Walker A. Williams is President and Chief Executive Officer of Leadership Africa USA (LA USA), an independent non-profit organization committed to empowering African youth in partnership with African non-government organizations through leadership training and capacity development. Mr. Williams brings over three decades of experience working with governments, corporations, NGOs and multi-lateral institutions in the U.S. and overseas.
In 1992, prior to founding LA USA, Mr. Williams served as President and Founder of Education Africa USA with the mission to address critical educational challenges facing South Africa’s first democratically elected government to re-establish a culture of learning in the new South Africa. As President of Education Africa USA, he facilitated the following programs and projects: Education Africa Presidential and Premier Education Awards; Nelson Mandela Presidential Medallions; the Walter Sisulu Scholarship and Training Fund; and fundraising support for Education Africa’s programs in South Africa.
As a consultant, Mr. Williams has worked with over 100 NGOs, several international and U.S. government agencies to improve international relations: the U.S. Department of State; USAID; U.S. Department of Energy; and many corporate clients such as: Chevron Corporation; British Petroleum; and Nielson Media Research, etc. In 1977, Mr. Williams co-founded the Caribbeana Council to raise the profile of Caribbean issues in the United States. He and the Caribbeana Council played a major role in securing the passage of the initial Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) in 1983.
Mr. Williams is a graduate of Boston University where he earned a degree in communications. He also attended Seton Hall and Rutgers University’s Graduate Schools of Business Administration. Mr. Williams serves on many boards and committees including: President of The Casey Trees Foundation; Chairman of the Board of Phytica, Inc.; and Board Member of Lincoln Theatre. Mr. Williams recently co-authored Africa’s Youth Define Leadership, a publication that shares African youth’s definition of leadership. Mr. Williams, through LA USA, is currently providing leadership training for African youth in Africa.
Shehnaz Rangwala
Shehnaz Rangwala is the Program Director for Leadership Africa USA where she is responsible for the design, implementation and management of programs in Africa and the United States.
Prior to launching Leadership Africa USA, Ms. Rangwala was the Program Director at Education Africa USA, and before that worked at Bread for the World, a D.C.-based nonprofit, grassroots lobbying organization that works on trade and domestic and international hunger and poverty issues. Before joining Bread she was Executive Assistant/Coordinator & Advisor for International Programming at the International Center, University of Missouri-Columbia where she encouraged the achievement of the University’s campus internationalization objectives by strengthening relations between the international student community and campus communities; addressed diversities, promoted relationship building and increased the number of events with an international focus. She coordinated various grant and scholarship programs and worked with international student recruiting.
Ms. Rangwala is currently working on Youth Leadership programs supported by USAID’s Africa Education Initiative and local contributions in Senegal, Liberia and Nigeria for middle school and high schools students.
Ms. Rangwala was a Fulbright Finalist to Mauritius where she researched the impact of industrialization on lives of women and children in the textile and apparel industry.
Ms. Rangwala holds a M. Sc. in Textiles & Apparel Management from the University of Missouri-Columbia, Missouri, and a M.A. in Media Communications from Webster University, St. Louis, Missouri. She also has a Diploma in International Tourism Management from the Indian International Trade Center, Mumbai, India.
Ms. Rangwala was born in Mumbai, India and has lived and worked in South Africa, Turkey, Thailand and Mauritius. She has extensive experience with issues related to education, and international trade related to women.
Susan Birrell
Susan Birrell is a native of Washington DC with a twenty-five year
background in office administration and management. Her professional
experiences have included fundraising, financial management, property
management, advertising, marketing and managing the operations of a
“big six” accounting firm in Washington D.C.
Her responsibilities at Leadership Africa USA focus on primarily
office operations and management, bookkeeping, and assisting the
president with correspondence, proposal development and fund raising.
Susan majored in Journalism at California State University, Los
Angeles, studied Real Estate Development at the Florida Keys Community
College, Key West, and has earned certificates from several business
related educational centers.
