Below are members of our Vakhulu (Council of Elders). We thank each Omukhulu (Elder) for taking time to advise Osiri University.
Kalu Osiri
Founder of Unleash Group, LLC & Osiri University
Kalu Osiri
Founder of Unleash Group, LLC & Osiri UniversityKalu is a global leader in education. He founded Osiri University after observing that the plight of Afrikans everywhere was the same, with slight differences in lived experiences resulting from regional peculiarities. Afrikans were fighting invisible institutions, which barred their progress and devalued their humanity. He recognized that these institutions were similar to those that stunted the progress of non-Afrikans. He also noticed that Afrikans were not doing enough for themselves, and it was not because they could not succeed despite all the challenges, instead it was due to a failure to realize their enormous abilities. Thus, he thought Afrikans to be a sleeping giant waiting to be awakened. Consequently, became a global citizen dedicating his life to serving the under-served and helping people unleash their full potential.
An American with deep Afrikan roots, he was born on the coastal region of the former Dahomey Kingdom (now Cotonou, Benin) to parents who emigrated there for business from Nigeria. Kalu was influenced by his father who had followed the enterprising ways of the ancient Igbo people - known to pursue personal ventures for the benefit of their communities. After graduating from St. Augustine’s Seminary School, Abia State, Kalu earned a National Diploma in petroleum marketing and business studies from the Petroleum Training Institute, Delta State, and a BS and PhD in chemistry from Grambling State University and Louisiana State University-Baton Rouge, respectively, both in the USA.
Having developed protocols and built devices for disease diagnostics for his doctoral research, he pursued a post-doctorate in entrepreneurship and international at The University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, to learn how to commercialize scientific research. He is also a graduate of the Management Development Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and has been a professor since 2011. Inspired by the life of one of his heroes and ancestors, Martin Luther King, Jr., Kalu joined Alpha Phi Alpha, and became a life member of the organization.
He has traveled extensively around the world for business and pleasure. Kalu believes in working with people to maximize their potential. He is obsessed with excellence and continuous improvement. Recently, he has been studying how societies can use their culture and institutions to achieve positive outcomes in entrepreneurship and innovation. This research led him to explore age-old African systems, which he believes hold the key to creating a better and a more equitable world. In harmony with yet another hero and ancestor, The Great Nelson Mandela, Kalu believes in the common humanity of all peoples and subscribes to the African philosophy of Ubuntu.
Mallence Bart-Williams
Founder and creative director of the Freetown-based creative collective FOLORUNSHO
Mallence Bart-Williams
Founder and creative director of the Freetown-based creative collective FOLORUNSHOMallence Bart-Williams is a Sierra Leonean-German multi-facetted social entrepreneur in publishing, film, fashion, Ayurveda, writing and philanthropy are among her professional repertoire. Mallence pursued her studies in economics and finance in Paris, Singapore and Great Britain. Today she lives across the globe, produces a holistic natural body care line in Asia, and is the founder and creative director of the Freetown-based creative collective FOLORUNSHO, a ‘SHARITY’ that she initiated with street kids in Sierra Leone. Due to her cross-cultural roots she perceives herself as a bridge connecting two vastly different worlds.
Her diverse background enables her to see creative solutions to common problems. Her Freetown based collective has taken homeless children off the streets into school via pure creativity without donations. Through her work with FOLORUNSHO and various other social enterprises in different parts of Africa, she connects cultural contrast, enabling unique synergies that yield action driven results.
In her TED x Berlin CHANGE YOUR CHANNEL Mallence shared a truth that not only deeply resonated with people across the globe, but many felt compelled to share. Her TED x was independently translated into more than 5 languages and became a social media phenomena that was shared over 50 million times via various social media platforms, raising global awareness via a sensational grass -roots movement. Today Mallence's TED Talk has become an integral part of academic curricula of universities and high schools in African, Europe, Asian and the Americas as a timeless piece of essential truth that will be recognized by generations to come, when analyzing the global economic imbalances of our present times.
CHANGE YOUR CHANNEL not only served as an eye opener, but also opened the space for discussions that encourage perspectives many were formerly reluctant to express. Her lecture raised the bar of the widespread status quo in regards to Africa's representation and its perception globally. Ever since independent research and reports have been published that enforce Mallence's statement.
Chigozie Obioma
Author
Chigozie Obioma
AuthorChigozie Obioma was born in Akure, Nigeria. His debut novel, The Fishermen, is winner of the inaugural FT/Oppenheimer Award for Fiction, the NAACP Image Awards for Debut Literary Work, and the LA Times prize for First Fiction, and was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize 2015.
Obioma was named one of Foreign Policy's 100 Leading Global Thinkers of 2015. In 2019, upon the shortlisting of his second novel, An Orchestra of Minorities, Obioma became the only writer in Booker prize history to be shortlisted for all his books. An Orchestra of Minorities was also a finalist for the Digital World Book prize.
