ADVISORY BOARD
Abubakar Abba Abubakar - Abba, as he is fondly called, is the Group Supervisory Director at Priam Group, a diversified holding company with interests in food, beverages, plastics, animal feeds, media, hospitality, and banking. With a vast experience in the finance sector, Abba worked with Helios Investment Partners, London and has delivered services to several leading banks in Nigeria. He led the acquisition of Food Merchants International Investments Limited, which holds the master franchise rights for Nigeria of Chicken Cottage UK – a fast growing UK halal fast food chain. Abba is a board member of Adama Beverages and the plastics manufacturer, Adama Plasts. He was also a board member of Rico Gado Nutrition, an Animal Feed Company with roots in Portugal. Abba is a graduate of BCU in UK, and received an MBA from ESADE Business School in Barcelona, Spain.
Gerrard Allam - Gerrard is an American Lebanese urban planner and urban designer. Born in Salt Lake City, Gerrard lives between the United States and Lebanon and is currently based in the Seattle, Washington. Prior to that, he was pursuing his Masters of Urban Design in the College of Environmental Design at U.C. Berkeley. His work focuses on the intersection of empathy, resilience, and urban design. Gerrard is passionate about creating dynamic urban places that are sustainable and which provide a model for the growth of the built environment. In his years of professional practice, Gerrard has championed the role of urban design in community engagement, planning, place-making, and most importantly place-keeping. His work includes mixed-use infill projects, regional and specific master plans, and resilience based design pertaining especially to water. Gerrard is passionate about sustaining the life of all kinds of animals, especially the majestic elephant, and looks for innovative ways to use his knowledge and expertise in urban design and urban planning to assist various animal welfare organizations such as The Elephant Project.
U Win Aung - Win spent much of his early career engaged in forestry work in Myanmar's extensive forests, and this work enabled him to develop a deep understanding of Southeast Asian ecology as well as the various tribal groups that make their home in the country's dense forests.
Over the last two decades, he has witnessed vast swaths of wilderness disappear in Myanmar and other Asian countries. He founded Myanmar's premier eco-tourism company, Woodland Travels, so he can promote ecotourism as one of the few industries that values wilderness and local culture in their original forms. In addition to ecological protection efforts, Win Aung has also been heavily involved in social and humanitarian work throughout Myanmar including areas hit by the 2008 Cyclone Nargis as well as remoter areas in Chin, Naga, and Kayin States.
Carmen Berg – Carmen is a leading specialist in luxury real estate with Sotheby’s International Realty having worked previously with Rodeo Realty and Joyce Rey’s distinguished team at Coldwell Banker Previews International in Beverly Hills. She is a graduate of the renowned World Wide College of Auctioneering in Mason City, Iowa and is one of the few licensed female auctioneers in the country. Carmen is well connected within cross-cultural communities and has extensive experience representing prestigious property transactions on behalf of Turkish and Middle Eastern clients. Carmen is very active with animal welfare issues, participating in charity events, fundraising activities and volunteer work.
Senator Ben Murray-Bruce - Ben serves in the Nigerian National Assembly representing Bayelsa East. He is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Privatization and Vice-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity.
Ben is the Founder and Group Chairman of the Silverbird Group, a diversified multi-media company with holdings in radio, television, real estate and cinemas. Silverbird is the largest cinema chain in Nigeria and the third largest TV network and is the holder of the Nigerian franchise for the Miss World Pageant which produced the first African Miss World in 2001. He is also the Founder and CEO of Dream Magic Studios in Los Angeles.
From 1999 to 2003 he was the Director General of Africa’s Largest Television Network, the Nigerian Television authority. He was chairman of the board of directors of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria from 2011 to 2014. He has also served as an Executive Director with Black Music Association of America with Quincy Jones, Dick Griffey, and Stevie Wonder and was the Executive Director of the Coalition for a free Africa with the Late President Samora Machel of Mozambique and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Ben has served as a member of the National Arts Theatre management board, the Federal Film Censors board, the Board of the Nigerian Film Corporation, National Film Distribution Company, Nigerian anti- piracy action committee. He is a recipient of one of the highest Nigerian National Honours, the Officer of the Order of the Niger.
Ghada Cheikh - Ghada is an architect based in Beirut, Lebanon. She graduated from the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts (ALBA), Lebanon, in 2016 with an M.A. in Architecture, which followed her bachelors in the same discipline. Her work focuses on the role of architecture and design in sustainable social development. Her active participation in environment-friendly workshops in Lebanon and Spain has strengthened her conviction regarding the responsibility of architects to their local communities and to the planet. She is a strong advocate for projects that grasp the importance of emotion and art where form and function blend together seamlessly in order to avoid overly commercial and “cookie-cutter” projects. Animal welfare and protection issues are also high on her list of priorities, and are what drew her to The Elephant Project. She hopes to be able to provide solutions through atypical design and architectural projects to enhance the lives of human and animals alike. When not practicing architecture, Ghada takes comfort in painting, where she is able to reflect on her work from another angle.
Michael Y.M. Kau, PhD – Michael is a Senior Fellow at Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, a non-profit national think tank devoted to the study and promotion of democracy and human rights. Previously, he served as Taiwan’s Representative to the European Union, and was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and founding President of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy.
