Kofi Appenteng recently launched The West Africa Fund, a private equity fund based in Accra, Ghana, that invests in middle market companies in the West African region. Previously, Mr. Appenteng had a 16 year career at Thacher Proffitt in general corporate practice, joining in 1991 as an Associate and becoming a Partner in 1994. At Thacher Proffitt, he was a member of the Corporate and Financial Institutions Practice Group. He advised foreign and domestic individuals and companies on matters related to corporate governance, securities law compliance, acquisitions, corporate finance, regulatory compliance and crisis management, among other issues. He was an associate at Webster & Sheffield before joining Thacher Proffitt.

Mr. Appenteng has counseled a wide range of clients, from bank holding companies to entrepreneurial enterprises and foundations. He also advises non-profit institutions on a variety of matters as he helps them to achieve their goals and objectives.

He is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a member of the New York City, New York State and the American Bar Associations. He also serves on the boards of The Ford Foundation, University of Cape Town Fund, Inc., Community Service Society of New York, among many other professional and civic affiliations. Born in Ghana, West Africa, he attended preparatory schools in England and came to the U.S. to attend Wesleyan University and then Columbia University Law School.

Joseph Moodhe is a litigation partner with Debevoise & Plimpton. His practice is focused on securities and insurance regulatory matters, product liability litigation and tax disputes. He is admitted to appear before the First, Third, Eighth, Tenth and Eleventh Circuits, the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the U.S. Tax Court. Mr. Moodhe has authored ”Outline of Reporter’s Privilege,” Communications Law, Practicing Law Institute (1984-93) and “The Use of Prior Uncounseled Convictions in Gun Control Prosecutions,” 92 Harvard Law Review 1790 (1979). He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University and his Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School in 1980, where he was a Case Editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Mora McLean is President and Chief Executive Officer of The Africa-America Institute (AAI), the oldest U.S.-based nonprofit organization concerned with increasing Africa’s global competitiveness and economic wellbeing by investing in African human resources; and with promoting U.S.-Africa relations through education, training and dialogue. She joined AAI from the Ford Foundation, where she was Deputy Director for Africa and Middle East Programs, and before that the Foundation’s West Africa Representative based in Lagos, Nigeria.

A native of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Ms. McLean was graduated with honors from Wesleyan University before earning a J.D. from Columbia Law School. She is a Wesleyan University Trustee, a governing board member of the U.S. International University in Nairobi, Kenya, and chair of the U.S. Trade Representative's Trade Advisory Committee on Africa (TACA). Ms. McLean served on the federally appointed bipartisan Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program. She is also a member of the adjunct teaching faculty of New York University’s Center for Global Affairs the African Studies Association; and the Council on Foreign Relations.

William Asiko is the President of The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation & Director of Public Affairs and Communications for The Coca-Cola Company in Africa. He started his career with The Coca-Cola Company in 1995 as an in-house corporate attorney in his home country, Kenya. In this role, he held various positions of increasing responsibility in a number of countries including the United States, Morocco and the United Kingdom, rising to the position of General Counsel for Africa in 2001.

In 2007, Mr. Asiko was appointed President of The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation & Director of Public Affairs and Communications for Coca-Cola Africa based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Mr. Asiko has served on the boards of The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Egypt and The Equatorial Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Barcelona, Spain and currently serves on the board of Coca-Cola Africa (Pty) Limited in South Africa, Beverage Services Kenya Limited, The Board of The Discovery Channel Global Education Project and the global board of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE). He also chairs the Coca-Cola East & Central Africa Limited Staff Provident Fund Board of Trustees.

Prior to joining The Coca-Cola Company, Mr. Asiko served five years as State Counsel in the Office of the Attorney General for Kenya and two years as a partner in the law firm of Hamilton, Harrison & Mathews in Nairobi, Kenya.

William was educated in Kenya, where he earned a law degree from the University of Nairobi and in the United States, where he graduated with an MBA from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. He is a non-practicing member of the Kenya Bar Association.

