Annabella was born and raised in Rwanda and moved to the US in 2009. She lived in Chicago where she pursued her BSc. in Healthcare Administration. She currently works as a banker and personal growth/money coach and hosts the Zero2Retirement Podcast

Jide Alakija is an internationally renowned photographer with over 10 years’ experience in shooting multicultural weddings, documentaries and editorial campaigns. Alakija’s assignments have taken him across Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the U.S.

Regularly piquing the interest of international icons and A-list celebrities through his captivating eye, Alakija’s recent clients include Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka; hip hop artist and producer, J.Cole; acclaimed novelist, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; and Didier Drogba, former Chelsea F.C. soccer player.

Art collectors and galleries around the world currently showcase Alakija’s work. Most recently, the Smithsonian Institute shortlisted ‘Invisible Cities No. 1’ for inclusion in the Smithsonian Institute Collection. His highly coveted ‘Normal Lies’ piece, depicting two young children sneakily covering their eyes in a slum in Lagos, Nigeria was purchased by international soccer legend, Sol Campbell for an undisclosed fee.

Keen to share his extensive expertise with the next generation, Alakija hosts photography workshops around the world and runs various mentoring programs in West Africa for underprivileged photography students.

Passionate about African modern art, Alakija is the co-owner of TAFETA, a private art dealership specializing in 20th century and contemporary African art. Based in London, the gallery regularly showcases at some of the word’s premier art events including Art Basel, The Hamptons Art Fair and Frieze London Art Fair; and represents renowned names like Yinka Shonibare, MBE on the African continent.

Alakija cites the work of legendary photographers, Sebastião Salgado and Steve McCurry, known for capturing stories in black and white and color respectably, as his biggest inspirations.

He holds an undergraduate and master’s degree in Engineering from Imperial College, London, England. Alakija resides in Brooklyn, New York

www.alakijastudios.com

www.instagram.com/alakijastudios

Consolee Nishimwe is an Author, a Motivational Speaker and a survivor of the 1994 genocide against the

Tutsi in Rwanda. She suffered physical and emotional torture during her three months in hiding and

miraculously survived with her mother and younger sister. 

Today, Consolee is a committed speaker on the genocide, a defender of women rights and an advocate

for other genocide survivors.

Consolee released her memoir Tested to the Limit: A Genocide Survivor’s Story of Pain, Resilience and

Hope. In recognition of her courage and accomplishments,

Consolee was awarded the 2013 ASALH Living Legacy Award ,What better looks like Award, and the

recognition award from New York City Council. She was recently hailed by the Together for Girls

Organization in SAFE Magazine Issue #1, as one of 50 Global Heroes who help stop sexual violence

against children. 

Consolee currently lives in New York.

For more updates please follow Consolee Nishimwe on Twitter: @nconsolee Instagram:

ConsoleeNishimwe Facebook:Tested to The Limit & LinkedIn Consolee Nishimwe

Kayonde Shaka better known as Shaka Debelair was born in Belgium and raised in Burundi. He is an entrepreneur, producer, actor, comedian. He is the CEO & founder of The Belair entertainment, The Belair Tv, and The Belair motion picture..

"Thebelair TV is a channel designed to aim Burundian youth evolving in careers such as in the entertainment industry. All those artists of different genre have stories. We want to digitize those stories so that they can be told. Those same artists have projects they working on. We want to be able to invest in them because they are full of potential we can develop, put on us on the map, change lives by putting more smiles on faces and make Burundi great again" - Shaka

Part II of our interview with Tabitha Mpamira-Kaguri

Tabitha founded Edja Foundation in 2015 after encountering a young girl in Southwestern Uganda, who had been raped, and came to school the next day without any services for healing provided to her. As a victor herself, Tabitha could not stand by while another child or woman goes through the pain of suffering in silence.

Tabitha is Rwandan,who grew up in Uganda as a refugee. She moved to the U.S.A when she was 14-years-old and considers all three places her home but holds a special place for East Africa. She is a wife, a mother of 4, and currently a doctoral candidate studying Clinical Psychology, specializing in sexual trauma.

EDJA foundation is God's way of using a terrible experience that happened to Tabitha when she was 11, and turning it into a blessing for all victims that Edja serves today. Transforming victims into victors.

Tabitha Mpamira-Kaguri founded Edja Foundation in 2015 after encountering a young girl in Southwestern Uganda, who had been raped, and came to school the next day without any services for healing provided to her. As a victor herself, Tabitha could not stand by while another child or woman goes through the pain of suffering in silence.

Tabitha is Rwandan,who grew up in Uganda as a refugee. She moved to the U.S.A when she was 14-years-old and considers all three places her home but holds a special place for East Africa. She is a wife, a mother of 4, and currently a doctoral candidate studying Clinical Psychology, specializing in sexual trauma.

EDJA foundation is God's way of using a terrible experience that happened to Tabitha when she was 11, and turning it into a blessing for all victims that Edja serves today. Transforming victims into victors.

