Yaw Àgbẹ̀dẹ is a licensed professional engineer and a visionary educator who is committed to using his skills and expertise towards empowering Afrikan communities to survive and thrive through the sustainable use of indigenous Afrikan technical knowledge and paradigms. His areas of technical expertise include watershed mapping and evaluation, ecological restoration of streams and wetlands, stormwater green infrastructure design and inspection, as well as the sustainable design and construction of rural water and sanitation infrastructure. Born in Augusta, Georgia, USA, Àgbẹ̀dẹ attended the top-ranked John S. Davidson Fine Arts high school where he studied photography, theater production, and other arts. Upon graduation from high school, he enrolled in the Georgia Institute of Technology where he graduated with a degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Àgbẹ̀dẹ also holds technical degrees in Automotive Technology and Emergency Medicine along with additional certifications in the Design and Installation of Solar Photovoltaic Systems and Wilderness First Response. Àgbẹ̀dẹ has served as an educator in the US public school system, in private secondary institutions, and in post-secondary institutions before making his home in the independent Afrikan-centered educational community in Atlanta, Georgia. Some of the institutions he has worked with include Akobɛn Institute, Pearl Academy Math and Science Institute, Roots to Fruits and several others where he taught a range of courses including Afrikan-centered mathematics, engineering and science as well as physical education, survival skills, Afrikan languages, and automotive repair. In 2012 Àgbẹ̀dẹ founded NKALA Environmental as an outlet to apply his engineering expertise to communities throughout the Afrikan world. Simultaneously, NKALA Education was born as an online outlet to connect culturally conscious and revolutionary students with the skills necessary to forge their own reality. He is the father of two sons - Kwabena Nzûndu and Kiyala Tanmeawu.
Join us for a conversation with the multitalented Baba Yaw Agbede. We discuss his institution NKALA Education and his commitment to Afrikan-centered education. We also discuss Baba Yaw's love of languages, is engineering background, how he became an educator, the African American struggle for identity, his repatriation to Rwanda and some of the realities of living in Afrikan, the importance of establishing spaces for the development of Afrikan boys and adolescents and much more.