Our mission is to empower members of our community to be

agents of change!

The purpose of Africa Unbound is to establish

peace, prosperity, and freedom in Africa

through awakened and enlightened individuals.

AfricaUnbound.com seeks to provide a forum that brings together individuals who recognize that Africa is rising and feel the call to participate in this time of great challenges as well as opportunities.

Through thought-provoking articles and constructive dialogue among members, we aim to provide transforming knowledge that will help us grow in consciousness individually as well as collectively. Our objective is to inspire individuals to actively engage in the development of Africa.

We know that what we focus on, what we fix our attention on, grows and expands. Thus we don’t dwell on poverty, diseases, and conflicts. Instead, we explore ways of bringing forth prosperity, wellbeing, peace, and liberation.

We are taking a stand for Africa.
Join us.

The AfricaUnbound.com Team

Rahel Kassahun, Ph.D. - Founder and Executive Director
Based in Washington DC, Dr. Kassahun has been working as a consultant for the World Bank since 2002. Over the last eight years, she has worked with numerous development and government agencies in east and central Africa. Prior to joining the World Bank, she worked as a consultant for the United Nations Development Programme in New York and taught at University of California, Riverside. A native Ethiopian, Ms. Kassahun holds a Ph. D. in Economics from University of California, Riverside.

Kwakiutl Dreher, Ph.D - Editor
Dr. Dreher is Assistant Professor, English and African American Studies, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her book, Dancing on the White Page: Black Women Entertainers Writing Autobiography, has been published by the State University of New York Press. She is currently at work on her second book Give My Regards to Hollywood: Black Men Entertainers Writing Autobiography. She holds a doctorate from the University of California-Riverside.

Judith Royer - Editor
Judith Royer is a writer of grant proposals and technical manuals as well as an editor of articles, dissertations, books, and other documents. She has a strong intercultural background dating from childhood to the present, including a stint as a Peace Corps volunteer in Samoa. She has a Bachelor's in Child Development and a Master's degree in Intercultural Relations. Her general curiosity has led her to experience many other fields as well, such as flute maker, preschool teacher, and business manager.

Tebabu Assefa - Creative Director
Tebabu Assefa studied photography, visual/film production and visual communication at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Since 1991, he has held various positions in reputable organizations and companies in Washington DC in fine art photography as well as production of film and videos for commercial and educational market. In 2001 Mr. Assefa founded Ha-Hu Digital Design, a company that provided promotion and design services for Ethiopian, African-American, and Caribbean markets with emphasis on cultural and historical domains.

Martina Forgwe – Media and Public Relations Manager
Ms. Forgwe currently works as a Program Officer at Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership in Silver Spring, Maryland. Prior to joining Discovery Channel, she worked with Africare, as Manager of Media Relations, Program Manager, and Acting Regional Director for Southern Africa Region. Other positions she’s held include Public Relations Liaison for the PLO Lumumba Foundation, in Kenya and Uganda. Ms. Forgwe holds an M.A. in African Studies from Yale University.

Eric Chinje - Advisor
Eric Chinje is the Head of the Global Media Development program at the World Bank. He serves as a board member of the African Media Initiative and is the co-founder of the African Media Forum. A Harvard University Fellow and graduate of Syracuse University, Mr. Chinje obtained a degree in Modern Letters from the University of Yaounde in Cameroon. He was the Editor-in-Chief and News Anchor at the national television in Cameroon, a journalism lecturer at the University of Cameroon, a contributing reporter to CNN World Report, and a stringer for Deutschewelle, the BBC, and Voice of America.

Philip Effiong PhD- Contributor
Philip Effiong is a consultant and an Adjunct Associate Professor of English at the University of Maryland University College. He holds a Ph.D. in dramatic literature from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and has taught English, writing, drama, literature, and cultural studies at the University of Calabar (Nigeria), the University of Wisconsin, the University of Tennessee at Martin, the University of Delaware at Newark, and Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. His articles on African and African American literature and culture appear in a number of periodicals, including Theater Studies, African American Review, the 1996 Dictionary of Twentieth Century Culture, and the 2008 Encyclopedia of Africa and the Americas. His memoir, Biafran Boy and novel, Memoirs of a Housegirl will be released soon.

John Mulaa, Ph.D. - Contributor
John Mulaa is a Consultant at the World Bank. He has extensive experience in journalism, book publishing and in academia. Dr. Mulaa has held senior editorial positions at the Weekly Review and the Daily Nation, and was a long standing columnist with the East African Standard in Kenya. Currently he is a contributor and columnist to the Nairobi based East African Diplomat. He was the deputy editor-in-chief at the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation publishing house in Nairobi, and taught at colleges and universities including Hankuk University in Seoul, South Korea. His main interests are reading and writing. John Mulaa is currently working on a book on governance in Africa.

Web Development- Jerome Davis

Photography - Andarge Asfaw and Gediyon Kifle