Bios

Yunia Palacios-Cuesta | DIHGLA Cohort 3 | IBWPPI

Yunia Palacios-Cuesta

Santa Marta, 30 de octubre del 2022 Señores: THE DOROTHY I. HEIGHT Global Leadership Academy Yunia Cecilia Palacios Cuesta, of legal age, a resident of this city, identified with citizenship card number 32772143, of Colombian nationality, born in the city of Quibdó, Department of Choco, resident in the city of Santa Marta. Politely and with […]

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Valencia Lynes | DIHGLA Cohort 3 | IBWPPI

Valencia Lynes

Biography of Valencia Lynes Born on January 19th, 1988, in Freeport, Grand Bahama to Brent Lynes, Portia Evans Roll, Valencia has been described by many as a woman of integrity, passion, creativity, family, love, purpose and vision. She received her early childhood education at Walter Parker Primary School and her secondary education at St. George’s High

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Tammy Wilder | DIHGLA Cohort 3 | IBWPPI

Tammy Wilder

Tammy Wilder is a native Georgian shaped by the love of family in all its forms, the chisel of time and the perpetual forgiveness and grace of her faith.  Tammy previously worked as a Family Therapist, helping families navigate the turbulent waters of teen pregnancy and parenthood, substance abuse, homelessness and even divorce. As Senior

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Tameika Isaac Devine | DIHGLA Cohort 3 | IBWPPI

Tameika Isaac Devine

Bio – Tameika Isaac Devine Growing up in a family dedicated to public service, Tameika Isaac Devine learned early on that we all have a role to play in making our communities better—and that if you want change, you have to roll up your sleeves and get to work. Tameika knew she wanted to make

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Simone Smith-Bean | DIHGLA Cohort 3 | IBWPPI

Simone Smith-Bean

Biography Simone Smith-Bean – Executive Board Member, Financial Secretary and Director of the International Black Women’s Public Policy Institute. Simone Is the Owner and Managing Director of Smith Bean & Company Limited/ SBC Corporate Services Limited. Her specialty ranges from Civil Litigation to FinTech and Innovation Law.  SBC operates in three Countries, Bermuda, The Bahamas

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Selina Ayvivi | DIHGLA Cohort 3 | IBWPPI

Selina Ayivi-Tosuh

Selina Mawunyo Ayivi-Tosuh was born at Akwatia, the Eastern region of Ghana. She enrolled in the Biological Sciences program at the University of Cape Coast and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science. After her bachelor’s degree, she performed her mandatory national service at the Center for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine (CSRPM), now

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Ruth Ebiasah | DIHGLA Cohort 3 | IBWPPI

Ruth Ebiasah

Ruth Ebiasah, PharmD, MS/HSPA Clinical Pharmacy Chief and Researcher Dr. Ruth Ebiasah is a first-generation, Ghanaian American, born in Washington, D.C. and raised in the DMV area. Dr. Ebiasah earned a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Howard University and Master’s degree in Health-Systems Pharmacy Administration and Leadership from The Ohio State University. In addition to

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Rosina Simmons | Bio | IBWPPI

Rosina Simmons

Rosina Ivery-Simmons is a native of Winnsboro, South Carolina. She has been married to Keith Simmons for 32 years. Mrs. Simmons has one adult son, Jailyn Simmons. Rosina and her husband reside in Clinton, MD. In 1997, she began her teaching career in Prince George’s County, MD. Mrs. Simmons’ experience began at Kettering Middle School

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Rachelle F. Rowe Smith | DIHGLA Cohort 3 | IBWPPI

Rachel F. Rowe Smith

Rachelle Smith is an accomplished business professional, originally from San Francisco, California, currently residing in San Antonio Texas. She works as a Health and Nutrition Sales Marketing Manager & licensed Realtor. Rachelle has demonstrated throughout her career the ability to drive results using a collaborative approach to business building through focused planning, and sales growth

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Nayila Moore | DIHGLA Cohort 3 | IBWPPI

Nayila Moore

Nayila Moore is a 2022 graduate from Howard University and currently is part of the IT Services practice at Spencer Stuart where she helps drive research efforts as a search analyst. Nayila also has a passion for visual art, and spends her time outside of work growing her art business. Prior to joining Spencer Stuart 

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Melissa Watson Ward | DIHGLA Cohort 3 | IBWPPI

Melissa Watson Ward

Melissa Watson Ward Melissa Watson Ward is the Deputy Affiliate Director for Emerge, where she collaborates with and provides support to the organization’s growing network of state affiliates. With more than 15 years of experience in community organizations, Melissa has dedicated her career to providing education, resources, and advocacy to decrease disparities and increase opportunities

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Mary Banguero | Bio | IBWPPI

Mary Banguero

Bio – Mary Cecilia Banguero Balanta My name is Mary Cecilia Banguero Balanta. I was born in the Department of Cauca, Colombia, on September 3, 1973. I came from a family with little to no money and grew up on a farm called El Gramal where I studied until the third grade of primary school.