Lifase Bilima was born and raised in Berrien Springs, Michigan but her parents come from Malawi, Africa. Over the years her love for working with children grew and grew and it became her career choice. Lifase is an Early Childhood Educator and an Author of “Returned to Restore: Giving and Experiencing Your Roots”. Her book illustrates what it is like living with immigrant parents in the USA while trying to understand her roots. Lifase wants to give back to Malawi, Africa and other countries with her Agape Africa Foundation to enrich education. Lifase enjoys traveling around the world, connecting with new people, and singing.

Martine is a community advocate, speaker, writer and Huffington Post blogger on her coming of age story as an undocumented immigrant orphan in America. An incredible journey of going from a seven-year battle as an undocumented immigrant without a family, to a senior level executive with an advanced degree, a father and U.S. citizenship is the inspiration behind the mission to share her story. Martine’s intention is to highlight the absurdity of current immigration policy that marginalizes undocumented immigrants, and to demystify and challenge stereotypes about what a strong woman looks like, who the illegal immigrant is, what is means to be American and the African experience. Furthermore, she also seeks to share her universal message-- regardless of our inherent differences, we are all connected by a shared human experience.

Martine was a featured speaker on immigration reform at various forums and rallies, such as Senator McCain’s Town Hall Rally on Immigration in New York City in February 2006. Her story has also appeared in editorials in newspapers, and publications such as USA Today, Metro New York and The New York Sun. On May 18, 2007, Martine was a panelist and speaker to the U.S. House of Representative’s Judiciary Subcommittee’s hearing on Immigration Reform, where she shared her story and spoke on behalf of the DREAM Act. Martine was the keynote speaker at the convocation ceremony at her alma mater, St. Anne’s-Belfield School, which included noteworthy attendees such as John Grisham. She is the sole proprietor of Martine Kalaw Enterprises, LLC which is a holding company that promotes Martine’s motivational speaking, books, and consulting work.

Currently, Martine Kalaw is a Senior Director of Learning and Development at Wheels Up, a membership based private aviation company. In her role, she oversees company-wide education initiatives, program development and individual certification that provides clients (internally and externally) with the resources and tools necessary for success. She designs customized on-boarding/training solutions and ongoing professional development courses in an effort to provide a blended learning approach that will align with individual, departmental and organizational goals. Martine received a Bachelor of Arts from Hamilton College in 2003, where she majored in World Politics. In 2004 she was awarded a Master of Public Administration with a Certificate of Legal Studies at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. Her area of focus in her graduate studies was immigration law.

Martine was born in Zambia, Africa, but lived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) until the age 4, when she immigrated to the United States. Since her recent journey to Zambia in November 2014, she is proud to call both the U.S. and her native Africa ‘home’. As a recent U.S. passport holder, Martine’s newfound passion is travelling globally and being a citizen of the world. Visit Martine at www.martinekalaw.com

Twitter: Martine.Kalaw

Instagram:

Facebook: Martine M. Kalaw

Website: www.martinekalaw.com

Huffington Post Blogs:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-ban-on-muslims-is-a-ban-on-all-immigrants_us_5892b357e4b0aa61e8f5352b

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/martine-kalaw/the-obscurity-of-deportat_b_9010332.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/martine-kalaw/a-modern-day-illegal-immi_b_5374175.html

Past Speaking Engagements:

2017 Panelist, How to Create and Grow Your Side Hustle, Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB) Knowledge Series, NY, NY

2015 Speaker, Xaxis Inspiration: Turning Set-backs into Success, Xaxis LLC, New York, NY

2012 Speaker, A Conversation: My Life as an Illegal Immigrant, PS 279 Captain Manuel Rivera School; Bronx, NY

2007 Panelist, U.S. Congress, House of Representatives, Judiciary Subcommittee, Capitol Hill; Washington, D.C.

Alli is the Founder and COO of I Heart Health Expo who's main goal is to create awareness of heart disease and promote healthy lifestyles in the community.

Alli and her team achieve this by networking with local businesses, medical and fitness experts to provide access to consultative and preventative resources to spur the community to create healthy lifestyle choices and be empowered.

In this episode, she talks about the practical ways her organization is impacting one community at a time leveraging her experience and training and her talented team to address one of the major health crisis in modern time, Heart Disease.

Check out the amazing work being done at IHeartHealth Expo:

Website: www.ihearthealthexpo.org

Instagram: www.instagram.com/ihearthealthex

Afro-Trap rapper RifleX started rapping at age 16 after two years of writing poetry as a ghostwriter. Growing up in Cameroon, the guys who could write a poem and recite it to a girl got ALL the ladies in school. RifleX’s gift with words quickly made him the go to dude for the dope lines. In 2007 after moving to the United States, he partnered with some friends from high school who were into HipHop and Rap music. He equally began spitting poetry on beats and made some songs, which drew some attention and created a little high school recognition leading him to continue honing his rap skills. In 2013 he dropped his first album Hip-Hop ‘The foundation’ and in 2017 his first Afro-Trap album ‘Afeseh’ after multiple singles and videos. RifleX plans are to continue building his brand, team, and work hard to take his craft to the next level.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamRIFLEX

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamRIFLEX/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamriflex/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/BoldBrother

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/iamriflex