About UsVertical Divider
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The Africa House Sacramento is a multipurpose cultural and educational center for Africans and African descend and friends. It will serve as a leading organization for civic engagement, African cultural programs, promotion of positive Africa image among the youth, community organization, and a hub for professional networking.
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MissionVertical Divider
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The Africa House Sacramento is a multipurpose cultural and educational center for Africans and African
descendants as well as friends and partners. It will serve as a leading organization for civic engagement, African cultural programs, promotion of positive Africa image and pride among the youth, community organization, and a hub for professional networking as well as information resources. |
Board Members
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Dr. Ernest UwazieChairman of the Board
Ernest E. Uwazie holds a Ph.D. in Justice Studies from Arizona State University. He is a
Professor and Chair of Criminal Justice, and Director/Founder of the Center for African Peace & Conflict Resolution (since 1996) at California State University, Sacramento, USA. He is a renowned ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution)/mediation trainer, practitioner, scholar and system designer. He also served as a member of the Sacramento Community Police Commission (2015-17), including chair of its committee on diversity and inclusion. He has many publications and conference presentations on peace and conflict resolution, peace education, restorative justice and alternative dispute resolution. He is the recipient of the CSUS’s 2010 Outstanding Scholarly Achievement Award, 2016-17 Outstanding Community Service Award, the 2010 Judge Warren Knight Award of JAMS Foundation—for promoting peaceful settlement of conflicts in Africa; UN Roster of Eminent Mediators, 2008 Fellow of Society of Peace Studies and Practice-Nigeria; 1999 Sacramento Peacemaker of the Year Award, plus other numerous awards for his community services and scholarship, and he belongs or participated in many professional and African community development/cultural organizations, e.g. the African Studies Association, Law & Society Association, Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, American Bar Association-ADR section, President of the African Criminology and Justice Association (2000- ‘03), founding Chair of the Igbo Development Union of Sacramento, former Vice-President of Leadership Council of the Sacramento Igbo Catholic Community, board member of the Black Catholic Ministry of the Sacramento Diocese, and director of the Sacramento Africa Peace Committee, and President/founder of Afripeace Foundation, USA, among others. |
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Mr. Kwame TambohVice Chairman of the Board
Kwame worked on several live projects during his Executive MBA program at California State University, Sacramento. Some of these projects involved companies such as Rexel USA, Sacramento; VSP, Rancho Cordova; Intel Corporation, Folsom; All-Pro Bail Bonds, Sacramento; Heinrich Property Management, Sacramento; and Ultimate Fitness Center, Sacramento; He experienced global business and culture from a professional and personal perspective during an International Study tour to South Korea and Japan. Kwame has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and an MBA from California State University, Sacramento. He is a Certified Scrum Master. Kwame was the former President and Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors, Ghana-Sacramento Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization and worked on several fund-raising projects for charitable courses. He was also the President of the Ghanaian Association of Sacramento.
He is currently, the Chief of Legal and Business Services Section in the California Medicaid Management Information Systems Division at the Department of Health Care Services. Kwame manages and provides leadership for all functional activities involving legislation, litigation, Public Records Acts requests, business services including but not limited to facilities management, procurements, and other administrative functions for the division. He and his staff provide technical assistance to Deputy Attorneys General (DOJ) in the resolution of Medi-Cal claim lawsuits brought against DHCS in Superior courts throughout California. Kwame has several years of management experience with the State of California and over twenty years of comprehensive state government analytical and customer service experience in the areas of Medi-Cal contracts, policy development, legislation, regulation, litigation, research, fiscal and budgets. Kwame previously worked as a Personal Banking Officer with Wells Fargo Bank before joining the State of California. He lives in Elk Grove with his wife, Rosa. They have three children; a Mechanical Engineer with Intuitive Surgical Company (Da Vinci Robots by Intuitive) in the Silicon Valley; a Manicurist in Sacramento; and a Junior High School student. Kwame loves to watch movies, political news and developments, traveling and a frequent participant in charitable causes. |
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Ms. Evelyn NassunaBoard Member & Secretary
Evelyn is the Secretary to the Board of Directors of the Africa House Sacramento. She has over 20 years’ experience in International Development. Evelyn holds a Master of Laws degree from Georgetown University School of Law in Washington, DC and a Bachelor of Laws and Development from the University of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania. She is an alum of the Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program and Leadership and Advocacy for Women in Africa Fellowship Program at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington DC, USA.