Rosalind Kainyah joined Tullow Oil plc in June 2009 as Vice President of External Affairs and CSR. Previously, Ms. Kainyah served as Director of Public Affairs, USA for the De Beers Group. She joined the De Beers Group in 2002 as Corporate and Commercial Legal Counsel at the Diamond Trading Company (DTC), the Group’s sales and marketing arm. Prior to joining De Beers, she was a corporate lawyer at Linklaters, a major law firm in London, England. In July 2004, she was appointed Executive Director of DTC Corporate Communications, with the responsibility for building and maintaining relationships between the DTC and its stakeholders, which include governments, clients, NGOs and the media.

Ms. Kainyah spent six years, from 1993 to 1999, as an international environmental lawyer. She was engaged by international and national organisations and institutions to advise government departments and agencies on environmental policy and legislation and on reviewing and drafting environmental legislation. These organisations and institutions included the UN Environment Programme (Nairobi, Kenya), the UN Development Programme, the South Pacific Forum Fisheries Agency (Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands) and the Land & Agricultural Policy Centre (Johannesburg, South Africa), Imperial College of Science & Technology (London, UK) and Oxford University (Oxford, UK). During that period, she also worked as an environmental lawyer for Anglo American Corporation of South Africa.

Ms. Kainyah was appointed to her previous position in August 2006 to represent the De Beers Group in its work to develop an audience for African economic and social development issues in the US. This non-commercial position focused on outreach to members of Congress and the Administration, civil society, the media and academia on De Beers’ social investment programmes in Africa.

Ms. Kainyah’s experience in international law and corporate communications gives her a rare appreciation of both the economic and social impact of companies doing business in Africa in the 21st Century. Beyond this she brings to her new role a passion to see African countries develop to their full potential.

Ms. Kainyah was educated in Ghana, West Africa and in England. She has a degree in English from the University of Ghana; Bachelor of Laws and Masters in Law degrees from the University of London; and is a member of the Bar of England and Wales.

George Kirkland is Executive Vice President of Upstream and Gas for Chevron Corporation. He is responsible for managing Chevron Corporation’s global exploration, production and gas activities. He assumed this position in January 2005 and is headquartered in San Ramon, California. A native of Florida, Kirkland graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in civil engineering in 1972 and 1974, respectively. Upon graduation, he joined Chevron as a construction engineer in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1978, he accepted an assignment with Caltex Pacific Indonesia, a Chevron affiliate based in Sumatra. From 1980 to 1985, he served as project engineering manager for the giant Duri Steam Flood project in Indonesia. In 1985, Kirkland returned to the United States as a senior project manager for Chevron U.S.A. Production Co. Over the next three years, he held positions of increasing responsibility in Chevron operations in Midland, Texas, and Denver, Colorado.

In 1988, he worked on the Chevron U.S.A. Production Co. headquarter’s staff in San Francisco. In 1990, Kirkland was appointed group manager of upstream technology for Chevron Research and Technology Co., for which he managed efforts aimed at providing technical support, technology development, project support and consultation to Chevron’s worldwide exploration and production activities. In 1992, he was named general manager of production for Chevron Nigeria Ltd. and was named general manager of asset management in January 1996. In November 1996, Kirkland was appointed chairman and managing director of Chevron Nigeria Ltd. and was responsible for all its operations, including such diverse projects as the West African Gas Pipeline Project, a major gas-to-liquids project with SASOL of South Africa; the Escravos Gas Project expansions; and deepwater exploration offshore Nigeria. While in Nigeria, Kirkland took a very active role in industry, economic and environmental organizations.

In January 2000, Kirkland was named president of Chevron U.S.A. Production Co., responsible for exploration and production operations in the United States and Canada. In October 2001, he assumed the position of president of Chevron Exploration and Production Co. In January 2002, he was named president Chevron Overseas Petroleum, responsible for managing Chevron’s exploration and production activities outside North America. Kirkland is a member of the Board of Trustees of Africa America Institute, a board member of Corporate Council on Africa, a director of the U.S.-Kazakhstan Business Association, and also a director of the US-ASEAN Business Council.

Carlton Masters, President, CEO and co-founding Principal, manages daily operations and the long-term direction of GoodWorks International. He negotiates and coordinates all client engagements and provides strategic advisory services to several governments. As President and CEO of GWI, Mr. Masters plays the lead role in engagements joining numerous Fortune 500 companies with Caribbean and African nations. In the majority of these engagements, Mr. Masters forges new partnerships and facilitates positive interaction between the public and private sectors, relying heavily on his strong and long-established relationships in both sectors.

