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Walé Adeosun, is the current chairman of the Nigeria Higher Education Foundation. He is the Founder & CEO of Kuramo Capital Management, one of Africa’s leading investment management firm. He serves on the Boards of several portfolio companies, and he was the former Chairman of the Investment Advisory Committee of the $200 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund. In 2014, he was appointed to serve on President Obama’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa (PAC-DBIA). Walé holds a BA in Economics and Business Administration at Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa where he serves as a Trustee of the Board. He received his MBA from John M. Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri with a concentration in Finance. He was awarded the Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 1995 and is a member of the CFA Institute.
Dr. Ifeoma Nwokorie currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the Nigeria Higher Education Foundation (NHEF). She is a general dentist with over 20 years of experience and the founder of Cortlandt Manor Dental, a patient-focused dental practice in Cortlandt Manor, New York. Dr. Nwokorie holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Columbus State University, Columbus, GA, and a Doctorate Degree in Dental Surgery from Howard University, Washington, DC. She earned her MBA from Yale University in 2024. She is an active member of the American Dental Association, Academy of General Dentistry, Ninth District Dental Society, Yorktown/Peekskill Dental Group, and the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas (ANPA).
Kamal Pallan serves as Treasurer at the Nigeria Higher Education Foundation. He is a Partner and the Chief Operating Officer & Compliance at Kuramo Capital Management. He is a Business leader with over 15 years of experience working at leading financial institutions and a major strategic consulting firm. Previously, Kamal served in a number of different executive roles at JPMorgan, McKinsey & Company, GE Capital and International Finance Corporation (IFC). Kamal received his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a BSE in Chemical Engineering summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania.
Titi Odunfa Adeoye serves as the Secretary at the Nigeria Higher Education Foundation. She is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Sankore, One of Nigeria’s leading investment firms. Titi has served in a number of different executive roles at Zenith Capital, Goldman Sachs, KPMG and PwC. Titi sits on the board of FCMB Pensions, Centurion Registrars, One Fi, Saunders Development Co and various other organizations. Titi holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, a BBA in Accounting summa cum laude from Howard University and is a Certified Public Accountant (Gold Award).
Johnbull Okpara is a member of the Nigeria Higher Education Foundation Board. He currently serves as the Chief Accounting Officer and Head of Global Financial Control at Bank of America, where he is responsible for the global Corporate Controller, global Corporate Tax, global Legal Entity Controller, Corporate Sustainability Controller, and Regulatory Reporting functions. Johnbull’s career has spanned over 30 years in various leadership aspects of financial management, corporate finance, risk management, and corporate governance. Prior to joining Bank of America, he was Citigroup’s Chief Accounting Officer and Controller from 2020. Earlier in his career, he served as Managing Director and Global Head of Financial Planning & Analysis and CFO of Infrastructure for Morgan Stanley, and as Managing Vice President, Finance, at Capital One. He also held executive finance roles at American Express, including Global M&A Controller, following several years at Ernst & Young and Arthur Andersen. Johnbull is a member of the Executive Leadership Council and the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council (FASAC). He is a graduate of the NYU Stern School of Business..
Dr. Femi Pitan is a member of the Nigeria Higher Education Foundation Board. She is a highly regarded medical professional specializing in occupational health and pediatric consultancy. With a career spanning more than two decades, Dr. Pitan's expertise is rooted in her extensive tenure at Chevron, where she devoted over 21 years to making a significant impact in her field. Dr. Pitan has earned a Global MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, a certificate in Business Administration and Management from the Wharton Executive Education's Executive Development Program, and holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) from the University of Lagos. Additionally, she possesses a Master's degree in Community Pediatrics from UCL, among other qualifications.
Professor Gbenga Ogedengbe is a member of the Nigeria Higher Education Foundation Board. He is a Professor of Population Health & Medicine and is the Chief Division of Health & Behavior and Director Center for Healthful Behavior Change in the Department of Population Health at the School of Medicine, New York University. He is a graduate of Columbia University.
Mr. Obi Nwokorie is a member of the Nigeria Higher Education Foundation Board. He is a Managing Director at Phoenix Merchant Solutions, leading asset liability management solutions as part of an outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) for Phoenix’s insurance clients. Previously, Mr. Nwokorie was Executive Vice President of Alternative Credit Products and Chief Investment Officer at Impac Mortgage. Earlier, he served as Managing Director of mortgage trading at Seer Capital Management and held management roles at UBS and Credit Suisse. He has over 30 years of capital markets experiences and has purchased and securitized over $25 billion of non-agency mortgage loans. Mr. Nwokorie has a Bachelor of Science degree in Real Estate from Abia State University in Nigeria and an M.B.A from the University of Baltimore.
Mr. Samaila Zubairu is a member of the Nigeria Higher Education Foundation (NHEF) Board and the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC). With over three decades of experience in finance and infrastructure, he has championed value creation, industrialisation, and sustainable development across Africa. Under his leadership, AFC has doubled its country membership, tripled investments, and executed landmark renewable energy acquisitions, earning multiple international awards for innovation and impact. Previously, Mr. Zubairu served as the pioneer CFO of Dangote Cement Plc, where he launched Africa’s largest syndicated project finance facility. He also co-chairs the World Economic Forum’s Network to Mobilize Clean Energy Investments in Emerging Markets. He is an Eisenhower Fellow and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, holding a BSc in Accounting from Ahmadu Bello University.
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