Julia Johnson-White is the co-founder of the Southern Center for International Studies. She is the producer of its Peabody Award-winning television programs. In this capacity, she has convened more than 50 conferences with the former US Secretaries of State, ambassadors to the UN, and world leaders.

Cedric Suzman has been associated with the center since its inception in 1977 and was elected to the board of trustees in 1988. He was an associate professor in the College of Managementat the Georgia Institute of Technology, from 1974-1977.

Bernadette P. Paolo was named president and CEO of The Africa Society in 2006. Prior to assuming this position, she served vice president of the National Summit on Africa. She is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and the West Virginia Bar. She is on the board of the Women's Intercultural Network.

Gail Ifshin has worked in the international arena in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors for many years, serving as chief economist for the Hungarian-American Enterprise Fund and as program director for the Institute for Democracy in Vietnam. She also has worked in the White House for the Council of Economic Advisers and was later appointed to the US Department of Agriculture's Advisory Committee on Emerging Democracies.

Amadou L. Ba earned his undergraduate degree and his doctorate in biology from Ohio State University. Ba hopes to spearhead student exchanges between America and Senegal. Ba was previously an associate professor at Bunker Hill Community College.

Young is chairman of GoodWorks International, allowing him to pursue his life-long mission of energizing the private sector to advance economic development in Africa and the Caribbean. In this position, he puts corporate executives in contact with leaders and key influences in the regions' emerging markets, facilitating the formation of successful business partnerships.