Glocal Citizens

Greetings Glocal Citizens! We're welcoming August with a doubleheader featuring Will Niava, an award winning Ivorian-Ghanaian film director based but not bound to Montréal, Canada. After his education in film production at the Concordia University in Quebec, Will directed a number of projects around the world. Namely, four episodes of MTV Shuga, a fiction series in the Ivory Coast as well as “Violence Of The Lambs”, a music video released on NOWNESS from which he made his first short film “ZOO”. ZOO was selected at over 60 international film festivals of which 15 are Oscar qualifying. The film has since racked up over 10 awards. After its Vimeo Staff Picks release, ZOO is now available on the prestigious Criterion Collection. I catch up with Will while he is in our shared home country, Ghana where he has been for the better part of the last year on new uncle duty and in research mode for his next project. He is in the post-production process of his second short film “ELEMENT” while also preparing his first feature film experience, co-writing alongside Jérémy Comte, the Oscar-nominated director. As you'll hear in Part 2, Will is now represented by LA based production studio Florence for commercials and music videos which has given him the opportunity to work with artist such as H.E.R and Billy Eilish. Where to find Will? www.wniava.com On LinkedIn On Instagram On Vimeo On YouTube On Twitter On Facebook What's will listening to? Classic Reggae AmaPiano Dave What's will watching? Memories of a Murder In the Mood for Love Uncut Gems Good Time Other topics of interest: NAFTI Ghana Concordia University - Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema Black Magic Equipment Red Digital Equipment Ghanaian Footballers Jordan Ayew and André Ayew Fauve Short Film Solitary Dancer Barry Jenkins Jordan Peele About Amapiano AfrofuturismSpecial Guest: Will Niava.

Greetings Glocal Citizens! We're welcoming August with a doubleheader featuring Will Niava, an award winning Ivorian-Ghanaian film director based but not bound to Montréal, Canada. After his education in film production at the Concordia University in Quebec, Will directed a number of projects around the world--namely, four episodes of MTV Shuga, a fiction series in the Ivory Coast as well as “Violence Of The Lambs”, a music video released on NOWNESS from which he made his first short film “ZOO.” ZOO was selected at over 60 international film festivals of which 15 are Oscar qualifying. The film has since racked up over 10 awards. After its Vimeo Staff Picks release, ZOO is now available on the prestigious Criterion Collection. I catch up with Will while he is in our shared home country, Ghana where he has been for the better part of the last year on new uncle duty and in research mode for his next project. He is in the post-production process of his second short film “ELEMENT” while also preparing his first feature film experience, co-writing alongside Jérémy Comte, the Oscar-nominated director. As you'll hear in Part 2, Will is now represented by Los Angeles based production studio Florence. for commercials and music videos which has given him the opportunity to work with artist such as H.E.R and Billy Eilish. Where to find Will? [www.wniava.com](www.wniava.com) On LinkedIn On Instagram On Vimeo On YouTube On Twitter On Facebook What's will listening to? Classic Reggae AmaPiano Dave What's will watching? Memories of a Murder In the Mood for Love Uncut Gems Good Time Other topics of interest: NAFTI Ghana Concordia University - Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema [ Black Magic Equipment Red Digital Equipment Ghanaian Footballers Jordan Ayew and André Ayew Fauve Short Film Solitary Dancer Barry Jenkins Jordan Peele About Amapiano Afrofuturism Special Guest: Will Niava.

Greetings Glocal Citizens! This week I meet with another artist with Caribbean roots. Beverley Watson is a ceramic sculptor, art therapist and licensed educator specializing in children with special needs. Born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, Beverley has been based in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn for more than 30 years. She attended the Jamaica School of Art and Brooklyn's Pratt Institute where she studied ceramic sculpture as an undergraduate and also received her Masters of Professional Studies in Special Education and Art Therapy. Between the mid-1990s and 2007, Beverley co-founded Zakiya Art, a gallery that exhibited other Black artists' works in her Bedford-Stuyvesant home. This spring, Nefer Atum Lotus Blossom: rebirth & regeneration, her first solo exhibition opened at Brooklyn's Artshack community ceramics studio. In Nefer Atum Lotus Blossom Beverley exhibits work that continues where she left clay thirty years ago, inspired by the spirits of oceans, Africa and self-love. During that time Beverley was moving through life's challenges, breakthroughs, and gratitude, and bringing forth her inner Lotus, the reflection of her inner beauty. I'm excited to share this emerging treasure with you! Where to find Beverley? @Artshack Brooklyn On LinkedIn On Instagram On Facebook What's Beverley reading? Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch Other topics of interest: Queen Afua About Lotus Flowers About Astral Projection Abraham Hicks Special Guest: Beverley Watson.

