Professors Without Borders Think Tank

Majeks Walker

Opening Speech and Moderator, Panel 1: Black In The Ivory: Understanding the Black Experience in Higher Education

Majeks Walker has taught and practised law since 2004. He has an LLM from UCL (Banking Law, Conflict of Law, Corporate Law and Law of Foreign Investment in Emerging Economies), and a Certificate in Law Teaching. He was called to the Bar in England and Wales in 2006 and is a qualified SPP Mediator. Majeks has taught law at Kaplan, and the University of Greenwich. He has also taught Criminology and Psychology at the Royal Holloway University of London. He currently lectures law at undergraduate and postgraduate level at the University of Westminster, and at Regent’s University London. He is a seasoned corporate trainer and provides advice and training to many multinational companies and sovereign states on various legal issues. Majeks also does a range of philanthropic work, including helping to give a voice to those that cannot afford legal representation.

Charlie Dove-Edwin

Panel 1: Black In The Ivory: Understanding the Black Experience in Higher Education

Charlie is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Business School of Richmond the American International University in London, where he lectures in Corporate Finance, International Finance, Fundamental Analysis and Country Risk Analysis. Charlie completed his undergraduate degree in Law at the University of Nottingham before working for Ernst & Young in their London Office. After qualification as a chartered accountant, Charlie Dove-Edwin worked in investment banking as an analyst and as a salesman. His former employers include Lehman Brothers, Commerzbank, Danske Bank, Nordea and MF Global.

Edward Gonsalves

Panel 1: Black In The Ivory: Understanding the Black Experience in Higher Education

Edward is Director of the Cooplexity Institute (Oxford & Barcelona). He specializes in the design, development and delivery of senior executive programs for high-performance teams in entrepreneurial and large firms. He also holds a number of directorships, advises, consults and publishes in the area of strategic and entrepreneurial learning. Edward is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a European Entrepreneurship Education Fellow. He is Associate Professor at ESADE Business & Law School (Barcelona) and Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship at Toulouse Business School (Barcelona). He was previously Pathway Leader for the MA Entrepreneurship Program at European Business School, Regents University, London. His research interests and recent publications focus on executive, entrepreneurial and organisational play; entrepreneurship and family-business education; strategic management and organisational learning; decision-making in uncertain and ambiguous settings.

Dauda Abubakar

Panel 1: Black In The Ivory: Understanding the Black Experience in Higher Education

Dr. Abubakar is Associate Professor of Political Science & African Studies at the University of Michigan-Flint, USA. He is also the Chair of Africana Studies Department at the same institution. His research agenda is at the intersection of identity politics, violent conflicts, democratisation and the challenges of humanitarian intervention in Africa.

Faith Musyoka-Gahamanyi

Panel 1: Black In The Ivory: Understanding the Black Experience in Higher Education

Faith currently works as a freelance writer and editor when she’s not teaching. She previously worked at the Blended Learning & Canvas LMS Administrator at Davis College, Akilah Campus where she served as a faculty member in the hospitality management department. She has a deep passion for education, especially learning programs that combine education with technology. Faith received her MA in Nutrition from the University of Nairobi and became an academic program coordinator at the University of Eastern Africa Baraton a short while after. During that period, she also served as an assistant lecturer. Before teaching Faith worked as a nutritionist.

Mandy Sanghera

Moderator, Panel 2: Intersectionality: The Dual Barriers of Racism and Sexism

Mandy is an award-winning philanthropist, a community consultant and global campaigner often referred to a global catalyst as well as being an international human rights activist & motivational Tedx speaker from the UK.  Mandy has travelled all over the world empowering and motivating others. With over three decades of experience, Mandy is an expert in various development-related fields. She has been driving innovation, building strategic partnerships, promoting advocacy and programming in the areas of human rights, gender equality, accountability and social justice globally. Mandy has helped hundreds of individuals and now reaches thousands through social media and her generous amount of worldwide TV appearances and public speaking engagements. In November she spoke at the US House of Representatives for the 3rd year in a row and spoke at a couple of side events at the World Economic Forum this year.

Yanoh Jalloh

Panel 2: Intersectionality: The Dual Barriers of Racism and Sexism

Yanoh is well equipped to provide high-quality research, programmatic and training expertise to organisations focused on health and development in African countries and the United States. Born to Sierra Leonean parents in the United States, Yanoh’s passion for contributing to healthy sustainable societies by providing evidence-based research-driven programs, tools and resources has always been evident. Over the last decade, she has garnered the necessary experience from working with local and international NGOs in Africa to high-level university research institutes in the United States. She is a highly motivated public health professional with demonstrated expertise in research, project and program development high-level partnership development, financial and grant management, and staff management. Yanoh is passionate about long term sustainability of communities, and this commitment has contributed to the success in her career. Yanoh has successfully supported the development of several health projects for youth in Kabala, Sierra Leone. She has also managed a 2 million dollar grant aimed at increasing adult immunisations in New York City, published a best practice guide for higher educational institutions on disaster risk management, and delivered content for one of the first online health course for the college of Allied health and Medical Sciences in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Currently, she serves as an international development consultant with the main goal of equipping international health organisations with the tools they need to work effectively whilst saving their resources. As a consultant, she works for various international organisations focused on community health, sexual and reproductive health etc. She is also a published researcher, writer and lecturer at New York Institute of Technology. She also sits on various boards of Sierra Leonean based organisations focused on youth development.

Loreen Chikwira

Panel 2: Intersectionality: The Dual Barriers of Racism and Sexism

Loreen is an African/transnational feminist academic and working in academia for the last 10 years. Her interests lie in experiences of gender, race, identity and belonging and participation of marginalised groups in knowledge production, decision-making processes and influencing social policies. As a result of her passions, Loreen has worked with various public and voluntary organisations on areas of gender, equality, diversity, and
integration underpinned by sociological perspectives, intersectional and feminist approaches to social change. Her focus in these areas also includes decolonial approaches to learning and knowledge production. Her PhD study explored Zimbabwean women’s experiences in Britain and how gender intersects with culture, race, immigration status and marital status in locating the women in multiple contradictory ways. By employing African feminist Standpoint theory to theorise the women’s experiences and define concepts.

Lorna Mae Johnson

Panel 2: Intersectionality: The Dual Barriers of Racism and Sexism

Honourable Lorna Mae Johnson, USA is a native of Jamaica and resides in Beverly Hills California. Lorna holds MS in Nursing/Midwifery and Finance and is the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Assistant Treasurer and Honorary Consul for Jamaica in Los Angeles and the Founder and CFO of the Advanced Family Care Medical Group Inc. A serial entrepreneur and a blockchain enthusiast, Lorna leads Veritaseum’s team in political affairs, philanthropy and business development as well as being a real estate investor. Lorna is also the founder of Compassion for Teen Life a non-profit organisation for women and girls and an Essayist for the UN Foundation Women and Girls. Lorna currently sponsors twenty girls for their high school education in Malawi. Johnson was recently acknowledged by Investing in Women as one of seven wonder women of the world. A past Lecturer/Clinical Professor at UCLA and past President of a local Chamber of Commerce in Los Angeles. To add to her impressive credentials Lorna was also an appointee of President Obama to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and his National Health Care committee. Lorna really is a force to reckon with as she is also a former international track-and-field athlete who qualified for the Olympics in the 100m dash.

Shirley Hills

Panel 2: Intersectionality: The Dual Barriers of Racism and Sexism

Shirly is an Executive Management Consultant, Branding and Communications Expert, Business Optimization Strategist, Transformational Leadership Coach, Corporate Trainer and International Business Facilitator