Since 1996 Mora McLean has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Africa-America Institute (AAI), responsible for the oversight of AAI’s operations from its New York City headquarters, and its programs throughout Africa.

Ms. McLean joined AAI from the Ford Foundation, where she was Deputy Director of the Foundation’s Africa and Middle East Programs. She was with the Foundation for ten years—initially as a program officer responsible for grant making to support civil rights advocacy organizations working on behalf of Native Americans, Latino Americans and African Americans; and subsequently, for five years, as the Foundation’s West Africa Representative based in Lagos, Nigeria.

A native of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Ms. McLean graduated with honors from Wesleyan University before earning a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law. She is a member of the Wesleyan Board of Trustees and also serves on the governing Boards of Directors of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), headquartered in Washington D.C., and the U.S. International University (USIU) in Nairobi, Kenya. She is a member of the Advisory Commission for the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program, the African Studies Association, and the Council on Foreign Relations.