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Ms. Ja’Nice WisdomBoard Member & Treasurer
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Edrine DdunguBoard Member & Chairperson, Fundraising Committee
Board of Director: Chairperson Fundraising Committee
Married: Juliet with four children, Akira, Bryan, Brandon, and Blair Education: Bachelors of Science in Business Administration Employer: Sacramento County Office of Education Community Involvement: President, Interfaith Council of Greater Sacramento Mission and Purpose: Meeting the challenges as a Ugandan African American immigrant settled in Sacramento since1985 defined and continues to define my role and relationships in line with our new communities. Recognize the need and determined to prepare the community by organizing its people as we move into areas that have never been experienced fully to reach their potential. Seek to strengthen our communities in the United States of America by organization and education for awareness, as well as supporting and advocating for issues of interest to our communities and beyond. |
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Ms. Unwana OkonBoard Member
A graduate of Woodbury University, Burbank, California with an MBA in Management and BS in Marketing, Unwana has devoted her life to the public service for more than 30 years. Although she has lived outside the African Continent for more than two-thirds of her life, Unwana has never left Africa. She is a community leader wherever she lives.
In Los Angeles California, while she attended college, Unwana was one of the pioneer founders of the Akwaibom State Association of Nigeria, a community association which caters for the welfare of the people of Akwaibom State of Nigeria in the diaspora. Unwana later relocated to Sacramento and founded the Sacramento Chapter of the Akwaibom State Association Nigeria and served as the Sacramento Chapter President for 5 years. Unwana was appointed the Vice President of the Sacramento Association of Nigerians and later she was appointed the President of the Sacramento Association of Nigerians. Unwana has served in many community committees including serving as a Member of the Sacramento Grand Jury. She is devoted to her friends and family including extended family back home in the motherland. She is passionate about her African people and will go the extra-mile to bring them together. Her love for her community made her elder brother, Douglas I. Okon to write the following comment when he heard of Unwana’s ongoing work with the community: “You are just like our mother. Our mother was so big in community service. May God continue to give you the leadership skills that you need. I wish you the best as you embark on the mission to serve the black race and Africa in particular. God bless you and bless you again and again”. Building an Africa House in the Sacramento Region had been Unwana’s dream since the early 2000. Unwana is delighted to see this project come to fruition. Hobbies –Cooking Sewing, Fashion Designing, Jewelry Design and Beading. Going to the Operas, Gospel and Classical Music, Travel. |
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Gustav AntwiBoard member
Gustav is a Civil Engineer, an employee of the State of California, and has 26 years of
experience as Construction Engineering Supervisor II. He has supervised many major California State construction projects including Capitol Area East End Complex, Franchise Tax Board Complex buildings, State Central Plant, Mule Creek Infill Prison Complex, and the renovation of the State Library and Court Building. Construction budgets ranging from $160 million to $680 million. He is currently supervising the new state legislative and executive officer’s office building project in Sacramento, one of the most sustainable state buildings in the country at a budget of $480 million. Gustav Antwi is also a mediator and member of the Sacramento Africa Peace Committee under the Center for African Peace and Conflict Resolution Sacramento California. He is one of the founding leaders of the Ghanaian Association of Sacramento. |
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Dr. Victor E. DikeBoard Member
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Al Som-AnyaBoard Member & Chairperson, Membership
Al Som-Anya has worked extensively in the Information Technology industry, for both private and public organizations. He initiated the IT department for Vanir Construction Management company (Sacramento) as the IT Manager in 1994 and rose to the Information Technology Director for Spink (now Stantec, Sacramento) from 1995-2000. In the latter position, he led the infamous Y2K technology initiatives. He worked as a Principal Network Engineer for ActivCard/ActivIdentity (Fremont/Suresnes France) in 2001/2, working on biometrics and digital identities, traveling nationally and Europe to implement solutions in the U.S and France. After the 9/11 attack, international travel became of great concern to him and his family, providing a pivot for him to come back to work in Sacramento, as a System Engineer for the city of Sacramento. He worked to convert their traditional phone systems to the modern phone systems leveraging the internet -Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) until 2009. He joined Fortune 100 technology firm, Cisco Systems, San Jose in 2009, but left the following year to join the State of California as the Computer Operations Manager, to be closer to his family. In 2012, he joined the California Health and Human Services’ Social Services Department as their Branch Chief, responsible for all software application development initiatives. His team of over one hundred staff and consultants were responsible for several multimillion-dollar projects. He started his firm Comaax Technologies in 2019, www.comaax.com to focus on Agile transformation projects and retired from the State of California in May 2020.
