Advisory Committee

Dr. Faustina Essandoh-Yeddu PhD MA MSc
Chair, Advisory Committee

Dr. Faustina Essandoh-Yeddu is the National Director of the Department of Community Development, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development in Ghana. Prior to this, she was the Head of the Department of Urban and Environmental Management, Institute of Local Government Studies, Ghana. Dr. Essandoh has worked for over 30 years on community development programmes in Ghana including conducting research, delivering lectures, facilitation and developing training modules/manuals for gender and agriculture, rural/community development, natural resource management, local govern-ance, and adult education. She holds a PhD in Geography & Resource Development and a Masters in Adult Education from the University. of Ghana, and a Masters in Development Studies (Gender & Agriculture) and BSc. Tropical Agriculture (Gender & Extension) from Van Hall Larenstein, University of Wageningen, The Netherlands. She also has several post graduate qualifications including a Certificate in Public Administration from Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration and a Diploma in Sustainable Local Economic Development from Erasmus University, Netherlands. Through her voluntary work, Dr. Essandoh fulfils her passion of designing and promoting pro-poor programmes for the most disadvantaged in society including women, children, young people, and the unemployed in the rural and urban communities.

Advisory Committee and Management Team

Dr. Lynette Ametewee PhD MA LLM MBA
President & CEO Founder and Director of Research & Evaluation

Dr. Lynette Ametewee has over 30 years of experience working across health, social care, gender/women’s economic empowerment, mental health/disability, sustainable development, media/communications and fundraising in international, national and local organizations. Some previous roles include Consultant/Program Specialist for Women’s Human Rights for UN Women Caribbean Regional Office promoting women’s economic and political empowerment across 26 countries; National Policy Adviser for the Women and Equality Unit in the Cabinet Office (UK), National Communications and Strategic Development Manager for the Delivering Race Equality in Mental Healthcare Program (UK), Business Manager for Women’s Services, West Herts NHS Trust (UK) and National Commissioner (Pediatric Medicine) & National Program of Care Manager for Women’s and Children’s Services (NHS England, UK) and consulting across several local government and NHS Trusts in the UK. Dr. Ametewee holds a BA in Law/French and Masters in Criminology (Middlesex University ,UK), Masters in Corporate Finance Law (University of Westminster, UK), and an MBA in Strategic Management from Aston University (UK). During her PhD Program at Georgia State University in the United States, she worked as a Research Assistant supporting international projects in Sub-Saharan Africa  and completed two O.R.IS.E Research Participation Fellowships at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention including field missions to Ghana and a Graduate/Postdoctoral Research Assistant in the Prevention Research Center, Department of Community and Preventive Medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine in the United States.

Dr. Ametewee has completed Certificates in Sports for Development in the areas of Health, Violence Prevention, Education, Social Inclusion, Gender Equality, Employability, Environment, Social Exclusion, and Monitoring and Evaluation and Impact Evaluation with the  German Sport University Cologne and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.  She received a Postdoctoral Training Award to participate in a Health Disparities: A Translational Research Approach Course with the University of Puerto Rico/ Hispanics in Research Capability: SoHP & SoM Partnership (HiREC) Endowment Program, in collaboration with The Hispanic Alliance for Clinical and Translational Research (Alliance)(Puerto Rico). Dr. Ametewee previously taught certificate, undergraduate and postgraduate courses as Adjunct Lecturer/Researcher at the Graduate School of Governance and Leadership (now Accra Business School), Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Ghana Telecom University, Concord Business College, and the Institute of Local Government Studies in Ghana.She has also worked as a Research & Evaluation Consultant for several organizations in Africa including as a National Evaluator for the World Bank/DANIDA/Ghana Council of Technical and Vocational Studies Skills Development Fund Program and Editor-In-Chief for a weekly Kids’ TV News Program on MultiTV (Ghana).

