Upcoming Events

Monthly Executive Speaker Series: Career Roadmaps

Empowering the 2030 Agenda through Youth-led Social Enterprises and STEM”

Venue: NYC Seminar and Conference Center
71 West 23rd Street, Suite 515 – Seminar Room C
New York, NY 10010

You are cordially invited by CareerNation and PAN Africa Network, to join the conversation “Empowering the 2030 Agenda through Youth-led Social Enterprises and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM): Harnessing the Economic Power of the World’s Youth” in NYC on Thursday September 29th starting at 6pm EST onward.

We will be joined by our guest speakers:

Barbara A. Simmons – Inaugural Dean, International Education, William V.S. Tubman University – Moderator

· Cherae Robinson – Founder & CEO Taste Makers Africa

· Alizé Utteryn – Founder & CEO AlizéLaVie Media

· Chike Ukaegbu – Educator, Entrepreneur, Investor, Humanitarian and Biomedical Engineer

· Kwame Marfo – Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur and Managing Partner HOA Fund

A networking session with food and refreshment will follow.

https://executivespeakerseriesstem.eventbrite.com

Feel free to invite friends and colleagues along.

Speakers

Cheraé Robinson

Entrepreneur, Connector, & Development Expert

Cheraé Robinson is an entrepreneur, connector, and development expert currently founder and CEO at Tastemakers Africa, a mobile app and content platform revolutionizing what the world thinks about Africa one trip at a time.

For nearly a decade, Cheraé brokered partnerships while raising visibility and support for large international nonprofit organizations in a number of fundraising, media, and private sector engagement roles. Her expertise spans from agriculture to women’s empowerment to the public health space having spent time at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, and CARE. Cherae was a part of the team that created the Borlaug Institute for South Asia, a $100 Million USD Agricultural research institution in Delhi, India and the Carlos Slim Biotechnology Center, a $80 Million research facility in Texcoco, Mexico. She has traveled and worked in more than 30 countries.

The winner of the inaugural “She Leads Africa” startup competition, Ms. Robinson has been named one of 10 Emerging Women Entrepreneurs in Africa by forbes.com, one of 20 to watch by leading Silicon Valley trends group Culture Shift Labs, and a Woman to Watch by the United Nations Foundation and Innov8tive Magazine. Tastemakers Africa has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, skift.com, amadeus.com, Inc Magazine, and many other global publications for its disruptive approach to travel. She is also a member of the inaugural African Leadership Network Ventures accelerator cohort.

Cherae is a member of the Diaspora African Women’s Network (DAWN) and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and is the founder of The Afripolitans a private 80 member collective of young professionals engaging Africa through commerce and creativity connected through a voyage to Equatorial Guinea. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Morgan State University and splits her time between Brooklyn, NY and city-hopping the African continent. When not tackling the demands of running a fast-moving startup she spends her time initiating as many family dance parties as she can.

BARBARA A. SIMMONS, J.D.
Past representative of the Consortium of African Diasporas in the U.S

Barbara A. Simmons has a distinguished career of consistent delivery and sustained performance in academia, community and international strategic program development and execution resulting from the ability to garner support from divergent stakeholders and communities. Barbara Simmons is often referred to as “the bridge.” She represented the Consortium of African Diasporas in the U.S. (CADUS) at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences Women in STEM Initiative Consultative Meeting and at the inaugural Next Einstein Forum in Senegal March, 2016. Simmons served as coordinator for three programs in 2015 at the World Bank involving African Women, Girls and the Diaspora focused on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). She co-chaired in November 2015, as a part of the African Union Diaspora Conference, a session on Historically Black Colleges and Universities and their projects in Africa. In October, 2014, she developed and implemented the Constituency for Africa symposium on STEM and African and African American Universities at the Microsoft Innovation & Policy Center in Washington, DC. Simmons represented Tubman University and spoke at the Launching of PUSH (Presidents United to Solve Hunger) at the United Nations, December 2014.

Currently serving as the Inaugural Dean of International Education and Associate Professor at William V.S. Tubman University in rural Liberia, Simmons has effectively negotiated and implemented agreements with international partners resulting in innovative and mutually beneficial programs for all. Simmons was a 2014-15 Association of International Education Administrators Neal Presidential Fellow.

Her internships in law school included: United Nations Development Programme/Gender in Development Programme, United States Attorney’s Office in Wilmington, DE and Philadelphia, PA, the Philadelphia City Solicitor’s Office, and First USA Bank (which is now Chase Bank). She has taught at the undergraduate and graduate levels at several U.S. colleges and universities.

The recipient of numerous awards, Simmons was most recently presented with a third Philadelphia City Council Citation for contributions to African and Caribbean Affairs including a previous presentation at a forum in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil entitled, “Women’s Rights as Human Rights and the Role of the Law.”

