African Leaders’ Showcase brings Role Models to Life

African Leaders’ Showcase brings Role Models to Life

A poet and 27 public speakers inspired the audience at the 8 th edition of the African Leaders

Showcase on March 10.Showcase on March 10. The African Leaders’ Public Speaking Series promotes public speaking skills, as student immerse themselves in Black excellence–embodied by the leadership of both our ancestors and contemporary role models in academia, the arts, business, engineering, health, mathematics, politics and the sciences.

This Women’s History Month, we celebrated the iconic freedom fighter and civil rights activist Fanny Lou Hamer; environmental activist Wanjari Mahai; dancer, choreographer, and cultural icon Katherine Dunham; tech trailblazer Erica Hairston; inventor, computer scientist and educational activist Dr. Anne-Marie Imafidon; along with formerly enslaved multi-millionaire philanthropist Bridgette “Biddy” Mason, who was one of the founders of California’s economy.

Positive role modelst

As is evident by our line-up, the series focuses on positive role modelsto inspire students’ interest and self-confidence as they research phenomenal achievers, synthesize language, and embody the characteristics of excellence through their speeches Each UPP Oral Communication group and several BSS courses held speaking competitions in class to choose the top speakers to appear in the Showcase.

Ange Eunice Mienmoh DIBYSurvey of US HistoryGraca MachelMozambique
Ian Amour Jonathan DUPONTSurvey of US HistoryOliver LawUSA
Ninko Pennon Zara TCHAKALASurvey of US HistoryDr. Anne-Marie ImafidonUK
Pierre-Anthony CADIO-AMMANNAfrican & African American HistoryRev. Anthony BowenUSA
Fatoumata Sakinat Bint Ky TRAOREAfrican & African American HistoryBridgette “Biddy” MasonUSA
Yves Kouadio Axel Christian N’ZUEAfrican & African American HistoryGarrett MorganUSA
Abdoul Jalilou ADAMOUAfrican & African American HistoryCudjoeJamaica
Offoyeh Keren Yasmine KOUADIOAfrican & African American HistoryGabriel ProsserUSA
Grace Innocente Affouminou MEAdvanced AFanny Lou HamerUSA
Elloh Yann Auriol AMATCHEAdvanced AMarshall Walter “Major” TaylorUSA
Sialait Yann Euphraim TOIPLIAdvanced BTunde FolawiyoNigeria
Keren-Happuc Eberechukwu NWABUIKEAdvanced BOry OkollohKenya
Ouele Junior Jeremie ZOULOUAdvanced CJoaquim Alberto ChissanoMozambique
Affi Daniel Tedeum-Laudamus N’KOUASSEAdvanced CLudwick MarishaneSouth Africa
N’guettia Paul Emmanuel KOUASSIAdvanced DIyinoluwa AboyejiNigeria
Oumar Habib TRAOREAdvanced DWanjira MathaiKenya
Ibrahim DOUMBIAIntermediate ARobert SutherlandJamaica
Patrick Ayomide ADIGUNIntermediate ASir Lewis Carl Davidson HamiltonUnited Kingdom
Awa Gnelle COULIBALYIntermediate BFabrice SawegnonCôte d’Ivoire
Kouadio Ahmed AHI KOFFIIntermediate BGeorge DixonCanada
Berhane Noura Jahnai MESSOUIntermediate CChangamire DomboZimbabwe
Ronald Armel ZAHUIIntermediate CErika HairstonUSA
Ketura Othniel Sollet Divine GRAHIntermediate DLebohang Monyatsi ModeSouth Africa
Madjoua Laure- Ange Myriame KOUASSIBasic AKatherine DunhamUSA
Mamadou FOFANABasic AAnton Wilhelm AmoGhana
Loboue N’drin Yves Junior AYEKPABasic BFats WallerUSA
Siofoloh Christ –Nathanael SILUEBasic BQueen PokouGhana/Côte d’Ivoire

This semester’s program began with “Black and Gold,” a slam poem by Ms. Unglid Paul, an English Teaching Assistant at Lycée Excellence and guest of the U.S. embassy. She was followed by eight speakers from BSS history courses and 19 UPP students.

Fatima Doumbia Koné is a Mathematics lecturer at the international University of
Grand-Bassam (IUGB). Among the courses she taught we have the following: Introduction to
Differential Equations, Elementary Statistics, Calculus(I,II,III), Transforms in Applied Math,
Introduction to Linear Algebra, Operations Research and Abstract Algebra.
She has a Bachelor degree in Mathematics (IUGB), a Master degree in Pure and Applied
Mathematics (AUST) and she is currently enrolled for a PhD in Mathematics at the African
University of Science and Tecnology (AUST), Abuja. She has also been an intern at the
Institutional Banking Group department within GTBANK CI (Garanty Trust Bank Côte
D’Ivoire).
She is a former IUGB student and she was the president of the science club in 2015.
Academically, her goal is to be a great researcher and innovator on the topics of asymptotic
theories in Fuzzy Probability Theory and their various applications to image processing. She
has good programming skills (JAVA, LaTeX, C++) and she is bilingual (French and English).
Over the years, she has been developing a method of teaching which not only put students at
the center of the learning process but also which deconstruct most of the stereotypes about the
inaccessibility of mathematical knowledge to everybody.
Regarding her research activities, she has been working since 2018 on the topic of integration
on Banach spaces and a preprint of an interesting work is available at
https://arxiv.org/pdf/1905.04480. She is continuing with her research on integration but now
her PhD studies focus on Random Sets Integration in Probability Theory. Professionally, she
is a very active lecturer at IUGB and she is currently the faculty advisor of the SHE CLUB,
which aims at promoting women empowerment by providing learning, leadership and
networking opportunities.

I am currently Associate Professor of computer and data science in the school of science technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at the International University of Grand-Bassam (IUGB).
From 2000 to 2018, I successively worked as a research scientist at Independent Computing Research in Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Assistant Professor at the department of computer science and
engineering at Université Laval in Québec, Canada; Research Associate at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) where I also received a Ph.D. degree in computer science in March 2000. Upon receiving a master's degree in mathematical and computing science
from the Tokyo Institute of Technology (TIT) in 1990 in Japan, I worked as a research scientist at National/Panasonic, one of the most prestigious companies in Tokyo.
I am involved in research on Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Semantic Web and its applications in a wide range of fields. Besides, I designed the current Data Science program in effect
since September 2021 in STEM. In addition, I am also one the founders and current President of the
Ivorian Association of Artificial Intelligence and member of ORBICOM, the Network of UNESCO Chairs in Communication headquartered in University of Quebec in Montreal (UQUAM), Canada.

Kwame Simpe Ofori is an Assistant Professor in Finance at the school of Business and Social Sciences. He holds a doctorate degree in Finance, a master’s degree in finance and a master’s degree in Telecommunications Technology. He is also currently a PhD student at the School of Management and Economics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. He has taught courses in the areas of finance, computer science, computer and electrical engineering, and telecommunication engineering. Before joining IUGB he lectured in several universities in Ghana. He also worked with Ghana Telecommunications Company as a support engineer. His research interests are in the areas of consumer behaviour, technology adoption and trust in online systems and in recent times financial econometrics. His papers have appeared in several CABS-ranked journals such as Information Technology and People, Journal of Cleaner Productions, Quality Management Journal, Marketing Intelligence and Planning, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, Journal of African Business, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology and Society and Business Review.