Karelle Samuda
Karelle Samuda, a native of Jamaica joined Leadership Africa USA in November 2008 where she provides programmatic and research support. Prior to joining Leadership Africa USA, Karelle was the Special Assistant to the President at the Center for Global Development where her responsibilities ranged from managing communications with external and internal constituents on behalf of CGD’s President to providing extensive research support on the President’s work on the middle class in developing countries and a global development agenda for the next U.S. President.
Karelle is also involved as a volunteer as Special Projects Coordinator and Co- Chair of the Next Generation: Youth Programs & Initiatives, with the Institute of Caribbean Studies, an advocacy and education organization committed to advancing the interests of Caribbean Americans in US policy and promoting programs and policies that aid economic growth and development in the Caribbean. Karelle has also interned at the Inter-American Development Bank; the Organization of American States; the National Technical Assistance Center for Children’s Mental Health and the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation.
In her spare time, Karelle enjoys working out at the gym; volunteering for a radio show based in Jamaica that focuses on issues of importance to Jamaican youth, etc.. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Washington and Lee University and a Master of Public Policy in International Policy Development from Georgetown University. She speaks Spanish and has an intermediate knowledge of French.
Advisory Committee Members
Katsuya Abe
Dobie Gray
Hon. Princeton Lyman
Pat Dambe
Luddy Hayden
Hon. Donald Payne
Tracey Duffey
K. Riva Levinson
David Schlaifer
Mel Foote
Byron Lewis Sr.
Rosa Whitaker
Wallace Ford
Cpayne Lucas
Hon. Andrew Young
Ainsley Gill
Interns' Corner
Samantha Stephens
IN HER OWN WORDS….
“I learned more during my internship than an entire semester of school!”
Samantha Stephens
As an intern for Leadership Africa USA (LA USA) in the fall of 2007 I
experienced firsthand non-profit administration and international
development. It was amazing to be there for the birth of a new
development organization. I helped draft the mission statement and
business plan for LA USA and experienced how much work goes into making
a great idea into a workable plan. LA USA provided me with great
insight into the Washington, DC development community and really pushed
me to develop my social and networking skills and my ability to
complete projects on time that would have previously been beyond my
abilities.
My best experience was probably working on the launch of Leadership
Africa USA’s publication “Africa’s Youth Defines Leadership” and
researching materials for a conference in South Africa.
Since my experience at Leadership Africa USA, I have been able to
narrow down my academic and professional goals and I feel that I have
gained more than I could have ever possibly hoped for during my time
with the organization. I am currently in my Junior year at the
University of Montana, majoring in Political Science and International
Development. I hope to one day have a career in international
development in a non-governmental capacity or the US Foreign Service.
Leadership Africa USA represents to me not only an organization with a
great plan and great programs, but a catalyst for leadership in my own
life.
Rachel Carroll
As an undergraduate Rachel interned with Leadership Africa USA during the summer of 2007.
Interning with Leadership Africa USA helped Rachel gained useful professional experiences and administrative skills which have has a significant impact on her curriculum in international community development. I was also able to gain additional professional experience in program development, by assisting in the initiatives of Leadership Africa USA, such as South African Model United Nations Conference; areas of international policy through attending the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, Congressional Hearings; and by Poverty Roundtables, hosted by the Trade, Aid, & Security Coalition on subjects such as international trade, business, and development with a focus on social justice and sustainability.
Rachel was provided the opportunity to work with amazing professionals including Walker Williams, Founder and President; Shehnaz Rangwala, Program Director; and Susan Birrell, Office Manager in an excellent learning environment and the opportunity to work closely with them on international education programs and initiatives in Africa.
Rachel will be studying abroad in Ghana in the upcoming spring semester. The skills and knowledge she has acquired from interning with LA USA will be valuable assets while she is studying in Ghana and for her future career.
Walker A. Williams
