About Us

The Story...

Andrea and Tyler met on a 3-day, 2-night train ride crossing the plains of West Africa from Senegal to Mali. The weekly train stopped 20 hours early due to a train derailment ahead.….they got on the next bus to Bamako and went on to spend the rest of their journey together from Mali to Ghana.

Andrea was on a tight schedule (as she normally is) and Tyler had a one-way ticket (as he normally does), so they bid farewell in a small beach town in Eastern Ghana and Andrea flew back to NY.

Tyler remained in Ghana for about a month longer, and in that time went to a small town just outside of Kumasi — the second largest city in Ghana. On Andrea’s advice, he volunteered at Habitat for Humanity during his time there. When the other Habitat volunteers left after the build, Tyler stayed to learn more about the Afamanso community.

Trying to write home and share his stories in the village, he came to know firsthand the state of (or lack of) technology in the village.

There is no cyber (internet) cafe in Afamanaso. You must go to the next town over, Agona Ashanti, to check email or access the internet. And it is not much better there. While in Agona Ashanti, Tyler waited an hour to check his email. Children huddled around the computers in the café, waiting just as long to open the homepages of their favorite websites.

Tyler spoke to the village chief and board members to ask what they needed and wanted most in Afamanaso…..they wanted to be connected to the information age. They wanted to have computers in their village. They wanted their children to know as much about computers as the children in the next town and in developed countries.

Our Inspiration Links:

◦http://www.millenniumvillages.org/

◦http://www.habitat.org/

◦http://www.one.org/

*Kwasi Afrifa*

As Program Related and Investments and Grants Administrator at the Ford Foundation, Mr. Afrifa prepares program investment requests for Presidential approval. Prior to working for Ford in 2001, he built up an extensive experience with State, City and Borough government agencies, having served as Grants Manager and Compliance Officer at the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone in New York; worked as Research Associate for the Office of Assemblyman Albert Vann; worked as Director of Health Care Finance Council for the New York State Assembly’s Program Development Group and as Project Coordinator in the Productivity Unit at the Mayor’s Office of Operations under Dinkins’ Administration. Mr. Afrifa was appointed by then Borough President Fernando Ferrer to serve as a Board Member of Community Planning Board 11 (Pelham Parkway). He was the recipient of the Community Service Award (1996) from Community Planning Board 6 (Crotona- Bronx).

Mr. Afrifa is Founder and Chairman of the African Federation, Inc. (AFI). AFI was established in 2005 with the goal to encourage collaboration amongst the 2 million members of African communities in the United States and to increase the capacity of African serving organizations. AFI is led by a team of Africans who represent, and partner with, African serving community based organizations in New York and around the country. Mr. Afrifa also serves as a Board Member of Investors Without Borders.

Mr. Afrifa is a PhD candidate (Political Science). He has a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Masters in Public Administration from Baruch College’s School of Public Affairs. He’s been teaching there as an Adjunct Professor in the Executive Master of Public Administration (MPA) Program.

*Jack Brewer*

Jack Brewer earned his Bachelor of Science in 2001 and his Masters in Sports Management in 2002 from the University of Minnesota.  Following his college career, Mr. Brewer was signed as a free agent by the Minnesota Vikings in 2002. Brewer was a pro-bowl candidate on Special Teams as a rookie, and had his first career interception against Brett Farve. He was named Vikings Team Captain in 2003, and went on to be captain on three teams including the New York Giants (2004) and the Philadelphia Eagles (2005). After completing his fifth and final year in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals, Brewer went on to accept a position with Merrill Lynch in the Global Private Client Group, located in New York City. Mr. Brewer started with Merrill Lynch one day after he retired from the National Football League in 2007.

Mr. Brewer is also the Founder and Executive Director of the Jack Brewer Foundation (www.jackbrewerfoundation.org) which aims to bridge the global gap by promoting diversity, education, economic and career development worldwide, targeting underprivileged individuals who exhibit a drive to succeed, and providing them with the resources necessary to achieve their educational and professional goals.
 Mr. Brewer has completed Executive Business Programs at Harvard School of Business in 2005 and Wharton in 2006. Mr. Brewer has obtained his Series 7 and Series 66. He is currently enrolled at Columbia University in New York City working towards a Master’s Degree from the School of International and Public Affairs in Public Policy with a focus on Finance and Management.

*Todd Sigaty*

Todd Sigaty is a human rights legal advocate with over 15 years experience globally. He is Co-Founder of Village Focus International (VFI), a non-profit assisting local leaders and communities in Southeast Asia (www.villagefocus.org). Mr. Sigaty spent much of the past decade as a legal expert in Asia, with a majority of time spent in Laos and Cambodia developing projects for VFI while also working as a legal consultant to governments, local organizations and various agencies on legal training, drafting and facilitating national reform in the land and natural resources sectors and protecting the legal rights of indigenous communities.

In addition to his years in Asia, Mr. Sigaty has worked in several countries: as a judicial clerk in Samoa, a law instructor in Ireland, an environmental legal advocate in Alaska, a forest conservationist in Europe and Asia and an alternative energy/transportation advocate throughout North America.

Mr. Sigaty’s love for bike riding and bringing diverse groups of people together for a good cause led to establishment of the Angkor Wat International Bike Rally. He has been chosen as a leadership fellow by the Advocacy Institute and the National Committee for U.S. and China Relations.

Mr. Sigaty is now based in New York where he is Director of Legal Affairs at www.shoparc.com and working on other projects including the publication of a book.
Mr. Sigaty earned a J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law, a B.A. from University of Texas and studied international affairs at the University of Oregon Graduate School.