Barbara Simmons is the past president of the National Forum for Black Public Administrators Greater Philadelphia Chapter, and Co-founder & first President of the Cleveland Chapter. She is also a past president of the Philadelphia Chapter of the National Bar Association’s Women Lawyers Division (WLD) and served on the WLD Foundation Board. As a Board Member for the Committee of Seventy, a good governance, non-partisan, non-profit organization in Philadelphia, she served on its Ethics and Education Subcommittees. She is a member of Phi Delta Kappa (education fraternity), Phi Alpha Delta (legal fraternity), and of the African American Chamber of Commerce of Philadelphia, New Jersey and Delaware. Former memberships include the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, Citizen Diplomacy, Society for International Development, and the International Economic Development Council.

Simmons’ review of the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women was published by the American Bar Association in INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS OF WOMEN. A much sought after speaker, Simmons has made hundreds of presentations on topics such as leadership development, the African Diaspora, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), international conflict and dispute resolution, Diversity/Inclusive Excellence, and women’s rights as human rights. She has great passion for gender equity and the development and nurturing of transformative, self-transcendent leaders who are committed to the unity of Africa and all of its Diaspora. Barbara A. Simmons, J.D. holds a Masters of Social Science Administration from Case Western Reserve University and a Juris Doctorate from Temple University.

Chike Ukaegbu

Educator, Entrepreneur, Investor, Humanitarian and Biomedical Engineer.

Chike Ukaegbu is an Educator, Entrepreneur, Investor, Humanitarian and Biomedical Engineer who is passionate about curbing disconnection, poverty, educational disadvantage and opportunity divide in underrepresented communities.

Chike is an ardent believer in diversity an dits benefits and continues to advocate for its support and adoption. He is currently raising a $30 million diversity focused Venture Capital fund. He was recently invited to The White House to do a briefing on initiatives that support diversity, STEM education and entrepreneurship for youths and underserved communities.

Chike co-founded Re:LIFE Inc, a 501c3 nonprofit with the mission to empower youth through entrepreneurship and education. He is also the founder of Startup52, NYC’s first diversity focused accelerator with a mission to increase the representation of underserved founders in tech and startup entrepreneurship.

He is an ex-fellow of the prestigious Colin Powell Leadership Fellowship on leadership and public policy, was named a 2014 NYC Rising Star by Pave for his contributions to youth development and recently, a 2015 Ashoka Emerging Innovator Finalist. He gave a 2014 TEDx talk on entrepreneurship in Hawaii and continues to advocate for economic empowerment of disenfranchised communities through various outlets, among other achievements.

Chike studied Venture Capital & Investments at Stanford, MBA courses at UPenn, Executive Leadership and Management at Cornell, and Biomedical Engineering at The City College of New York, where he taught Math for seven years and served as Entrepreneur-in-Residence for two.

Kwame Marfo
Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur and Managing Partner HOA Fund

Kwame is a social entrepreneur, an opinion writer and a farmer. He has significant experience advising and challenging boards of firms ranging from SMEs to multinationals across four continents. His experiences include advising a $7 billion diversified industrial conglomerate in India in a $135 million opportunity to enter into a new market, to advising an agribusiness in Ghana in raising $25 million to launch a new venture to secure its raw material base. Kwame most recently worked at the Bank of England, before founding Diaspora Capital LLP where he chairs the Investment Committee and leads the team in sourcing deals, conducting due diligence, structuring, monitoring investments and providing management support to portfolio firms.Kwame was the International Executive Producer of the award-winning documentary, When Elephants Fight, which was Executive Produced and Narrated by Robin Wright (Claire Underwood from House of Cards). He has BS (Hons) from Binghamton University, an MBA from the Ross School of Business (Michigan) and an MSc from the London School of Economics.

How to Discover and Harness Your Entrepreneurship Skills

Alize Utteryn, M.S.

Also join us in welcoming Alize Utteryn, a seasoned entrepreneur and business professional, as she discusses the end’s and out’s of “being your own boss.” She will share her own experiences and challenges that illuminate the roadmap to success in building your own business and brand.

Alize is a graduate of Paris’ Institute Superior of Human Resources (ISGP) with a Master of Sciences degree in Human Resources Management (Business Administration).

She is a businesswoman, entrepreneur, journalist, and fashion event coordinator. Her latest endeavor is the creation of AlizeLaVie Media in which she is the editor in chief. Alize is also a member of the US National Committee for UN Women, advocating for gender equality and the empowerment of women.

She has won many awards for her innovative and entrepreneurial efforts, including the Danny Glover Power of Dreams award on March 28, 2016.

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