Greetings Glocal Citizens! My guest this week is Panamanian-American, Ivonne F. Cameron. Another serial entrepreneur, Ivonne who is based in the Washington, D.C. Area is currently CEO of ISE International Group, a healthcare, health and safety, COOP company. Prior to starting ISE in 2017, she launched over 14 start-ups across different industries from energy to fintech. The largest being a $92M health insurance company for the District of Columbia. Her global experience extends to work implementing health care programs and system improvement initiatives with countries seeking strategic solutions including Great Britain, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Republic of Georgia, Kenya, Liberia and United Arab Emirates. In our conversation you'll get to know more about what it took to start a health care company in the midst of massive systematic overhaul as well as what it takes to prepare any business to plan and remain viable during times of operational uncertainty such as the current global pandemic. Where to find Ivonne? On LinkedIn On Twitter On Facebook What's Ivonne reading? You Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins The $100 Start Up: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future by Chris Guillebeau The Founder’s Dilemmas by Noam Wasserman Grit by Angela Duckworth The Little Black Book of Success Workbook: Laws of Leadership for Black Women by Elaine Meryl Brown, Marsha Haygood Believe Bigger by Marshawn Evan Daniels The Power of Broke: How Empty Pockets, a Tight Budget, and a Hunger for Success Can Become Your Greatest Competitive Advantage by Daymond John What's Ivonne watching? The Men Who Build America Launching and Supporting Black Owned Businesses, Mandy Bowman - TEDx Dover The Art of Diplomacy, Tayo Rockson - TEDx Cooper Union The Skill of Self Confidence, Dr. Ivan Joseph - TEDx RyersonUSpecial Guest: Ivonne Cameron.

Greetings Glocal Citizens! My guest this week is Gambian real estate mogul, Mustapha "Youthman" Njie. Mr. Njie has over 30 years of proven experience in the building and property industry. He is the founder and CEO of TAF Africa Global, a Pan-African real estate company that has built homes across eight African countries with dominance in Nigeria and The Gambia. Growing up from a small and humble background, when he founded TAF Africa Global in 1990, the goal was to be the leading property developer in Africa. In 2018, TAF refined its vision as in a mission to develop one million quality homes between 2018 and 2038. Three years in, I’m sure you all are as excited as I am to find out how it's going as well as what's new and next for this signed and stamped glocal citizen. Where to find Mr. Njie? TAF Africa Foundation On YouTube On LinkedIn On Twitter On Instagram On Facebook What's Mr. Njie watching? Mr. Njie talks with Ghanaian YouTuber Wode Maya How to design a golf course Other topics of interest: Former Prime Minister of Malaysia Mohamed Mahathir Senegalese professional footballer Sadio Mané What platform do I use to record remote interviews?Special Guest: Mustapha Njie.