Before forming GoodWorks International, Mr. Masters enjoyed a lengthy and successful career in international banking. He held executive positions with the Bank of Montreal in financial centers across North America, Europe and the Caribbean, and was appointed Agent General and Deputy Minister for Trade to the U.S, on behalf of the government of Ontario, Canada. Mr. Masters complements his knowledge and experience by maintaining strong ties with many institutions and individuals within corporate, governmental and financial domains.

Mr. Masters is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Bretton Woods Committee and the 100 Black Men of America. He actively serves on the boards of the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation, the Corporate Council on Africa, the Africa Society, the Southern Africa Enterprise Development Fund, the Africa America Institute and the American Foundation for the University of the West Indies.

Steven B. Pfeiffer currently serves as the elected Chair of the Executive Committee of Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.  Mr. Pfeiffer previously served as Partner-in-Charge of Fulbright & Jaworski’s Washington and London offices and as head of the firm-wide International Department.  He joined the firm in Houston directly from law school and became a partner in 1983.

In his law practice, Mr. Pfeiffer has had principal responsibility for a wide variety of corporate and commercial transactions involving United Kingdom, African, Middle Eastern and European-based banks, corporations and individuals investing in the United States.  Mr. Pfeiffer has been responsible for the firm’s representation of certain sovereign entities, including the U.K., Canada and several African governments. 

From 1992 to 1994, he was Chairman of the Section on Energy and Natural Resources Law (SERL) of the International Bar Association.  Mr. Pfeiffer is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York and the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London.  He is a director of Barloworld Limited, a publicly traded company based in South Africa, and Iridium Communications Inc., a publicly traded global satellite telecommunications company based in McLean, Virginia, and is a director of Project HOPE in Washington, D.C. and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Mr. Pfeiffer is also a trustee of St. Andrew’s School in Middletown, Delaware and Chairman Emeritus of Wesleyan University, where he served as Chairman of the Board from 1987 to 1992.

Mr. Pfeiffer received a B.A. from Wesleyan University in 1969.  He then studied at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, completing a B.A. in Jurisprudence at Oxford and an M.A. in Area Studies (Africa) at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London.  During this time, he traveled widely in Africa on a Thomas J. Watson Foundation Travel Fellowship.  He earned a J.D. in 1976 from Yale University.  He served on active duty as an officer in the United States Navy from 1972-74 and retired as a Commander, United States Naval Reserve, in 1991.

Maurice Tempelsman is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lazare Kaplan International Inc., the largest cutter and polisher of “ideal cut” diamonds in the United States. He is also senior partner in the firm of Leon Tempelsman & Son, a company active in mining, investments and business development and minerals trading in Europe, Russia, Africa, Latin America, Canada and the Far East. Mr. Tempelsman serves on the International Advisory Council of the American Stock Exchange. He served as Chairman of the Corporate Council on Africa from 1999 – 2002 when he became Chairman Emeritus. He is a past Chairman of The Africa-America Institute, and also is a trustee of the Eurasia Foundation.

Mr. Tempelsman is a Director of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs; the Center for National Policy; the Business Council for International Understanding and the U.S.-Russia Business Council. He is Chairman of the International Advisory Council of the Harvard AIDS Initiative, and is an honorary trustee and an honorary member of the corporation of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations, and was named a Visitor to the Department of Classical Art of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass. A director of The Academy of American Poets, Mr. Tempelsman also serves as a trustee of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and on Lenox Hill Hospital’s Advisory Board.

Mr. Tempelsman has served on several Presidential Commissions including the President’s Commission for the Observance of Human Rights, the Citizen’s Advisory Board of Youth Opportunities and the National Highway Safety Advisory Committee, and was appointed by Governor Carey to the New York Council on International Business.

Born in Belgium in 1929, Mr. Tempelsman came to the United States as a child. He attended New York public schools and New York University. He has three children. He is fluent in several languages and his interests are in the fields of history, archaeology and sailing.