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Maria Murillo | DIHGLA Cohort 3 | IBWPPI

Maria Murillo

Passionate, Hard Worker, Patience       My name is Maria Murillo. I am 58 years old, and I was born in Cali, Colombia. I am the youngest of 6 siblings, and we were raised by a hard-working father and a doting mother who did not have the opportunity to attend school as a child, but when we

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Kayla Mallett Bacote | DIHGLA Cohort 3 | IBWPPI

Kayla Mallett Bacote

Kayla Mallett Bacote, Philanthropic Program Offficer Kayla Mallett Bacote (she/her) is the daughter of Marcella, granddaughter of Inez and Janie, and great-granddaughter of Etta, Moriah, Dahlia, and Corena.  Her praxis is rooted in the spirit of collectivism, affirmation, shared resources, self-determination,  and jubilee – a reflection of  the practices espoused by her Grandmother Inez and other folks

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Janiah Miller | DIHGLA Cohort 3 | IBWPPI

Janiah Miller

  Janiah Miller is the Power Building Organizer for Political Campaigns at Black Feminist Future who leads the political campaigns HIVE and their steering committee that propels campaigns focusing on Black women, girls and gender expansive people utilizing a across the country and globally through movement and power building.  Janiah believes that Black feminisms creates

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Flora Gil | DIHGLA Cohort 3 | IBWPPI

Flora Gil

I am Flora Inés Perea Gil, I was born 56 years ago in the department of Chocó, municipality of Ismina. I am the daughter of a peasant father and a domestic worker mother Ernestina Gil Perea tarcisio Perea ibargüen farmer. Furthermore, I had two children. In 2007, my eldest son was murdered. At 18, I

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Fatoumatta Joof | DIHGLA Cohort 3 | IBWPPI

Fatoumatta Joof

My name is Fatoumatta Joof. I was born and raised in The Gambia, a small country on the west side of Africa. I am from the “Serer” and “Wolof” tribe. I grew up loving the art of reading and writing, leading me to choose English in literature as my favorite subject in school. My exposure

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Cassandra-Tutt-WilliamS

Cassandra Tutt-Williams

Rev Dr. Cassandra LA’ Veda Williams Bio Cassandra L. Tutt-Williams is a Pastor, mother, and business owner of The Calvary Experience, LLC. She has become an advocate for spiritual and mental health in the black community. She works tirelessly to see that all black and brown people have the services that they may need to

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Amelia McKie | DIHGLA Cohort 3 | IBWPPI

Amelia McKie

Amelia Butler McKie is a founding partner and consultant a governmental relations and communications/public relations firm serving municipal, state and private agencies. Her passion is educational advocacy and community relations; her joy comes where those two worlds collide. She is also a journalistic wordsmith and enjoys creating written works of art; editing other entities’ written

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Belinda Auwumee | DIHGLA Cohort 3 | IBWPPI

Belinda Awumee

Belinda is an agile professional, possessing practical experience in Project & Stakeholder Management and Business Development. She is passionate about the power of the private sector to drive development, commerce, and sustainable solutions.​ Her project management experience comes from managing and coordinating team performance in the private sector with a focus on technology, construction and engineering. She has successfully completed

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Myriam Mondestin Sorrentino | Cohort 2 | DIH GLA | IBWPPI

Myriam Mondestin Sorrentino

Dr. Mondestin is a physician who is triple board certified in both OB/GYN, maternal fetal medicine and obesity medicine.  She holds a certificate of executive leadership from the Wharton School. She holds voluntary faculty clinical appointment at both Jefferson and Rutgers Medical School which gives her the privilege to contribute to the education of medical

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Teshieka-K-Curtis-Pugh | DIHGLA COHORT 2| IBWPPI

Teshieka K. Curtis-Pugh

Teshieka K. Curtis-Pugh, better known as T.K., is the Chief Nursing Officer at Encompass Health in Rock Hill, SC. A leader among leaders, T.K. is always seeking opportunities to grow and advance others. Through her leadership, both nurses and technicians have attained national certification. In addition to her role at Encompass Health, she serves in

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Yonelle Moore Lee

Yonelle Moore Lee was born in Guyana, South America, and is the first generation in her family educated in the United States. By the time she was 7 years old, Yonelle had lived in three countries.  Her passion for travel has continued and to date, she has visited over forty countries.  She is an attorney,

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Tshombe Buckman

Tshombe Buckman is an airline industry veteran with three decades of working in progressive roles at American Airlines. Most of her career was dedicated to internal auditing and regulatory compliance. She was part of a team of five that developed the company’s Internal Financial Controls Manual, as well as curriculum for cross-functional departments; which resulted

