John Dramani Mahama returned to office as President of Ghana on 7 January 2025 after winning the December 2024 general election, becoming the first Ghanaian president to be voted out of office and later re-elected to a second, non-consecutive term. He previously served as President (2012–2017) and Vice President (2009–2012). His administration is anchored by the flagship 24-Hour Economy programme — a national industrialisation and jobs strategy across agriculture, fisheries, manufacturing and the creative industries — alongside Operation Recover All Loot and a wider economic-recovery agenda.
Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of the President of Ghana
Hon. Nana Oye Bampoe Addo is a prominent Ghanaian barrister, human rights lawyer, and politician. She currently serves as the Deputy Chief of Staff (Administration) at the Office of the President of Ghana. With over 30 years of experience in law and human rights, she has been a leading advocate for gender, governance, and social protection, and formerly served as Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection.
Manny Addo is the Ghanaian-born founder of Natural Shea Care and its True Shea brand, which built a direct supply chain from shea butter cooperatives in Ghana into Kroger's shelves nationwide. He holds an MBA in finance and marketing from Xavier University and wrote From Africa to 1,500 Kroger Stores to share his path to market access for immigrant and African entrepreneurs. He also co-chairs the AATS 2026 Convening Committee — see the organising team below.
Hon. Sylvester Adinam Mensah
Chief Executive Officer
Ghana Export-Import Bank (Ghana EXIM Bank)
Chief Executive Officer of Ghana EXIM Bank, Hon. Sylvester Adinam Mensah leads Ghana's strategic export credit agency driving trade finance, value addition, and international market expansion for Ghanaian exporters. An economist, financial executive, and seasoned public administrator, he leads GEXIM's mandate to scale cross-border commerce and industrialization.
World Affairs Council of Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky
Michelle Harpenau Glandorf leads the World Affairs Council of Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky, a nationally recognised non-partisan platform for global engagement. She sits on the National Board of Directors of the World Affairs Councils of America and has expanded the Council's role convening heads of state, foreign ministers and multinational executives visiting the region.
Maame Efua Houadjeto has served as CEO of the Ghana Tourism Authority since January 2025, only the second woman to lead the agency since its founding in 1973. Before her appointment she founded and led the Image Consortium Group, an event-management company, and served as General Manager of MPlaza Hotel. In February 2026 she was honoured as Global Cultural Ambassador at the Pre-Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.
African American Chamber of Commerce — Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky
Attorney, businessman and former Ohio State Senate Minority Leader, Eric H. Kearney leads the African American Chamber of Commerce for Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky. A former member of President Obama's national finance committee, he directs a 35-point plan expanding capital, procurement and Fortune 500 supply-chain access for minority-owned businesses across the tri-state region.
Steve Hightower founded Hightowers Petroleum Co. in 1982, growing it from a wholesale fuel distributor into the largest African-American-owned downstream petroleum marketer in the United States, serving Fortune 500 customers including GM, Ford, Kroger, UPS and Duke Energy. Based in Middletown, Ohio, the company has since expanded into hydrogen, renewable diesel and EV charging solutions. Hightower has been nominated to the American Petroleum Institute's Board of Directors.
Jill Morenz has led Aviatra Accelerators, a Cincinnati-based nonprofit accelerator for women-owned startups and small businesses, since October 2022. She previously directed community initiatives and communications for the Catalytic Fund and has founded two businesses of her own, bringing fundraising and entrepreneurial experience to Aviatra's mission of helping women build and scale companies.
Mark Jeffreys is a member of Cincinnati City Council, first elected in 2021 and re-elected in 2023 and 2025, where he chairs the Equitable Growth & Housing Committee. After a 16-year career at Procter & Gamble, he founded and leads 4Sight, which mines consumer insights from user-generated content for consumer-packaged-goods companies. He also founded the nonprofit goVibrant and has served for six years as a trustee of the Cincinnati Parks Foundation.
Bryan McCleary
Founder, Relevance Communications
Relevance Communications
Bryan McCleary is founder of Relevance Communications, advising startup founders on PR strategy that drives sales, deal flow and investment. His background includes two decades at Procter & Gamble, Vice President for Communications and Creative at News America Marketing, Chief Marketing Officer for United Way of Greater Cincinnati, and press secretary to U.S. Senator John Glenn. AATS 2026 lists him as a strategy and marketing contributor from Cincinnati's startup ecosystem; his current role at CincyTech could not be independently confirmed from public sources at time of writing.
Permanent Secretary for Investment and Industrialisation
Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Republic of Zambia
Crusivia C. Hichikumba is Permanent Secretary for Investment and Industrialisation at Zambia's Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry, where he has driven the country's manufacturing and export-diversification agenda — including a roadmap that saw manufacturing contribute 38.5% of total investment over five years. He represents Zambia at international forums on trade, green hydrogen and investment cooperation, including engagements with Brazil, China and Germany.
Vice President, Republic Commercial Real Estate & President, Rotary Club of Cincinnati
Republic Commercial Real Estate
A native Cincinnatian, Ed Mathis joined Republic Commercial Real Estate in 2016 and was promoted to Vice President in 2019, after earlier roles in customer service at U.S. Bank and hazmat delivery at Cincinnati Pool Management. He leads the Rotary Club of Cincinnati, one of the oldest Rotary clubs in the world, as its president.
Jessica L. Bhadauria, MBA, is a Visiting Assistant Professor and Instructor at Miami University's Farmer School of Business. Beyond this AATS 2026 programme listing, a public faculty profile or biography could not be independently located at time of writing.
Gabriel Opoku-Asare
Chief Export Development Officer
Ghana 24-Hour Economy Authority
Gabriel Opoku-Asare is Chief Export Development Officer of Ghana's 24-Hour Economy Authority and Head Director of Accelerated Export Development at the Office of the President, bringing roughly 20 years of corporate relations, public policy and sustainability experience. He joined from Diageo, where he most recently served as Director, Society (ESG) for North America, having earlier led Society for Diageo Africa and held corporate-relations roles across Southeast Asia; he began his career as Corporate Affairs Director for Unilever Ghana.
Mr. Albert Halwampa
Director General
Zambia Development Agency
Mr. Albert Halwampa is the Director General of the Zambia Development Agency, responsible for driving investment and economic development in Zambia.
Ronald C. Todd II
Chief of Social Impact & Opportunity
Ohio Department of Development
Ronald C. Todd II serves as Chief of Social Impact & Opportunity at the Ohio Department of Development, where he leads minority community engagement and advises on policy and operational initiatives to empower Ohio communities. A Dayton native and third-generation entrepreneur of West Virginia coal-mining heritage, he previously served as Governor Mike DeWine's Minority Affairs Liaison (2019–2023) — the administration's point person for minority business development, economic development, faith-based initiatives, and K-12 and higher education outreach — and as a senior advisor in the Ohio Secretary of State's office under Jon Husted. He co-chaired the Governor's RecoveryOhio Minority Health Working Group and serves on the JobsOhio Black Founders Advisory Council and the Ohio Commission on Fatherhood. An ordained Elder in the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International and Overseer of Governmental Affairs for the Fellowship of Christian Churches United in Service, Todd holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Ohio Dominican University and a DEI certificate from the University of South Florida.