Greetings Glocal Citizens! In the next conversation it's a "Throwback Tuesday" as I reconnect with another old friend who is taking us on a journey between her home country of St. Croix to Denmark and back again. Born in Trinidad and Tobago, raised in and now based in the Virgin Islands, La Vaughn Belle makes visible the unremembered. Borrowing from elements of architecture, history and archeology Belle creates narratives that challenge colonial hierarchies and invisibility. La Vaughn explores the material culture of coloniality and her work presents countervisualities and narratives. Working in a variety of disciplines her practice includes: painting, installation, photography, writing, video and public interventions. Her work with colonial era pottery led to a commission with the renowned brand of porcelain products, the Royal Copenhagen. She has exhibited her work in the Caribbean, the USA and Europe in institutions such as the Museo del Barrio (NY), Casa de las Americas (Cuba), the Museum of the African Diaspora (CA) and Christiansborg Palace (DK). Her art is in the collections of the National Photography Museum and the Vestsjælland Museum in Denmark. She is the co-creator of “I Am Queen Mary”, the artist-led groundbreaking monument that confronted the Danish colonial amnesia while commemorating the legacies of resistance of the African people who were brought to the former Danish West Indies. The project was featured in over 100 media outlets around the world including the NY Times, Politiken, VICE, the BBC and Le Monde. Belle holds an MFA from the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, Cuba and an MA and BA from Columbia University in NY. She was a finalist for the She Built NYC project to develop a monument to memorialize the legacy of Shirley Chisholm and for the Inequality in Bronze project in Philadelphia to redesign one of the first monuments to an enslaved woman at the Stenton historic house museum. As a 2018-2020 fellow at the Social Justice Institute at the Barnard Research Center for Women at Columbia University she worked on a project about the ‘citizenless’ Virgin Islanders in the Harlem Renaissance. This two-part conversation bookends the US Indepencence Day holiday, and at a time when so much about identity and nationalism is begging for long overdue examination, these episodes are healthy food for thought. In true #TBT fashion you'll want to come back to these discussion for the learning and insights into the continued work of deconstructing colonialism. Where to find La Vaughn and her works? www.lavaughnbelle.com I Am Queen Mary On LinkedIn On Twitter On Instagram On Facebook What's La Vaughn reading? Just As I Am: A Memoir by Cicely Tyson A Radical Awakening: Turn Pain into Power, Embrace Your Truth, Live Free by Dr. Shefali Tsabary Other topics of interest: Teach for America Helle Stenum Salsa Cubano How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney About the Virgin IslandsSpecial Guest: La Vaughn Belle.

Greetings Glocal Citizens! In the next conversation it's a "Throwback Tuesday" as I reconnect with another old friend who is taking us on a journey between her home country of St. Croix to Denmark and back again. Born in Trinidad and Tobago, raised in and now based in the Virgin Islands, La Vaughn Belle makes visible the unremembered. Borrowing from elements of architecture, history and archeology Belle creates narratives that challenge colonial hierarchies and invisibility. La Vaughn explores the material culture of coloniality and her work presents countervisualities and narratives. Working in a variety of disciplines her practice includes: painting, installation, photography, writing, video and public interventions. Her work with colonial era pottery led to a commission with the renowned brand of porcelain products, the Royal Copenhagen. She has exhibited her work in the Caribbean, the USA and Europe in institutions such as the Museo del Barrio (NY), Casa de las Americas (Cuba), the Museum of the African Diaspora (CA) and Christiansborg Palace (DK). Her art is in the collections of the National Photography Museum and the Vestsjælland Museum in Denmark. She is the co-creator of “I Am Queen Mary”, the artist-led groundbreaking monument that confronted the Danish colonial amnesia while commemorating the legacies of resistance of the African people who were brought to the former Danish West Indies. The project was featured in over 100 media outlets around the world including the NY Times, Politiken, VICE, the BBC and Le Monde. Belle holds an MFA from the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, Cuba and an MA and BA from Columbia University in NY. She was a finalist for the She Built NYC project to develop a monument to memorialize the legacy of Shirley Chisholm and for the Inequality in Bronze project in Philadelphia to redesign one of the first monuments to an enslaved woman at the Stenton historic house museum. As a 2018-2020 fellow at the Social Justice Institute at the Barnard Research Center for Women at Columbia University she worked on a project about the ‘citizenless’ Virgin Islanders in the Harlem Renaissance. This two-part conversation bookends the US Indepencence Day holiday, and at a time when so much about identity and nationalism is begging for long overdue examination, these episodes are healthy food for thought. In true #TBT fashion you'll want to come back to these discussion for the learning and insights into the continued work of deconstructing colonialism. Where to find La Vaughn and her works? www.lavaughnbelle.com I Am Queen Mary On LinkedIn On Twitter On Instagram On Facebook What's La Vaughn reading? Just As I Am: A Memoir by Cicely Tyson A Radical Awakening: Turn Pain into Power, Embrace Your Truth, Live Free by Dr. Shefali Tsabary Other topics of interest: Teach for America Helle Stenum Salsa Cubano How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney About the Virgin IslandsSpecial Guest: La Vaughn Belle.

