November 14th, 2017– The Board of Directors of JA Africa announce the appointment of five new members. The appointment of these five members expands the Board to 18 Directors. Joining the Board of Trustees are Ebele Okobi, Christi Maherry, Moky Makura, Abdu Mukhtar and Vusi Fele.
“As JA Africa focuses on working at scale and exploring ways to reach larger numbers of Africa’s youth with its programs, we welcome the addition of these five outstanding new board members. Their global experience and expertise will strengthen JA Africa’s ability to deliver greater impact across the continent.” said Jean Chawapiwa, Chair of JA Africa’s board of directors.
Ebele Okobi is Facebook’s Public Policy Director for Africa. She has worked across Africa, Europe and in the US as a lawyer, civil society advocate and in marketing and business development. Prior to joining Facebook, she was Global Head of Human Rights at Yahoo, in the management development program in Nike’s EMEA headquarters, a senior director at Catalyst in Silicon Valley/Amsterdam; a consumer rights policy fellow at Consumers Union in San Francisco and a securities and mergers and acquisitions lawyer at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York, Paris and London. She was a founding board member of the Global Network Initiative, is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the Advisory Board of Alliance for an Affordable Internet.
Christi Maherry is the founder and CEO of LAWtrust and one of Africa’s leading digital security experts. Christi has been in the digital security business for 20 years. In the past decade Christi has grown LAWtrust exponentially from a two-person operation in a borrowed shareholder office to a business that touches the lives of all of South African citizens and continues to grow globally. Outside of SA, LAWtrust’s footprint can be found in Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria, the EU, Iceland. Before committing her energy to the private sector, Christi worked for the South African state in security and intelligence for nearly a decade. Christi is based in Johannesburg.
Moky Makura joined the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as the Deputy Director for Communications Africa in January 2015. In this regional role which is based in South Africa, she is responsible for building and managing the Foundation’s reputation on the continent. Since July this year, Moky has taken up the role of Interim Country Representative. Before joining the Foundation, Moky worked in communications for the Tony Elumelu Foundation in Nigeria. Prior to that she was a well-known TV presenter, producer, publisher, author and actress.
Vusi Fele is the Chief Procurement Officer for Barclays, based in Johannesburg. He is an accomplished and multifaceted professional with 20+ years of rich experience in delivering optimal results & business value in environments that demand cross functional leadership, convincing and influencing a diverse number of people from different disciplines and nationalities, exceptional strategic and operational planning in global or regional roles. He has hands on experience in supply chain, strategic sourcing, quality control, administration, logistics, supplier development, sustainability and Black Economic Empowerment from diverse industrial sectors including aviation, utilities, transportation, FMCG, mining, manufacturing and services and demonstrated strength in defining policies, governance and supply(ier) risk management. Vusi’s expertise spans enhanced value creation, innovation, productivity, supply security.
Dr. Abdu Mukhtar, Ph.D., M.D. has been the Director of Industrial & Trade Development at African Development Bank since September 28, 2017. Dr. Mukhtar is a Partner at Sahel Capital. Dr. Mukhtar is a Co-Founder of Grassroot Microfinance Bank and serves as its Chairman. Dr. Mukhtar served as a Medical Officer in the Ministry of Health Kano and ASO Clinic Abuja. Prior to this, he was the Group Managing Director and Chi
ef Executive Officer at Abuja Investments Company Ltd., where he oversaw portfolio investments and joint-venture projects. Prior to this, Dr. Mukhtar held several positions including Senior Special Assistant to Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory Minister on Economic Matters. He was also a Special Adviser to the Chairman of the Economics and Financial Crimes Commission. Dr. Mukhtar is experienced in principal investing, consulting and microfinance. He holds a Doctor of Medicine (MB.BS) degree from the Ahmadu Bello University School of Medicine and earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine from the Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Mukhtar also holds a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
About JA Africa:
JA Africa is a member of JA Worldwide, one of the largest global organizations focused on the economic empowerment of youth. JA activates youth for the future of jobs through the delivery of in financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship training. JA Africa reaches over 230,000 young people in 14 countries in Africa each year. www.ja-africa.org