Together, his two novels have been translated into more than 30 languages and adapted into stage. His fiction and non-fiction have appeared in Esquire, Virginia Quarterly Review, Granta, New York Times, Guardian, amongst others. He is an assistant professor of Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Olga Idriss Davis
Professor of communications and associate dean of
the Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University
Olga Idriss Davis
Professor of communications and associate dean of the Barrett Honors College at Arizona State UniversityOlga Idriss Davis is a professor of communications and associate dean of the Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University. She is passionate about enhancing communication to improve the health and well-being of underserved populations.
She helped establish a health coalition for refugee women in Maricopa County and was appointed by Governor Napolitano to serve on the State Commission on Women’s and Children’s Health. In addition, Davis is intricately involved in promoting health among the African American community in Arizona.
She works with the Phoenix-based Coalition of Blacks Against Breast Cancer and has created a narrative play, "The Journey: Living Cancer Out Loud," based on interviews of the experience of African American survivors and caregivers of breast cancer which has been performed in various community and hospital venues in Phoenix and Scottsdale. Raising awareness in Black barbershops, Davis addresses knowledge of cardiovascular disease among African American men in Phoenix, Arizona.
She earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in Communication from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and her B.S. in Business and Finance from the University of Redlands. She is also an alumna of the Drama Division of The Juilliard School, New York.
Balmoi Abe
Creative Thinker, Operational Astronaut and Space Curator
Balmoi Abe
Creative thinker and an operational astronaut and space curatorBalmoi Abe is a creative thinker and an operational astronaut and space curator who uses design thinking to solve problems. He previously co-founded Cave Bureau (www.cave.co.ke) and later founded Matter Open Lab (MOL), a platform for collective partnerships and collaborations around Preservation, Culture and Heritage across Africa.
Winner of the 2017 Pan African Architecture Award for Critical Dialogue, Balmoi has over 16 years of professional experience focusing his practice on Pan African Societal Heritage, Design Operations, Behavioral Change, and Challenge Leadership. His deep appreciation for heritage was borne out of his travel adventures, having worked and lived on three continents.
His work around construction aims to preserve and respect the history of places. He is the Design Lead for Safe Hands Kenya, a national coalition of tech companies tackling the high occurrence COVID-19 in low-income communities (www.safehandskenya.com). Balmoi enjoys exploring nature with his mountain bike, digging up the crop of the season on his farm in Uganda, and experimenting with clay along River Nile.
Balmoi studied at the THNK School of Creative Leadership, Amsterdam Netherlands; earned a Certificate in Operations Management & Supervision from the University of Cape Town, and a Master in Architecture from the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD), Georgia, USA.
Lisa Sylvester Acogny
Chairperson at reFocus Africa
Lisa Sylvester Acogny
Chairperson at reFocus AfricaLisa Sylvester Acogny was born and raised in Illinois. She is a multi-ethnic American, French and Senegalese mother of five. She traveled to perform classical dance with notable figures such as Katherine Dunham and Eartha Kitt. These experiences elevated her global thinking and mindset. She has lived in five continents, including England, Germany, France, the Caribbean, Japan and West Africa. She is the Chairperson at reFocus Africa, a nonprofit that uses its vast network to provide mentor young Africans to become change makers. Lisa is a leader in the nonprofit sector in the areas of counseling, housing and homelessness, HIV/AIDS education, and women and children of domestic violence. Her vision is “to bridge the gap and provide affordable education to those who lack access worldwide.”
She is also the co-founder of Knowledge-First International Academy, and through her efforts students around the world have been positively impacted and increased their commitment to self-determination, personal growth, and development. Lisa believes that knowledge is power and that with this power, people become empowered to act based on love and instead of fear. Lisa is an advocate for the less-privileged and for those who seek knowledge. She is an innovator in the education sector who is touching hearts and impacting lives.
Lisa received her bachelor's degree in Health Care and Psychology from Tennessee State University, a HBCU that gave her a spiritual foundation and the motivation to devote her life to the betterment of the human existence.
Mammo Muchie
Professor of Innovation Studies at the Institute
of Economics Research on Innovation (IERI)
at Tshwane University of Technology
Mammo Muchie
Professor of Innovation Studies at the Institute of Economics Research on Innovation (IERI) at Tshwane University of TechnologyMammo Muchie is Professor of Innovation Studies at the Institute of Economics Research on Innovation (IERI) at Tshwane University of Technology. He is a Fellow of the South African Academy of Sciences, the African Academy of Sciences and the African Scientific Institute, and a Senior Research Associate at Oxford University.
