Henry Julius Butame Akale is the Principal of Akale & Company, a leading Cameroonian Chartered Accounting firm. He is also the Principal of the Akale Professional Institute. Henry is a member of the Rotary Club International, a Board member of the South Africa Friendship Society(CASA) and was a vice president of the American Chamber of Commerce of Cameroon. Among their clients, Akale & Company has served as consultants to the Office of the Prime Minister of Cameroon, and a number of leading domestic and foreign enterprises. He received his LL.B, with Honours, from the University of Yaounde in 1978 and was issued a practicing license from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in 1984. He maintains an active involvement in civic life with a number of charities and not for profit institutions. He most values his service in St. Joseph Parish Catholic Church, Bonendale, in Douala, Cameroon.
Jorge Brathwaite has over 35 years of global experience in the financial management services industry. He has served as a vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, senior vice-president at the Bank of New York and Fleet Financial Group and is a subject matter expert in central bank operations and compliance. Among his numerous assignments, he has served as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Treasury Debt Operations and has advised a range of international financial institutions on operations and policy. He received a B.A. from Howard University, an M.P.A. from Bernard Baruch College and an Executive Degree from the Harvard Business School.
Amb. Theodore R. (Ted) Britton, Jr. (ret.) served as US Ambassador to several Caribbean States. He was Dep. Asst. Sec. for Research and Technology and Asst. to the Sec. for Intl. Affairs at the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In 1977, he became President of the United Mutual Life Insurance Company. In 1989, he received the HUD Distinguished Service Award. From 1981-1989, he was Co-Chairman of the US-China Agreement on Housing and Planning and Executive Secretary to similar agreements with Mexico, Canada, Japan and the former USSR. During the same period, he served two years as Chairman/President, Group on Urban Affairs, of the OECD (Paris). Among his many honors, he has served as President of the American Baptist Convention, is currently honorary consul general of Albania and is a member of the Board of Trustees of People to People International. Ted is also an, "Ambassador for Peace" of the South Korean- based Universal Peace Federation and was a member of its Middle East Peace Initiative to Israel and Palestine in 2007. He graduated from New York University in 1952 and from the American Savings and Loan Institute with Standard and Graduate Diplomas. He is a veteran of the US Marine Corps and is a Life Member of its Third Marine Division.
John James, founder and Chairman is an investment and operating manager with more than 30 years experience. John attended Howard University and the Wharton School. As a portfolio manager at CitiGroup and Bankers Trust NY he managed in excess of $500 million of equity and fixed income assets for a number of Fortune Global 100 corporations in aerospace, energy, finance and airlines. He has lived and worked in West Africa for a number of years and financed or managed a number of ventures in manufacturing, entertainment and publishing.