Al earned his Master of Business Administration degree (MBA) with a concentration in Information Technology (Project Management and Systems Security) from Golden Gate University, San Francisco, and his undergraduate degree (B.S.) from the University of Houston in Computer Information Systems. His expertise is in Agile software development, database management, network administration, biometrics, and cloud computing. He has achieved several IT industry-wide certifications and training, such as Agile Certified Scrum Master (CSM), SAFe Agilist, CSPO, Information Technology Infrastructure Library, ITIL, Cisco certifications in network and (VoIP), several Microsoft certifications including, Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), MCSA, MCP, and the Project Management Professional (PMP), project management certification from George Washington University. In 2006, he found considerable interest in real estate as both an investor and trader. He started moonlighting with RE/MAX in 2006, and after nine months he started his firm Washington Financial, www.washingtonreal.com, specializing in funding, sales, and property management. This has widened his interests in assisting clients interested in taking advantage of the lucrative investment in real estate in California and now Washington states. His firm is licensed in California and Washington states. Al has also worked in community organizations. He led the Igbo Development Union of Sacramento for eight years, as their chairman, during which he initiated the annual Igbo Day celebration, a day earmarked to showcase the cultural heritage of the Igbo tribe of Nigeria. He was also the founding General Secretary for Abba Union, USA, an organization established to enrich the experiences of the Abba people from Imo State of Nigeria. He is a founding member of the Orlu Heritage Association. His interest as a founding member of the Africa House of Sacramento is bound out of his underlining interests in seeing the sustenance and propagation of his culture and heritage! |
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RASELETTE HUNT MD
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Ubong Inyang is originally from Nigeria in West Africa. She loves serving God and the community. |
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Cecilia Ngozi OjingwaAdministrative Manager/CoordinatorCecilia Ngozi is a Church Minister and Experienced, Dynamic and passionate Educator. She has extensive experience teaching at all levels of Education including Universities and community colleges. Currently, she is employed at Elk Grove Unified School District. She worked as a professor at UC Davis, teaching “Health Education for teachers before transitioning to Chapman University, Sacramento, California where she taught psychology for several years, including Cross-cultural psychology.
Prior to her career in education, She worked as a Community Health Educator for United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). She conducted needs assessment of individual communities, designed and implemented needs based health education and training programs, including training of trainers, developed and used drama (Popular Theater) to address sensitive issues health and social issues involving attitude change. Cecilia was a Court Appointed Special Advocate, (CASA) in Sacramento Municipal and Superior Courts, California. There, she served as an advocate for the best interest of abused and neglected children involved in court proceedings. She also has extensive experience in business management and was the Managing Director, All Star Beauty USA INC, Austin Texas for several years. She designs and manages websites for businesses and nonprofit organizations, including churches. She also does search engine optimization, including google in addition to social media and marketing. Cecilia is an active participant in various African groups and communities in Sacramento and has led and organizes various community projects. |