Greetings Glocal Citizens! I've crossed the Atlantic Ocean and landed safely in NYC for my annual #BKSummer. My guest this week takes me back to my first NYC summer. The summer when I decided that New York would one day be home for me. A summer spent test driving the life of Wall Street bankers in the SEO (Sponsor for Educational Opportunity) Career program internship. While Wall Street was no fit for me, it helped form the foundation of my guest's professional career. Chinedu Echeruo, currently based in New York, born and raised in Nigeria, is a serial entrepreneur and firmly believes that individuals, empowered by imagination and information, can solve virtually any problem. He founded the pioneering travel app HopStop (Apple acquired HopStop) that helped millions of users navigate public transportation in major metropolitan areas around the world. Chinedu has been featured in media including Bloomberg, Fortune, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, CNBC and more. Chinedu was also a core member of the investment team at AM Investment Partners, a $500 million volatility-driven convertible bond arbitrage hedge fund. Prior to completing his M.B.A., he spent several years in the Mergers and Acquisitions and Leveraged Finance groups of J.P Morgan Chase where he was involved in a broad range of M&A, financing and private equity transactions. Chinedu holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and B.S. in Finance and Accounting (Honors) from Syracuse University. In his latest series of new ventures he currently goes by the title Dreamer at the Start-up School of Alchemy and the Love & Magic company. Once you've taken in this episode, at the very least you too will be in a better position to imagine all that is you! Where to find Chinedu? www.startupschoolofalchemy.com On LinkedIn On Twitter On Instagram On Facebook On YouTube What's Chinedu watching? PBS Space Time Other topics of interest: Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill Information Theory Variational Free Energy Opportunity Zones The Greenwood CompanySpecial Guest: Chinedu Echeruo.

Greetings Glocal Citizens! This week I had the treat of hosting a woman with sights on a healing revolution. Maya Gilliam is a serial entrepreneur as owner of Hempress Farms and Ma’ati Spa located in her native, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, as well as global graphic design firm, III Eye Digital. A graduate of Howard University, she spent her early career in media focusing on sports with stints at USA Today and the NBA. In search of a way to reduce her screen time, she studied massage therapy and other wellness disciplines which led to the founding of Ma'ati Spa, LLC in 2012. Her business was hard hit by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic which inspired Maya into applying her hemp cultivation skills to transforming her spa business and merging spaces with Hempress Farms, LLC. Hempress Farms is a licensed boutique, family owned, artisanal hemp grow. Her products are sustainably produced and responsibly sourced from seed to bottle. The merged space is the only hemp tasting room in downtown Winston-Salem. Another certified #GlocalCitizen, Maya continues to hone her love for travel and luxury as she explores replicating her enterprise experience in Africa given the changing policy landscape in the industrial and medicinal hemp sectors. That's how we were able to connect in Accra on her recent African tour which included a stop in Rwanda. Listen in and get know more about what's now and next for Hempress Farms. www.hempresshealer.com On LinkedIn On Instagram On Twitter On Facebook What's Maya listening to? Burna Boy Afrobeats Other topics of interest: Yadkinville, North Carolina The Hakuna Group My Hempress Farms gift Bella Canna Enterprises CannaAfrikaSpecial Guest: Maya Gilliam.