Born and raised in Taiwan, Dr. Kau studied political science at National Taiwan University and earned his PH. D. degree in comparative politics and international relations at Cornell University. He had a long and distinguished academic career in the United States, before returning to Taiwan to serve in government. He was a Professor of Political Science and Director of the East Asian Security Program at Brown University for over thirty years, during which he also served as faculty advisor to various East Asian programs /centers at Columbia, Cornell, and Harvard Universities.
David F. Klein - David is a litigation partner located in Pillsbury's Washington, DC, law office. His practice focuses on resolving disputes with insurance carriers through litigation and negotiations. David is experienced in matters involving general and excess liability, pollution legal liability, first party/business interruption, fidelity/crime, directors and officers and errors and omissions coverage. David has been a lifelong animal lover and devotes a significant portion of his time to pro bono activities including those that protect animals from inhumane treatment.
William Kristol – Bill is founder and editor at large of The Weekly Standard, he appears frequently on all the leading political commentary shows. Before starting the Weekly Standard in 1995, Mr. Kristol led the Project for the Republican Future, where he helped shape the strategy that produced the 1994 Republican congressional victory. Before that, Mr. Kristol served in senior positions in the Reagan and Bush Administrations, and taught at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University.
Daniel Schily – Daniel is a member of the Supervisory Board of Voith, one of the largestbusiness conglomerates in the world. Daniel is very active in efforts to bring greater democracy to government institutions. He is a co-founder of Democracy International and in 1988 he helped establish the German democracy organization, Mehr Demokratie. Since then he has dedicated his life to realizing more democracy and citizens' participation in Germany and at global level. Daniel, along with his wife and four children, have been strong supporters of animal issues globally. He studied philosophy and mathematics at the University of Bonn, Germany.
Stevi Stoesz – Stevi is the Executive Director of the Indianapolis City Market and a twenty-two year veteran of public market, event and program management. She founded the Original Farmers Market in 1997 in downtown Indianapolis and was a featured speaker at the Project For Public Spaces’ 4th and 9th International Public Markets Conference in Seattle, Washington and Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, respectively.
Stevi is a member of the Humane Society of the United States’ Indiana State Council. She is active in animal welfare issues and has planned several fund raising events for regional animal welfare nonprofit organizations. Stevi volunteers for many of those groups including German Shepherd Rescue Indy, Indianapolis Animal Care & Control, Humane Society of Indianapolis and Mobile Mutts, a canine transport group that pulls death-row dogs from high-kill shelters in the South to the safety of screened and approved foster-based rescues throughout the Midwest. She is also a member of Indiana Animal Rights Alliance and Mercy For Animals. Stevi is an avid motorcyclist and founded an all-female motorcycle club in Indianapolis called the Circle City Soft Tails in 2013.
Joe Trippi - Joe was heralded on the cover of The New Republic as the man who “reinvented campaigning,” and has been at the forefront of movement politics for nearly 30 years. Joe began his political career working on Edward M. Kennedy’s presidential campaign in 1980 and has worked on numerous presidential, gubernatorial, senate, and congressional campaigns in the United State and around the world since - many within Africa. In 2008, Joe helped Morgan Tsvangirai and the Movement for Democratic Change receive the most votes, and helped garner international media attention to Robert Mugabe’s democratic subversion and violence which led to a ‘unity’ government and Tsvangarai becoming Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. In 2010, Joe was a senior strategist and media consultant in Jerry Brown’s successful run for California Governor. He is the author of "The Revolution will not be Televised: Democracy, the Internet and the Overthrow of Everything," which chronicles his revolutionary use of the internet in political campaigning. Joe has consulted on animal welfare issues all over the world and maintains his own animal sanctuary in Maryland.
M. Dane Waters, President and Founder - Dane has worked on six continents with government officials, activists, academics, and NGOs. He has worked on presidential and prime ministerial campaigns all over the world and has consulted in over 100 countries. He has consulted on projects with the United Nations, the U.S. Department of State, and the International Republican Institute. He was a political appointee in President George H. W. Bush’s administration, and served as the Political Director of the Humane Society Legislative Fund and the Humane Society of the United States, one of the largest NGOs in the U.S.
Dane has been drawn to the plight of elephants since he first saw an elephant in a zoo as a kid. He grew a strong attachment to Africa through his many travels to the continent and after decades of developing and executing solutions to difficult problems, he felt it was time to use his diverse experience and skills to help do what he could to find new ideas and new solutions to this epic struggle.
The Honorable Connie Harriman Whitfield - Connie was appointed by President George H.W. Bush as Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks for the Department of Interior where she oversaw both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service. As Assistant Secretary, she played a key role in the American ban and also the worldwide ban on the trade in elephant ivory. She was subsequently appointed director at the U.S. Export-Import Bank of the United States. Previously, she had served as Associate Solicitor at the Department of Interior, at the department of Justice and as a private practice attorney in Los Angeles. A longtime volunteer in animal protection work, Harriman-Whitfield also served on the board of the Stephen Decatur House, the Friends of Nemours Wildlife Foundation, and the Women's Committee of the Washington National Opera. Connie is a Phi Beta Kappa and cum laude graduate of Stanford University and holds Bachelors and Master’s Degrees from Stanford University, a Juris Doctorate Degree from the University of California at Los Angeles, and a Master's Degree from Georgetown University in International Law.