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Tinee Furbert

Minister, The Hon. Tinee Furbert JP, MP MSc OTR C/NDT ATS CDME Contact information and Service Area: 20 Redkiln Rd. Hamilton Parish CR02 Bermuda (441) 704-5636 Email: tsfurbert@gmail.com Servant Leadership Practice Focus and Interests Tinee is highly involved with her community and has developed a practice where she advocates on behalf of a person’s healthcare

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Taylor Newkirk

A Prince George’s County, Maryland native, Taylor has made her mark as a social justice advocate in places like New Jersey, Georgia, Ireland, and her very own DC-Maryland-Virginia tri-state area. Taylor has worked with middle school and high school students in mentor and teaching capacities and has increased her passion for education reform primarily for

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Shanice Battle, MPH, PhD

Shanice Battle, PhD, MPH is a Social Epidemiologist whose work examines various aspects of health equity. Dr. Battle is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University (BS, Psychology), Georgia State University (MPH) and the University of Michigan where she earned her doctoral degree in Epidemiological Sciences. She has previously worked at the Centers for Disease Control

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Margie Scott

Margie Scott was born and raised in South Carolina. After graduating from law school and earning admission to the South Carolina Bar in 2016, Margie worked for  Walmart Stores, Inc. where she adjusted complex general liability, products liability,  premises liability and property damage claims in Florida, West Virginia, Illinois, Utah,  and Rhode Island. In 2019,

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Karen Wright-Chisolm

Karen Wright-Chisolm grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, the 7th child of eleven children.  Karen attended and graduated from Burke High School in 1973.  Karen is a Retired Veteran from the United States Air Force, retiring as a Chief Master Sergeant, the highest enlisted rank only obtained by 1 % of the force. Chief Chisolm

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Felicity Richlove Ashun

Felicity Richlove Ashun has over 12 years of experience in the areas of Administration, Human Resources, Banking Operations, Treasury Management, Procurement and IT. My current role as the Head of Administration and Human Resources and the Banking Operations Department of MGI Microfinance Limited has given me the rare opportunity of applying all my skills and

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Fadzai Thelma Mafudze

Fadzai Thelma Mafudze is a Zimbabwean currently based in Maryland. She holds a bachelor’s degree in International relations & business and she also holds a Master’s degree in International business and management. She is a seasoned resource acquisition and business development expert with work experience spanning over 7 years.  Her background in socio-economic development, specializing

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Bridgette Rahming

“No one ever became a success without taking chances… One must be able to recognize the moment and seize it without delay.”                                                                       Estee Lauder.   My name is Bridgette Rahming. I was born on August 22, 1971, in Grand Bahama.  I am a 50-year-old single Black female. I speak one language which is English.  I have

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Brianna R. Smith

Brianna R. Smith is an ambitious young professional from Oakland, California. Born and raised in Oakland, Brianna transitioned to Austin Texas where she works as a Cybersecurity Project Manager in Identity and Access Management. Brianna serves as Vice President of the Austin Area Urban League Young Professionals, a service auxiliary group and affiliate of the

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Tiffany James

Tiffany James is the founder and CEO of Justice James Consulting, a global social impact and public relations firm based in Columbia, SC. Currently, Ms James is working on a community effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 as the Vaccine Equity and Community Engagement Coordinator at the South Carolina Association for Community Action Partnerships.

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Nnenna Onwuzo

My name is Nnenna Onwuzo. I currently live in Houston, Texas. I am a lifelong learner with a flair for trade and business. While preparing to be a good leader with a doctorate in Leadership and global business, I have just completed a leadership development program at the Dorothy I Height Global Leadership Academy. The

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Annie E. McDaniel

Annie E. McDaniel was born and raised in Fairfield County, SC.  Her education began in Fairfield County’s public schools. Ms McDaniel then earned her Bachelor of Science in business administration with a major in accounting at UofSC. She later returned for a Master’s in public administration. Ms McDaniel completed two PhD education administration courses in

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Chantal Blanc-Charite

My name is Chantal Blanc-Charite and I am a nineteen-year veteran the in the healthcare industry. I am a well-versed Administrative Assistant with vast knowledge of Project Management, strategic planning, and leadership.  Having worked in healthcare for such a long time and recently transitioning to a psychiatric facility, I am a firm believer in “service

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Carmin R. Brown

Carmin R. Brown is the Multi-Cultural Business Alliance Manager, in the Social Innovation division, at Toyota Motor North America, Inc. (TMNA).  Carmin is responsible for leading and supporting strategic development plans for multicultural community partners (i.e. African American, Women, Latino, Native American, etc.) in alignment to Social Justice initiatives. Carmin has also managed Toyota’s national