Greetings Glocal Citizens! This week's episode is close to heart. I have as my guest Bangkok born, Virginia raised, globally trained and now achieving honorary Mbongo status in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Nisha Ligon, a social entrepreneur with a background in media and science, and a passion for education. She has produced content for the BBC, the Guardian, online learning platforms, and an award winning documentary, Twiga Stars-- she's an avid footballer. Nisha holds an MSc. from Imperial College London and a B.S. from Yale. Our paths intersect with her role as Co-founder and CEO of UBONGO, Africa's leading kids' edutainment company. Ubongo creates top quality, localized edutainment to help Africa's 500 million kids learn, and leverage their learning to change their lives. Their vision is to equip Africa's next generation with the educational foundation, critical skills and positive mindsets to change their own lives and communities for the better. Over 17 million families in Africa learn with our edu-cartoons and radio programs, and we're rapidly growing across the continent. At Ubongo, she’s lead visionary, series producer/ screenwriter, and does whatever it takes to get our products made, tested and released! Through a distribution relationship with Ubongo, LEAP Transmedia introduced Ghanaian children and families to the program beginning in 2015. Where to find Nisha and Ubongo? www.ubongo.org On LinkedIn On Twitter On Facebook On Instagram On YouTube What's Nisha listening to? How to Save the Planet Podcast The Cipher Podcast Homecoming Pinna for kids Other topics of interest: About Laura Poitras Ubuntu Tom Chi @ TEDxSpecial Guest: Nisha Ligon.

June greetings Glocal Citizens! We're nearly halfway through "the year after" and in the spirit of reimagining spaces and places for our new next, my guest this week is all about personal development. Elvina Quaison, a British-Ghanaian is the founder of SESA, a global personal development organization. SESA is a space, a resource to assist others find answers, guidance and advice to make the life game more enjoyable. She has also served as Business Club Manager at AFFORD straddling continents to add value for businesses in the UK and Africa. Elvina's work in Ghana included a role as Marketing Manager at Beaufort Properties and the Director of Silk Solutions a company that made moving into Ghana easier and opened the market to the small business wanting to expand into a new exciting sphere. Reaching this point followed a path of working with and in African countries for over 11 years in various capacities including include facilitating workshops, trainings and one to ones as well as presenting at events from intimate talks to large international conferences. Fun fact about Elvina, she is also known as "Auntie Vina" and she hosts a story telling channel. She started the channel to share her love for children's books and the amazing journeys the imagination can take little people. She chooses books that focus on black children or are written by black authors. She also includes books that show a diversity of race, culture, religion, gender roles, health and life experiences and so much more, because our little people deserve so much more than just one way of looking at this big wide world. Check it out, her YouTube link is below! Where to find Elvina? On LinkedIn On Twitter On Instagram On Facebook On YouTube [email protected] What's Elvina reading? Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz What I Know for Sure by Oprah Winfrey Books by Brené Brown What's Elvina watching? The Matrix Other topics of interest: Adinkra Symbols Fante People of Ghana Akina Mama Wa Afrika African Women's Development Fund The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and the SyndromeSpecial Guest: Elivina Quaison.

African Unity Day Greetings Glocal Citizens! This week we're back in Nigeria with one of Forbes' 30 under 30 in Enterprise Technology. Starting his first company at age 19, he's a serial entrepreneur in the public interest. Iyinoluwa Aboyeji spent the last few years as the CEO of Flutterwave, a business building payments technology and infrastructure connecting Africa to the global economy. He led the company to becoming one of the fastest growing payments technology businesses of all-time processing over $2 billion across over 50 million transactions. In his tech-prenuer endeavors, prior to Flutterwave, Iyinoluwa co-founded Andela - Africa's largest engineering organization with over 1,000 software engineers; Andela’s investors include Mark Zuckerberg and Google Ventures amongst others. Iyinoluwa or "E" now heads Fund for Africa’s Future where he spends time helping founders, philanthropists and investors from around the world understand how to do build fast growing and impactful technology businesses in Africa. Today we salute all that Iyinoluwa is doing to manifest a more unified Africa! Where to find Iyinoluwa: On LinkedIn On Twitter On Instagram On Facebook What's Iyinoluwa reading? The House of Morgan by Ron Chernow The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald American Disruptor: The Scandalous Life of Leland Stanford by Roland De Wolk Other topics of interest: Velocity @ University of Waterloo Learning Management Systems The Gilded Age Niger Delta ConflictSpecial Guest: Iyinoluwa Aboyeji.