,” since 2013 and is a Brand Ambassador for Hennessy Cognac.
Lesly Ndam Njei
Ndam Njei Lesly is a software engineer and technology entrepreneur with six years of experience in the tech-innovation industry. He is the Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Innovative Clan, a FinTech startup that enables digital payment of fees in Cameroonian schools. This has been adopted by the Ministry of Secondary Education as the official method of tuition payment and examination fees for 2,775 secondary schools in Cameroon. Through Innovative Clan, Lesly won first prize at the Digital Hackathon organized by the Port Authority of Kribi and the MTN Cameroon Y’ello Care Hackathon. Lesly holds a Bachelor’s in Computer Engineering from the University of Buea. He is passionate about digital inclusion and has inspired youth to help bridge the technology gap in Cameroon.
Emmanuel Fru
Emmanuel Fru is the Co-Founder and COO of Electram Engineering, a solar energy firm, and CEO/Founder of SmartSana Technologies, a digital transformation firm specializing in InfoTech and AgriTech solutions. As an IT solutions architect, with close to five years of digital transformation and renewable energy experience, Fru has worked with a cross-section of business sectors implementing sustainable digitalization solutions. An advocate for STEM education, Fru volunteers at the ICT University Foundation USA as a STEM Education Program Coordinator. Fru wants to lead the charge in the implementation of smart industry solutions across Cameroon and prepare the next generation of scientists with STEM-centric educational programs.
Aissata Ibamie
Aissata Ibamie is a design engineer in renewable energy and a clean energy activist. As a Manager of ASAAB AFRICA SARL (manufacturer of the ASAAB Thermal Cooker), Aissata also trains people in the manufacture of biogas and ecological coal. Having faced the challenge of lack of access to energy sources for cooking, Aissata established the ASAAB Thermal Cooker project in 2017 after only her second year of engineering training to provide affordable and efficient energy sources to people.
Frida Eposi Ndi
Eposi Frida is a business entrepreneur powering the growth of emerging African businesses using innovative tools and techniques to transform ideas into sustainable thriving businesses. She has mentored 350+ emerging entrepreneurs, SMEs, and start-ups across Africa. Frida founded the African Enterprising Woman, a platform that trains emerging female entrepreneurs to leverage digital skills to become leading entrepreneurs and is the Co-Founder and Chief of Operations for the entrepreneurial hub Dunamis Safety Nets and Data Girl Technologies. Frida plans to create a virtual hub to train and mentor 10,000 emerging entrepreneurs and startups and is currently pursuing an MBA in Marketing at the Rome Business School.
Leadership in Civic Engagement
Leadership in Civic Engagement Institutes are tailored to Fellows who are civically engaged and serving the public through non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations, or volunteerism. The Institutes expose Fellows to civic engagement in the United States while building technical and leadership capacity in areas such as advocacy, strategic planning, organizational development, and the intersection of civil society with business and government.
Sidoine Felix Leudjie Magoua
Sidoine Felix M. Leudjie is a civic leader in youth empowerment. He serves as National Chair of the Cameroon Debate Circuit in developing a debate culture in schools across Cameroon by creating public speaking and debate clubs. Sidoine also serves on the UN Major Group for Children and Youth (UNMGCY) African Task Force as a rapporteur for Central Africa which facilitates social dialogue and ensures training and labor migration policy coherence to create employment opportunities for young IDPs.
Ines Tchakounte Yimga
Yimga Tchakounte is the Executive Director at the Youth Alliance for Leadership and Development in Africa (YALDA Cameroon), focusing on leveraging the potential of youth in civic development and humanitarian work. She is also the Project Director at MDDT Cameroon, focusing on youth engagement in democratic and peace processes and reducing youth radicalization and violence. Yimga holds a B.S. degree in Gender, Migration and Refugee Studies and has over six years of civil society experience in refugee relief actions, youth engagement in civic education, and democratic processes.
Alliance Fidele Abelegue
Abélégué Alliance Fidèle is a humanitarian worker, CSO member, and independent researcher with eight years of M&E and capacity project management experience in the areas of peace and social cohesion, reintegration, civil society strengthening, and youth & women’s empowerment. Fidele volunteers at DMJCM in the areas of community service, conflict resolution, and countering violent extremism, and is a promoter of Humanity Purpose, a network of local youth associations working in community development in the Far North Region.