Her research interests are behavioral, community-engaged and translational research among populations primarily in Africa and Afro descendant populations in Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, and the UK related to obesity/noncommunicable diseases, the global syndemic of malnutrition and climate change. She also has an interest in One Health, antimicrobial resistance, women’s economic empowerment, sport for development, gender equality and social inclusion, traditional local governance and the SDGs. She has co-authored publications and presented research at several international conferences including the Africa Studies Association and the American Public Health Association. She is a former Fellow of the University of Pittsburgh Leading Emerging and Diverse Scientists to Success (L.E.A.D.S) translational research program, Visiting Lecturer at Accra Business School (Ghana) Adjunct Lecturer at Western International College (WINC)/Global Pathways College/University of Bolton (UK), and an Independent Investigator for Pontificia La Javeriana University (Colombia). Dr. Ametewee is a Member of the American Public Health Association and the National Black MBA Association Atlanta Chapter (US). She is a Board Member of the International Advisory Committee of Western International College (WINC)/Global Pathways College and a Member of the Quality and Compliance Committee of Awards for Training and Higher Education (ATHE) in the United Kingdom.Dr. Ametewee is one of the Leaders of Ladies W/ho Latte in Ghana, an international network for women entrepreneurs.

Dr. Rodney T. Cohen EdD MAE
Director of Strategic Partnerships and Corporate Relations

Dr. Cohen has over 20 years of experience in higher education with positions in diversity and inclusion, fundraising, as a visiting professor and academic dean. Some of his previous posts include positions at Meharry Medical College, Northern Illinois University, University of Notre Dame, Yale University, the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and Fisk University. Cohen is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University where he was a Roland Scholar and received his BSc degree in Biology, he is also a graduate of Western Kentucky’s College of Education and Behavioral Sciences and Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College where he received his Masters in Education and Doctorate of Education respectively. While at Vanderbilt, he conducted an a study abroad program in Gothic Architecture at Cambridge University (England). Dr. Cohen has parlayed his research interest in higher education to produce several published works in academic journals, book chapters and two (2) books on the histories of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) with Arcadia Press entitled The Black Colleges of Atlanta and Fisk University.

He has served on several boards including the Urban League of Southern Connecticut, Quinnipiac University School of Medicine Health Careers Advisory Council, Chair of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) ACT-SO New Haven and the Connecticut Teach for America. Currently, he serves as the Nashboro District Chair for the Boy Scouts of Middle Tennessee. In addition, he has participated in several significant leadership seminars and programs, including Leadership Laurens County in South Carolina, the Education Leadership Program for the US Army at Fort Knox KY and the Leadership Institute at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. Cohen has been a guest speaker and lecturer for several institutions including Black Enterprise, Columbia University in New York, Davidson College, Washington & Lee University, the University of Virginia, Yale Conference in Ghana, and the American Embassy in Niger.

Bernardino Gonçalves
Director of Finance

Bernardino is a Certified Accountant and Financial Management Specialist with over 15 years’ experience  working across various sectors. Currently he works as an Independent Consultant in Finance, Microfinance and NGO capacity-building. His previous roles include 1) Program officer in microfinance and entrepreneurship promotion in rural areas  under Cape Verde National Program for Poverty Alleviation and 2) Manager in a social inclusion project (Social Protection Network) in the Special Projects Management Unit. Bernadino is committed to his neighborhood – Safende, where he participates intensively in a social “street” work project for integrated development through the community-based association in Cape Verde.

Emmanuel Duah
Director of Community Engagement

He holds a certificate in Outreach Training and Support Supervision (OTSS) from Malaria Care/USAID, and a Certificate in Financial Management and Training and in Village Savings and Loans from World Vision Ghana/USAID. He also holds a certificate in Community Health (Field Technician) and Diploma in Disease Control and Surveillance from the College and Well-being, Kintampo and currently reading Public Health Management at the Catholic University College -Sunyani. He has worked extensively with Civic Society Organizations (CSOs) to build the capacity of communities to improve health and social care outcomes in Ghana. These include the World Vision Ghana Strengthening Community Care and Support for Orphan Vulnerable Children (SCASO) Project in the Suhum Kraboa Coaltar District and as Lead Facilitator for the Municipal HIV/AIDS committee at Suhum Municipal. His focus is on designing community and district level strategies/interventions and community engagement to support health systems strengthening in the Denkyembour District in the Eastern Region of Ghana. In his role as Disease Control and Surveillance Officer, Public Health Division, Ghana Health Service-Denkyembour District, he supports the National Malaria Control Program.