Board and Advisors

The ACH Board features experts in the fields of education, medicine, agriculture, law and international development. Our members are volunteers and each is an important financial contributor to the organization.

Virginia Boylan, Secretary

Attorney Virginia Boylan represents American Indian Tribes in the areas of gaming, tribal recognition and energy law. Before going into private practice, she served as Deputy Staff Director and Senior Counsel to the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. In addition to her activities with African Children’s Haven, she is a member of the Executive Committee of the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (NOFAS) and is Chair of Agroforestry Council International, an organization that supports the work of the World Agroforestry Centre in Kenya. She is a partner in the Washington, DC law firm of Drinker Biddle & Reath.

Skye Dobson

 

Wembly Fund founder Skye Dobson has dedicated her academic and professional career to African affairs and to promoting child welfare and education projects on the continent.  She holds a Bachelors degree in African Studies and is currently pursuing a Masters in international affairs at the prestigious New School in New York City. Skye speaks Kiswahili and is a member of Project Africa, a scholarly community that seeks to help the US public develop a greater appreciation for Africa and the complex development challenges that it faces.

Linda Ercole-Musso, Chair

Linda Ercole-Musso is a teacher and artist with many years of experience working in early childhood education, both in the United States and abroad. She holds a Masters degree from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. She currently mentors at-risk children and adults in art programs on Galveston Island, Texas. Her art, inspired by developing country themes, has been exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide.

Edward W. Sulzberger, Executive Director

Ed Sulzberger is a fund raising and public awareness consultant specializing in developing country agriculture and development issues. A former Peace Corp Volunteer (Colombia 1972-74), Ed has worked extensively with international research and development organizations and has written widely on the subjects of biodiversity, climate change and food production. He currently serves as Chairman of AID for Africa, a US charity that provides funding to development agencies working in Africa.

Honorary Board Members

Michele Avery

Michele Avery is a surgical trauma and neo-natal nurse with a long-time interest in developing country child health issues. She holds a BSN from the University of Texas and is certified as a forensic investigator. Prior to a distinguished career working with patients at the University of Texas Medical Branch and Austin’s Brackenridge Hospital, Michele served as a graphic illustrator for Boeing working on the development of airmobile units for the Air Force. She currently serves as President of the Galveston Arts Center and recently qualified as a Texas Master Gardener. (ACH Board member 2008-2009)

                                             Advisory Board

Advisory Co

An important asset of African Childrens Haven is its core of on-the-ground volunteer advisors stationed in the countries where we work. Each advisor helps identify worthy projects and provides assistance and oversight of the programs in which we invest. Each is a key link between our investors and the children.

Aichi Kitalyi, Tanzania

Aichi Kitalyi was born to peasant family, but was educated through the Tanzanian governments program of affirmative action in the early 60’s to 80’s. Dr. Kitalyi is an agricultural scientists and development specialist with 30 years of experience in rural Africa. She worked with the government of Tanzania in agricultural extension and livestock research from the mid 1970’s to the mid-1990’s. In 1995 she was awarded the prestigious FAO Andre Mayer fellowship which allowed her to pursue her work in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and The Gambia. She is currently the Tanzania country manager for the World Agroforestry Centre and is active in rural poverty and global climate change research.

Festus Akinnfesi, Malawi

Festus Akinnifesi is a leading authority on the use of leguminous “fertilizer” trees that fix atmospheric nitrogen and transfers it to the soil. Although based in Malawi, his research is widely credited with promoting the development of policies throughout Southern Africa that encourage tree planting programs that help African farmers cope with food and fertilizer shortages. An accomplished horticulturalist, he is also credited with the improvement of numerous indigenous fruit trees.  His newest book, Indigenous Fruit Trees in the Tropics: Domestication, Utilization and Commercialization is fast becoming a must-read for horticulturalists and policymakers, focusing as it does on the marketing of underutilized crops, their biodiversity and the maintenance of sustainable natural resources.  

          Amare Getahun, Ethiopia

Amare Getahun is one of Ethiopia’s leading experts on agriculture, forestry and environment. Born into poverty, Getahun rose to become Director of Research and Dean of Agriculture at Ethiopia’s National University. During a long and productive career, Getahun distinguished himself as a leading proponent of science-based agroforestry to lift the rural poor out of poverty.  He is perhaps best known for his leadership of the research team that developed a highly efficient and affordable wood-burning cook stove. The stoves reduce pressure on natural forest by increasing the efficiency of conventional cooking methods and greatly reduce smoke, a major health hazard to women and girls. Getahun maintains an active schedule working with Ethiopia’s poor. He currently serves as CEO of Dejen Agro Business Plc, a leading provider of agricultural development services to Ethiopia’s rural poor.  

Susan MacMillan, Kenya

Chinwe Dike, Gambia