IE Africa Center Announces New Cohort of Gurus and Griots

This week, IE University’s IE Africa Center welcomed six new fellows into its Gurus an Griots program, which is designed for African and Afro-descendant leaders in business, policy, and academia. Fellows are divided into two groups: gurus – practitioners with influential business theories and ideas, and griots – intellectual innovators who focus on academic research. Over the course of a year, fellows collaborate with IE University teams to pursue research or an initiative of their choice focused on African and diasporic solutions to global challenges. They also have the opportunity to incorporate their work into various IE University programs, collaborate with faculty to develop multimedia educational material, and connect corporate partners and academic peers.

The new Gurus and Griots cohort includes:

• Kwesi Amoak, Creative Pedagogy & Development, Communications Specialist: An author, creative educator and communication specialist, Amoak, is the founding director of Mpuntusem, a Pan-African development communication NGO based in Accra. He is currently a Mellon PhD Fellow at the Institute of African Studies (IAS) at the University of Ghana where he is undertaking research in anthropology of education with focus on indigenous onto-epistemologies and pedagogies of creativity.
  
  
• George A. Ayeh, CEO at Fastcare Clinics: Ayeh is the CEO and Founder of Fastcare Clinics, a social enterprise with an innovative health finance model, leveraging technology to provide and bridge the gap for healthcare delivery for disadvantaged communities and populations. He graduated from the Harvard Medical School with a Masters in Medical Science (MMSc) in Global Health Delivery and has nearly 20 years’ experience in the healthcare sector working and advising, NGOs, corporations and governments on health policies and redesigning and implementing healthcare delivery strategies for some African countries.
  
  
• Saidah Nash Carter, Co-Founder, Bright Insights Global LLC: Nash Carter is Head of Innovation at Thomson Reuters Labs. A digital business native with a passion for value creation and the use of tech to create new opportunity for business and for humanity, she began her career creating multimedia news services for early internet sensations like Yahoo and AOL. Today she leads Bright Insights Global (BIG), a boutique consultancy and expert network committed to helping companies do better business in Africa, with expertise spanning financial services, media, private equity, law, talent management, digital product and business development. Nash Carter specializes in creative business development, co-creation, and strategic partnerships that create long term business value and positive societal impact.
  
  
• Patrice Juah, Professor of Global Civil Rights CIEE Council on International Education Exchange: Juah is a communications professional, writer and editor. As founder of the Martha Juah Educational Foundation, she champions girls’ education and leadership, through the foundation’s academic initiative, Sexy Like A Book. An accomplished author, poet, and public speaker, her literary works cover a wide range of themes, to include personal life experiences, women’s empowerment and humor. A firm believer in the transformative power of education, Juah contributes to the Liberia Literary Society and Village Tales Publishing, as board member and editor, respectively. She is a Mandela Washington Fellow for President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), a Deutsche Welle Global Media Fellow, and a Kistefos Scholar at the IE School of Global and Public Affairs.
  
  
• Dr. Beatrice Murage, Senior Manager, Group Sustainability – Philips: Dr. Murage is a leader in health system strengthening, health equity, entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, and digital innovation. Dr. Murage serves on advisory boards of organizations in entrepreneurship, social ventures, innovation, science and technology. Inspired by the cultural diversity of the different countries she has lived in, she enjoys the performing arts and occasionally participates in the creative process towards production. Dr. Murage is a Medical Doctor with an International MBA and a Master in Business Analytics & Big Data from IE University.
  
  
• Antumi Toasijé, Historian, Artist, Doctor in History, Culture and Thought: A Lecturer of Global Liberal Studies at the University of New York in Madrid and director of end-of-study projects at the International University of La Rioja UNIR, Toasijé also serves as president of the official Council for the Elimination of Racial or Ethnic Discrimination (CEDRE) linked to the Spanish Ministry of Equality. He holds a Ph.D. in History, Culture and Thought from the University of Alcalá, with a dissertation on the African presence in the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands from the Iron Age to present times. A licentiate in General History from the University of the Balearic Islands, he completed the teaching phase of the doctorate in International Relations and African Studies at the Autonomous University of Madrid and he is officially accredited as a university lecturer (PAD ANECA). His main interests are African history and politics as well as migratory movements and collective identities from ancient to contemporary times and he has promoted various initiatives for the defense and empowerment of African and Afro-descendant communities in Europe, Africa and Latin America.
  

“One of the goals of the IE Africa Center is to actively weave African and diasporic perspectives throughout the IE University ecosystem and the Guru and Griots fellows are fundamental in our efforts to offer uniquely valuable perspectives for business, policy, and thought leaders around the world,” commented Eniola Harrison, Director of the IE Africa Center. “This year’s new Guru and Griots cohort is a diverse group of thinkers and I am confident that they will reveal new ways of shining light on African solutions to global challenges.”

Gurus and Griots also serve as high-profile representatives of the university and receive priority consideration for positions as adjunct professors in IE University’s degree-granting and executive education programs. Additionally, each new cohort forms an advisory panel to help the university reimagine ways of learning and thinking about business and public affairs through an African and Afro-diasporic lens. To apply to be a part of next year’s Guru and Griots fellowship, please contact Africa@ie.edu.  

About the IE Africa Center

The IE Africa Center was established in 2018 with the aim of promoting innovation, executive leadership, entrepreneurship, and the development of social action projects on the continent. The academic institution has been working for 15 years in the development of training and social impact programs in countries such as Ghana, Ethiopia, South Africa, and Nigeria. IE University currently has offices in Lagos and Johannesburg, and has international agreements with institutions including the universities of Cape Town, Pretoria, Ashesi, Université International de Rabat, and American University in Cairo.