Ayo Atsenuwa is now Research Professor at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) and formerly Associate Professor and Head, Department of Public Law in the University of Lagos. She holds two Masters of Law degrees - LL.M Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of London, and LL.M Law in Development from the University of Warwick. She has over fifteen years of experience in the area of human rights advocacy and community development. She is the Executive Director of Legal Research and Resource Development Centre (LRRDC) a human rights non-governmental organization in Nigeria. She has authored numerous publications on gender, human rights, law and development. She is currently a member of the Board of the National Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS which is charged with coordinating the national response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Akwasi Aidoo (Chair) is the founding Executive Director of TrustAfrica, a grantmaking foundation dedicated to advancing democratic governance and equitable development in Africa. Akwasi has extensive experience in philanthropy. His previous positions include regional program officer for West and Central Africa at IDRC, head of the Ford Foundation’s regional office for West Africa, and director of the Ford Foundation’s Special Initiative for Africa. He is the Chair of the Board of Directors of Resource Alliance. He also serves on the boards of several other nonprofit organizations, including the Fund for Global Human Rights, Global Greengrants Fund, International Beliefs and Values Institute, International Committee of the Council on Foundations, African Grantmakers’ Network; and previously served as a trustee of OXFAM America. Akwasi has taught at universities in Ghana, Tanzania, and the United States. He was educated in Ghana and the United States and received a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Connecticut in 1985. He writes poetry and short stories in his spare time
Camara Aminatou Barry – holds a PhD in Planning and Development Economics. She is a career professor and lectured at the University of Conakry. She has served as Director of the Agricultural Policy Coordination Office (1993-1994), Secretary General at the Ministry of Finance and later at the Ministry of Planning and Cooperation (1996-1999), and as National Coordinator of the Village Community Support Program (PACV) from 1999 to 2006. From 2008 to 2010, she served as Director of the Communication, Documentation and Records Bureau at the Office of the Prime Minister of Guinea. She also held top-level positions in the government as Minister of Tourism, the Hotel Industry and Crafts, and Minister of Postal Services and Telecommunications (2006-2007). She has 35 years of experience in the fields of development planning and management. She is a member of several civil society organizations, the Steering Committee of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) in Guinea and has since March 2010 been a member of the National Transition Commission (CNT). She is member of OSIWA Board since January 2011
Negbalee is a prominent member of Liberia civil society where he has held several leadership positions, including President of the Liberian National Students Union (LINSU), which is a statutory national umbrella organization of students and student governments in Liberia. Mr. Warner presently serves as member of the international Board of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives (EITI), the Board of directors of the Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia (CENTAL)- and the Federation of Liberian Youth (FLY). He also served the Liberian public sector in a number of managerial positions at the Liberia Telecommunications Corporation and the Central Bank of Liberia as well the Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI). During his tenure as the first Head of Secretariat of LEITI, Liberia was honored by the EITI Board as the best EITI implementing country, and the country subsequently became the second EITI compliant country in the world. Mr. Warner is an Assistant Professor of law at the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law at the University of Liberia and is also engaged in private legal practice. He holds a B.Sc (Economics) with honors and an LL.B with honors from the University of Liberia, as well as an LL.M from the Cornell Law School. He is a member of the Liberian Supreme Court Bar, the Liberia National Bar, and the New York Bar.
Tennyson Williams is the International Director of ActionAid International responsible for West and Central Africa. He provides leadership and management support and supervision to the staff and teams in West and Central Africa where ActionAid works in order to achieve the mission, goals and objectives of ActionAid International (AAI). Tennyson has over twelve years of experience in the development sector with UNHCR, International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi and ActionAid International Sierra Leone. As Country Director for ActionAid Sierra Leone, he led the country programme to Associate status in June 2008, by establishing its first national board as part of ActionAid International’s overarching internationalisation agenda. Tennyson also led the development of the ActionAid International Sierra Leone country strategy paper and contributed to the positioning of Sierra Leone’s development agenda at national and international levels. He was involved in a number of research and consultancy projects for the DFID and the Sierra Leone Civil Society, where he played a key role in the design of the DFID civil society programme (ENCISS). Tennyson holds an MSC. in Zoology, BSC in Agriculture General, Diploma in Epidemiology and Control of Human Vector- Borne diseases and a certificate in Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations.
Thierno Kane is the founder and leader of grassroots organizations in Senegal, his native country, as well as an adviser and activist for a number of NGOs/CSOs in Africa and worldwide. Adult Educator by training, he has specialized in issues of popular participation and has long experience in tripartite dialogue and partnership between CSOs, Governments and the Donor Community in Africa and internationally. Thierno has served as Executive Director and Chairman of CONGAD (Conseil des ONG d’Appui au Developpement), the North/South umbrella of NGOs in Senegal. Former founding Secretary General of the Federation des Associations Villageoises du Fouta pour le Developpment-FAFD- a grassroots movment in Senegal, he is also a founding member of ANAFA( Association Nationale pour l’Alphabetisation et la Formation des Adultes-Senegal and has participated intensively in the creation in 1987 of FAVDO (Forum of African Voluntary Organizations). He is a former global Chair of CIVICUS (World Alliance for Citizen Participation). He has been on the boards of a number of CSOs and think tanks such as the International Group for Grassroots Initiatives (IGGRI- Mexico/New Delhi) and the Development Group for Alternative Policies (D-GAP-Washington). In 1998, he launched the UNDP Regional Pilote Programme "Civil Society Empowerment for Poverty Reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa" and led the programme as Coordinator and Chief Technical Advisor for 2 years. From August 2004 to January 2010, he served as Director of UNDP Civil Society Division in New York. He is currently Board Member of the Forum International de Montreal (FIM-Montreal) and is also serving in the UN Volunteers Technical Advisory Board for the State of World Volunteerism Report. Thierno Kane has been the author of a wide range of articles on NGO issues and grassroots matters and participated in major global conferences on development matters.