He was the Director of the Research Programme on Civil Society and African Integration at the then University of Kwa Zulu-Natal. He was selected as a focal point researcher on the South African BRICS Think-Tank; was Tshwane University representative to facilitate African Integration by eliminating xenophobia; founder of the Returning Talent Fund; was Special Advisor to the African Union Student Council; Founding Chairman of the Network of Ethiopian Scholars (NES-Global), Board member at the North Western University, Chengdu, China; Visiting Professor at the University of Economics in Prague; Visiting Professor at Jawarahal Nehru University, India; was Acting Dean of the College of Scholars, ACTS, Nairobi, Kenya; a founding member of the Globelics Initiative to focus research on building African innovation systems.
He is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the African Journal on Science, Technology, Innovation, and Development. The first chair on innovation studies in South Africa was awarded to Prof. Muchie to promote doctoral and post-doctoral research in Africa. He has worked with and taught over 400 doctoral candidates in doctoral academies across the world.
He is the founder of the Africa Post-Graduate Academy that has been training masters and doctoral students drawn from different disciplinary backgrounds. Prof. Muchie has produced over 400 publications in African Systems of Innovation and related areas. He studied at Columbia University for his undergraduate degree and earned his MPhil (with great distinction with triple first) and DPhil from the University of Sussex.
Dr. José V. Pimienta-Bey
Associate Professor of African & African American Studies
Dr. José V. Pimienta-Bey
Professor of African & African American Studies (AFR) and General Studies at Berea CollegeJosé V. Pimienta-Bey (PhD) is a tenured Associate Professor of African & African American Studies (AFR) and General Studies at Berea College in Kentucky. For the past 15 years he has taught courses within the AFR, History, General Studies, and Psychology programs. Pimienta-Bey's primary research interests include Moorish History, “Black”/African Psychology, Comparative Religious Studies, and African American Social and Political Thought.
He is the author of numerous publications, including Othello’s Children in the “New World”: Moorish History and Identity in the African American Experience (2002), and “Laboring Within the Mind Fields of Global White Supremacy” which appears in The Osiris Papers: Reflections on the Life and Writings of Dr. Frances Cress Welsing (2019) edited by Raymond A. Winbush and Denise L. Wright.
Dr. Kehbuma Langmia
Fulbright Scholar/ Professor and Chair in the Department of Strategic, Legal and Management Communication, School of Communications, Howard University
Dr. Kehbuma Langmia
Fulbright Scholar/ Professor and Chair in the Department of Strategic, Legal and Management Communication, School of Communications, Howard UniversityDr. Kehbuma Langmia is a Fulbright Scholar/ Professor and Chair in the Department of Strategic, Legal and Management Communication, School of Communications, Howard University.A graduate from the Communication and Media Studies Program at Howard University, Dr. Langmia has extensive knowledge and expertise in Information Communication Technology (ICT), Intercultural, Cross Cultural and International Communication, Black Diaspora Communication Theory, Decolonial Media Studies, Social Media and Afrocentricity. Since earning his PhD in Communications and Media Studies from Howard University, he has published 13 books, 17 book chapters and 10 peer-reviewed journal articles nationally and internationally.
In November 2017, Dr. Langmia was awarded the prestigious Toyin Falola Africa Book Award in Marrakesh, Morocco by the Association of Global South Studies for his book titled “ Globalization and cyberculture: An Afrocentric Perspective”. For the last four years he has been selected by Howard University to act as scholar coach for the Howard University Summer Writing Academy.
In 2019, he was selected among the 35 USA Professors chosen from a competitive pool of over 100 applicants to serve in the Visiting Professor Program at Fordham University in New York organized by ANA. In addition, he regularly gives keynote speeches on Information Communication Technology, Black Diaspora mediated communication, and Social Media in prominent national and international universities, including the Library of Congress, the National Intelligence University (Department of Defense, USA) and National Defense University ( Department of Defense, USA); Morgan State University ( Maryland, USA); Bowie State University ( Maryland, USA); Melbourne University (Australia); Buea University (Cameroon), Madras Institute of Technology, (India); ICT University, (Cameroon) and Covenant University (Nigeria), Makerere, University Business School, MUBS, (Uganda) and Temple University, Pennsylvania.
He was the 2017 Maryland Communication Association Keynote Speaker holding at College of Southern Maryland, Waldorf, MD and Communication Educators’ Association Conference at Winneba, Ghana in 2019. Some of his books are: Black/Africana communication theory, published in 2018 by Palgrave/ Macmillan Press; “Globalization and cyberculture: An Afrocentric perspective” published in 2016 and “Social Media: Culture and Identity”, published in 2017 by Palgrave, Macmillan Press & the latter co-edited with Tia Tyree published by Lexington Books. He has recently published, “Digital Communication at Crossroads in Africa: A decolonial approach” in 2020 with Dr. Agnes Lucy Lando of Daystar University, Kenya.
Website: drlangmia.net