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Chanelle Brown

Chanelle Brown is a communications practitioner and the Research and Policy Fellow at the International Black Women’s Public Policy Institute. Previously, she served as the Public Relations Manager at TV One, Communications Director in the New York State Assembly and as a communications associate with the Los Angeles City Council.  Brown has also held multiple

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Thai Buckman | DIH GLA Graduate of 2021

Thai Buckman

Thai Buckman is the Program Coordinator at VSEDC South LA  Best Buy Teen Tech Center, an affiliate of The Clubhouse  Network. She is committed to helping youth discover their unique path to success. She joined The Clubhouse Network as a Mentor Coordinator at  EXPO Center, where she quickly flourished in building mentor-mentee relationships, creating content for programming,

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Marlissa Collier

Marlissa Collier is the Area Manager of Network Services at AT&T in Dallas, TX. In this role, she is responsible for technician dispatch strategy and operations for Northern California and Nevada. Marlissa joined AT&T as a member of the 2015 cohort of AT&T’s flagship Leadership Development Program. Since joining AT&T, she has held roles in

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Opal Enriquez

Opal Enriquez was born in the country of Belize and migrated to the United States along with her family shortly after her completion of her primary school education. With newfound opportunity to explore her talent, she attended   Hamilton High School Academy of Music, where she was awarded an NAACP scholarship to study dance and

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Nikisha Evans

Nikisha Evans is an Entrepreneur at heart and a Licensed Paralegal of The Law Society of Ontario. Her passion for justice, love for advocacy and compassion for others guides her in representing clients in her Paralegal practice, Evans Paralegal Services. Nikisha is also the President of The Congress of Black Women Canada London Chapter, which is one of

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Tammilee Jules

Tammilee has been the Poet in Residence for the International Black Women’s Public Policy Institute (IBWPPI) for the past 12 years. Traveling with IBWPPI, Tammilee opens every Policy Forum with a message that sets the atmosphere to receive the Agenda. Tammilee has spoken before World Leaders, CEO’s, Business Owners, Members of Parliament, Congressional Leaders, in

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Sinenhlanhla Luthuli

Please let me introduce myself. I am Sinenhlanhla Luthuli, currently employed as a principal engineer at Toyota South Africa Motors for the past 9 years. I have a Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering. I was born in Nongoma, a rural town in Northern KwaZulu-Natal. This area up to this day is still an impoverished

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Krysta A. Mason-Smith, LL.B, LL.M

Mason-Smith graduated from the prestigious Queen’s College High School and the former College of the Bahamas (both in Nassau, Bahamas) as well as the University of Manchester (England) and St. Thomas University (Florida).  She completed her Professional Studies at BPP Professional Education (England) which qualified her as a Barrister.  She was called to both the

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Mekia Mason

Mekia Mason is an Elementary Guidance Counselor who works with students between the age of 5 and 12 years old to carefully steer them in the direction towards self-fulfillment and holistic development. After spending nearly six years working closely with elementary school aged children, firstly, as a School Social Worker and now as a Guidance

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Lindokuhle Matoti

Lindokuhle Matoti is a South African born and raised in the rural villages of Cala in the Eastern Cape. She is currently a full-time technical agent at ICC (International Call Center). She recently (2020) graduated from the Durban University of Technology in Management and Science,  specializing in public relations and communications. In 2019 she completed her

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Channell Mellish

Channell Mellish is an impact-driven public affairs professional and communications strategist with an unwavering commitment to fostering positive social change and sustainable development. With more than a decade of experience working in the government, nonprofit, legal, and civil society sectors, she found that her skills are best utilized at the intersection of policy and effective

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Mohammed Nurah

Mohammed Suglo Nurah is a final year student at the University of Ghana Business School offering a Bsc. in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. She serves as the current Vice President of her faculty, the business school.   She has leadership experience from multiple leadership positions she held from basic school where she served as a library prefect,

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Diara Newman

Diara Newman is a screenwriter, news producer, and avid reader. She has spent her professional career covering urgent stories at CBS News for both Face The Nation and CBS This Morning. A graduate of The George Washington University and current D.C. resident, Diara has mastered the art of monument tour guide. She is a member

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Valarie Walker

Valarie Walker has over 30 years’ experience in the areas of Executive Administration and Administrative support in the IT and HR field. My current role as Chief of Staff for President Barbara Perkins and The International Black Women’s Public Policy Institute allows me the opportunity to feed my soul with all the amazing work that

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Linda D. Mackey

Linda D. Mackey was appointed Consul-General of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas in Miami on October 01st, 2017 by Bahamian Prime Minister the Honourable Hubert A. Minnis Consul-General Mackey received her at St. Anne’s High School in Nassau. She continued her post-secondary educational studies in Business Administration at Meritus University in New Brunswick, Canada. The

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