Randy Ndam Menkemndi
Randy Menkemndi is the CEO of Noble Arts Entertainment Company with 10 years of experience. Menkemndi utilizes film as a medium to promote youth employment and discourage illegal migration of young internally displaced persons due to the Northwest/Southwest crisis in Cameroon. With a Bachelor of Business Administration and a B.S. in Business Management and Entrepreneurship, Menkemdi is currently pursuing a Master’s in Business Management. Menkemndi’s vision is to create 2000 jobs in the film and creative industry for young IDPs/illegal migration returnees to produce films from an African point of view and improve the quality of life for the next generation of Africans.
Njapdounke Rabiatou Aliyu
Rabiatou Aliyu Njapdounke is a development communications practitioner and social worker with over five years of experience. As the Communications Project Coordinator for the Rural Women Center for Education and Development (RuWCED), she promotes health, education, and human rights of rural women, girls, youth, and children. Rabiatou also supports the Communication Unit of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (MINHDU) in Yaoundé in urban development and low-cost housing.
Ruth Arreyngang Abunaw Besong
Ruth Besong A. is a PhD candidate in Gender and Development and an award-winning humanitarian with over 10 years of experience in humanitarian response, peace, and gender equality. She is the Founding President and the Women Empowerment and Protection Officer for Investing in People Worldwide Cameroon, a youth and women centered organization that builds resilient communities of peace and economic prosperity. Ruth’s contributions in community development, female empowerment, peace building, and good governance earned her the title “Global Goodwill Ambassador”.
Beverly Niyang Ndifoin
Ndifoin Beverly is a journalist and development communication professional with a keen interest in environmental sustainability. She holds a B.S. degree in Journalism and Mass Communications and a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Buea. After the COP26 conference, Beverly set up Game Changers to combat climate change by mobilizing private and public sector organizations to commit to the “Climate Emergency” and training SMEs on adopting low carbon operations. Beverly aims to redress carbon footprint using television as a platform for a pitch competition for innovative green entrepreneurs.\
Leadership in Public Management
Leadership in Public Management Institutes are tailored to Fellows who work, or aspire to work, in all levels of government, regional or international organizations, or other publicly-oriented groups and think tanks. The Institutes introduce Fellows to U.S. models and best practices in public management while building technical and leadership capacity in areas such as citizen engagement, resource management, financial management systems, and the intersection of government with business and civil society.
Dinga Nyoh Mbekuveh
Dr. Mbekuveh Dinga-Nyoh has served as a Medical Doctor at the Ministry of Public Health in Cameroon for over five years. With a specialization in HIV/AIDS, she is working to reduce the spread of HIV amongst youths and stigmatized groups in Cameroon. Focused on improving patients’ care and quality of life, she has worked first as a medical expert for the CHAMP (Continuum of Prevention, Care and Treatment for HIV/AIDS with Most-At-Risk Populations) Project, and then as a consulting physician at the Yaoundé University Hospital HIV/AIDS Treatment Center. In addition to her medical degree, Dr. Dinga-Nyoh holds a Master’s in Public Health Methodology.
Christiana Haddison Eposi
Eposi Haddison is a medical doctor and epidemiologist with 10 years of clinical and public health experience. Currently, Eposi is the District Medical Officer of the Saa Health District in Cameroon where she is in charge of all facility and community-based activities. She plans, implements, and evaluates public health programs. As a result of Eposi’s expertise in disease surveillance, the Saa Health District ranks among the top 10 districts in disease surveillance and uptake of the newly introduced HPV and COVID 19 vaccines in her region. Eposi’s vision is to see a Cameroon where life-saving vaccines will be accessible to Cameroonians of all ages and will save thousands of lives.
Belack Alain Bobit
Bobit Belack Alain, aka Daddy Bob, is a singer/composer, Founder/CEO of Highest Praise International, and Founder/CEO of LIT WORLD INC. Daddy Bob has contributed to the development of gospel music and performance arts in Cameroon by helping to train and mentor 5000 youth annually with hundreds of gospel artists. He has organized large scale music conferences and was the winner of Best Gospel Group Cameroon 2019.
Stephanie Lamma Ewi
Ewi Stephanie Lamma is an advocate for women’s right to access and decision-making about the management of natural resources. Lamma holds an M.S. degree in Natural Resource and Environmental Management from the University of Buea. She assesses women’s participation in REDD+ and climate change projects in Cameroon and advocates for the voices of lower income population in rural areas – especially women and youth – to the general public and national and international policy processes. She hosts a radio program called “Eco-voice” and works closely with Forests, Resources and People Cameroon.