Madeleine Kunin is a Swiss-born American diplomat,author and politician. She served as the 77th governor of Vermont from 1985 until 1991,as a member of the Democratic Party. She also served as United States Ambassador to Switzerland from 1996 to 1999. She was Vermont's first and,to date,only female governor as well as the first Jewish governor of Vermont. She was also the first Jewish woman to be elected governor of a U.S. state. Kunin is currently a James Marsh Professor-at-Large at the University of Vermont.
Andrew Jackson Foster (1925–1987) was an American pioneer of deaf education in several countries in Africa. In 1954,he became the first Deaf African American to earn a bachelor's degree from Gallaudet University,the American university for the Deaf,and the first to earn a master's degree from Eastern Michigan University. He earned a second master's degree from Seattle Pacific Christian College,also in education. He founded Christian Mission for the Deaf African in 1956 and set out for Accra,Ghana,where he established the first school for the deaf in West Africa.
Samella Sanders Lewis was an American visual artist and art historian. She worked primarily as a printmaker and painter. She has been called the "Godmother of African American Art". She received Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement from the College Art Association (CAA) in 2021.
“Art is not a luxury as many people think –it is a necessity. It documents history –it helps educate people and stores knowledge for generations to come.” –Dr. Samella Lewis
Renee Powell is an American professional golfer who played on the US-based LPGA Tour and is currently head professional at her family's Clearview Golf Club in East Canton,Ohio. She was the second African-American woman ever to play on the LPGA Tour.
William Lacy Swing was a diplomat and former United States Ambassador,and United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Under Secretary General. He was the Director-General of the International Organization for Migration until António Vitorino's appointment in 2018.
Patricia O'Brien is Ambassador of Ireland to Italy. She served as Ambassador to France and to Monaco from 2017 to 2021. She had served from 2013 as the Permanent Representative (Ambassador) of Ireland to the United Nations and other International Organizations at Geneva.
Renée Marie Bumb is the Chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.
Zenobia Powell Perry was an American composer,professor and civil rights activist. She taught in a number of historically black colleges and universities and composed in a style that writer Jeannie Gayle Pool called "music with clear,classic melodies." Her work has been performed by the Cleveland Chamber Symphony,the Detroit Symphony and West Virginia University Band and Orchestra.
Joke Silva(listen)MFR is a Nigerian actress,director,and businesswoman.
Agnes Gund is an American philanthropist and arts patron,collector of modern and contemporary art,and arts education and social justice advocate. She is President Emerita and Life Trustee of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and Chairman of its International Council. She is a board member of MoMA PS1. In 1977,in response to New York City's fiscal crisis that led to budget cuts that virtually eliminated arts education in public schools,Gund founded Studio in a School,a nonprofit organization that engages professional artists as art instructors in public schools and community-based organizations to lead classes in drawing,printmaking,painting,collage,sculpture,and digital media,and to work with classroom teachers,administrators,and families to incorporate visual art into their school communities.
Bisa Williams is an American diplomat. She is the former Ambassador from the United States of America to the Republic of Niger in Niamey. She assumed the post on October 29,2010. She left her post in 2013.
Michael A. Hammer is an American diplomat who is serving as the United States Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa as of 2022. A career member of the United States Foreign Service,Hammer previously served as the United States ambassador to Chile from 2014 to 2016 and the United States ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2018 to 2022.
Margo Humphrey is an American printmaker,illustrator and art teacher. She earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Stanford after earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the California College of Arts and Crafts in printmaking. She has traveled in Africa,Brazil,the Caribbean,and Europe and has taught in Fiji,Nigeria,Uganda,and the University of Maryland. As a printmaker,she is known for her "bold,expressive use of color and freedom of form",creating works that are "engaging,exuberant and alive." Her techniques for layering colors are uncommon in lithography. Her work is considered to be "in the forefront of contemporary printmaking."
Stephanie Sanders Sullivan is an American diplomat and the previous ambassador to Ghana. She served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Central African Affairs and Security Affairs for the Bureau of African Affairs from January 2017 to November 2018. She previously served as United States Ambassador to the Republic of the Congo,having been nominated by President Obama on June 13,2013,confirmed by the Senate on August 1,2013,and served through January 20,2017.
Somkele Iyamah-Idhalama is a Nigerian TV and film actress and model. She is well known for her roles in 93 Days (2016),The Wedding Party,The Arbitration (2016),and the TV series Gidi Up (2013–2014) and at the Toronto International Film Festival and Africa International Film Festival. She is an ambassador for Multichoice's DSTV Explora,the widest satellite cable network across Africa. She has in the movie,A Soldier's Story 2:Return from the Dead - sequel to a 2016 multiple award-winning romantdramasama.
Mary Beth Leonard is an American diplomat. She was the United States Ambassador to Nigeria and the former U.S. Representative to the African Union. Previously she served as the United States Ambassador to Mali from 2011 to 2014.
Dr. Wendy Onyinye Osefo is a Nigerian-American political commentator,public affairs academic,and television personality. She is an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins School of Education. She is also a main cast member of The Real Housewives of Potomac.
Globally,women are largely under-represented in STEM-related fields;this under-representation is especially prevalent in Africa where women represent less than 20% of the workforce in these fields. Regardless of this lack of representation in STEM-related work,there are many important female engineers from across the continent. Furthermore,a number of organizations within and out of Africa are working towards minimizing the disparity within the workforce.
