BOARD OF DIRECTORS
We offer activities to community organizations, schools and corporations while addressing educational and social needs that help foster community building, global citizenship and personal enrichment through our core programs.
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CATHERINE NDUNGU-CASE
President/CEO Catherine is the founder of Pleasanton based Cheza Nami Foundation, Inc. Her childhood in a rural village in Kenya was enriched by an emphasis on family and culture. It was the birth of her twins in 2007, and the lack of accessible educational resources that made her wish to share her African heritage, not only with her children, but also with others. Catherine has dual and divergent passions. She holds a master’s degree in cell and molecular biology and currently works in the clinical research field. She also has great passion to create programs that foster interconnections between people. Her message is that music, dance and an open mind are essential ingredients for a beautiful life and joyful common ground. Catherine was recently featured in Diablo Magazine’s top 40 under 40 Eastbay for her contributions to the community. She has delivered keynote addresses and participated in panel discussions to share her message on cultural diversity and global citizenship. Her work in creating cultural awareness programs has appeared in TEDxLivermore, the Oakland Magazine, Contra Costa newspapers and several other local news papers. |
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MARY ADEDOYIN DOSUNMU, PH.D.
Vice President of Board, South Bay Representative Mary is the vice president of the Cheza Nami board. Cheza Nami foundations fosters the vision that Mary believes in sharing community and culture, which made it a natural fit. Mary is a trained neuroscientist currently working in the clinical research field. Her primary passion outside of her professional life is bringing communities together and education. To that end, she created and champions a diaspora social network of Nigerians in the Northern Cali region that meets twice annually and shares resources through a group platform she created. In her professional life, she strives hard to foster a South Bay community of women in healthcare by regularly hosting bi-monthly informal in person coffee chats as a volunteer for HBAnet.org. Mary is also an avid blogger, foodie, and enjoys gardening. |
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ERNA GRASZ
CFO Erna is the CEO and Chairman of the Board for Asante Africa Foundation. She founded Asante Africa Foundation after returning from travels to Tanzania in 2005, saddened by lack of basic education access and facilities. She met two amazing women on that trip, Emmy in Tanzania and Hellen in Kenya, and forged partnerships with them that would evolve to the current the Asante Africa Foundation. Since it began, the Asante Africa Foundation programs and scholarships have touched the lives of more than 10,000 students and teachers, in more than 10 schools. Erna is passionate that all children deserve a chance to be educated and create their own dreams. Erna began her career as an electrical engineer and grew her success in the corporate world. Her previous work includes development of robots for land mine discovery, radioactive waste handling and bomb removal. Her advanced degrees are in Electrical Engineering and Engineering Management. She is also an executive coach, authoring seminars and speeches on the topics of leadership, communication skills, and project management. Now she leads Asante Africa Foundation full time. |
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TSHACKIE NJOKI
Secretary Tshakie is Founder and CEO of Kikwetu Coffee , a niche coffee brand that supplies high-grade African coffee to leading Bay Area and Canadian coffee houses. Kikwetu Coffee also supplies establishments and retail outlets across the nation. It is 'coffee-with-a-mission' - focusing on conversation, economic empowerment and retelling the narrative of the African coffee farmer. She is also Co-Founder of the San Francisco Arts Collective , a platform created to build partnerships, branded opportunities and signature events for artists/visionaries in the Bay Area's tech, art and performance scenes. SFAC has engaged a variety of artists, most notably from Big Fish Studios in Madrid, Spain and Columbia Records, and corporates such as San Francisco Nightlife, UBER, The Recording Academy/GRAMMY and more. |
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JOHN CASE
Director, Marketing Chair John Case has sales, marketing and training expertise in the pharmaceutical industry for the past 22 years. He is an active youth sports coach and community member with a graduate degree in business/marketing. Following his marriage to Catherine in 2003 and the birth of their twins in 2007, he has immersed himself in the the role of cultural awareness and education and embraced the role of promoting the primary vision of Cheza Nami, which is to enable cultural diversity in communities and promote global citizenship. |
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TARISAI GARANDE
Director Tarisai Garande is a Senior Consultant at ERM, a global environmental consulting firm, based in Walnut Creek, California. She provides strategic and tactical environmental consulting services to a range of clients including high technology, retail, oil and gas industries, and government. Prior to her current role at ERM, Miss Garande worked for the UK Environment Agency on a special project (TE2100) providing long-term flood risk management plan for London and the Thames estuary. She also worked on pan-European flood risk management partner project with the Environment Ministries of Belgium, Netherlands and Germany with the aim of influencing future European flood risk policy. She also has international work experience in Asia and South America. She also serves as part of the Executive Team of The African Network, a global non-profit organization with the sole mandate of fostering entrepreneurship among people of African descent. In 2010, she led sponsorship efforts for the TANCon 2010; TAN’s annual conference in Silicon Valley, California. |
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ENA ATTIOGBE
Board Advisor Ena Attiogbe is a business expert and hails from Ghana. She is the co-founder of E and E Group, a consulting firm based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has functioned in various leadership capacities both in academia and in business. Some of her greatest passions are helping others, active involvement in medical mission trips and other social causes. She believes in "Unity is Strength" and is very optimistic about the future of Africa. Ena received and MBA from California State University, East Bay with a concentration in Finance and has a BA in Development Studies from the University for Development Studies, Ghana. |
PREVIOUS MEMBERS OF THE BOARD
Carolyn Njogu Advisory Board (2013 -2017) |
Betiel Hadgu Haile Director, Fundraising Chair (2014-2017) |
Jen Perazzo Maina Secretary (2012-2016) |
Ann Muthoni Advisory board & Legal Counsel (2013-2016) |
