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Meet the Current Board of
Directors of Darfur Rehabilitation Project
DRP's board
of directors consists of mainly Darfurians, many with first-hand
knowledge of the genocide taking place in their homeland. All
members of the board are skilled in conflict resolution having
met with and studied the teachings of Professor Roger Fischer
(author of "Getting to Yes") at Harvard Law School. Board
members are actively engaged in all facets of DRP's work
including The Darfur-Darfur Dialogue, the DRP Victims'
Project and the Speaker's Bureau.
Blanche Foster- Acting Executive Director
Blanche Foster brings
management experience from the consumer products
industry to her role as Executive Director of
DRP. She was also
the founder/editor of The Chariot, a music industry
newsletter, circulated worldwide. A life-long community
activist, Ms. Foster has held positions that brought
about long-term positive change: Included is her tenure
as the Board President of the Interfaith Hospitality
Network of Essex County, a program that helps the
homeless and as Community Outreach Coordinator for the
United Nations Assn.-NJ, in its Global Economy Project
with Rutgers University. She has received the United
Nations Millennium Development Goal: "Women’s Rights and
Empowerment" award. Ms. Foster considers herself
privileged to use her multifaceted skills set in service
of the Darfurians as they attempt to bring an end to
their plight in Darfur while seeking reconciliation in
all of Sudan.
Barcai Mohamed Abdel-karim
Mr. Abdel-karim
received his first degree in International Economics
from Kiev State University in the former Soviet Union.
Mr. Abdel-karim is a specialist in multilateral
diplomacy and the role of international organizations
having received his M.A. in Diplomacy and International
Relations from Seton Hall University. He has been a
consultant for the United Nations Development Programme
and the United Nations Institute for Training and
Research. One of the founders of
DRP, Mr. Abdel-karim headed a DRP
fact-finding mission to the IDP camps in eastern Chad in
July, 2005. Currently residing in Sudan, Mr. Abdel-karim
provides frequent updates that are invaluable to
DRP’s work. He is a
strong believer in promoting dialogue among Darfurians
and an advocate of democratic governance, social justice
and human rights.
Ghada Abdelmoumin
Ghada Abdelmoumin was
born in Khartoum, Sudan but her family is originally
from eastern Darfur. She is involved in a community
service initiative aimed at servicing the Sudanese
Diaspora in the Washington, DC area where she currently
resides. Through her work with the Sudanese community
and DRP she promotes
and advocates for Sudan and a peaceful means to end the
current conflict in the Darfur region. She holds a B.Sc.
in Mechanical Engineering, MS in Computer Science and is
currently working toward her PhD in Information Security
and Assurance at George Mason University.
Abdelbagy Abushanab
Born and brought
up in Northern Darfur, Sudan,
Mr. Abushanab has been an advocate for social
equality and justice for the last thirty years as the
means by which to bring about peace in his homeland.
While in Sudan, he was a hotel manager and Vice Chairman
of the Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance. Mr. Abushanab
was forced to flee Sudan when the political atmosphere
took a turn away from the democratically-elected
government. He and five of the Darfurian Board Members
co-founded Darfur Rehabilitation Project. Mr. Abushanab,
now a citizen of the United States, has played a key
role in heightening public awareness of the Darfur
crisis through speaking engagements across the country
and in discussions with members of the U.S. Congress,
affiliates of the United Nations, with U.S. officials
and those of the Government of Sudan. He has
participated in many panel discussions with well-known
advocates for the Darfur cause. Even as a young man, Mr.
Abushanab believed that an active engagement for peace
can only be achieved by maintaining the unity and
stability of Sudan; through engagement in vigorous
negotiations rather than by seeking military solutions.
Mr. Abushanab has devoted his life’s work to this goal.
Mr. Abushanab is a past president of
DRP.
Ishag Ahmed - Treasurer
Mr. Ahmed was born in
Nyala, Darfur in 1953 and studied chemistry and math at
the University of Khartoum. He taught science in Saudi
Arabia for 6 years before returning to Sudan briefly at
the end of 1983. Mr. Ahmed immigrated to the U.S. in
1984 to pursue a graduate degree in chemistry from
Rutgers University. He currently works as an EMT
technician and teaches CPR and medical transportation
part time. Mr. Ahmed was the first president of
DRP beginning in
2004.
Elnour Adam
Mr. Adam is a Darfurian
peace activist born and raised in Habilah, western
Darfur. He is a founder of Sudan Peace Advocates Network
(SPAN) in the United States, working towards a peaceful
resolution to the conflict in his homeland. Mr. Elnour
has a degree in Architecture from the Zagazic University
in Egypt and is currently a Superintendent with Gilbane
Construction Company working on the U.S. Capitol Visitor
Center construction project.
Click here to read Elnour Adam : A
voice from Darfur, an interview with Mr.
Elnour conducted by Jim Wallis of Beliefnet &
Soujourners.
Omer Elsharif
Omer Elsharif is the
son of a former Sudanese Supreme Court Judge. He spent
his childhood in Darfur and lived in Sudan until his
father was driven out of public office by the Khartoum
government. In 1989, Mr. Elsharif graduated from the
Omdurman Ahlia University – SUDAN, School of Business
Administration in Sudan. In 1999, he immigrated to the
United States as a political refugee and was granted
asylum. Since that time, Mr. Elsharif has been an active
member of the Sudanese community, particularly in the
state of New Jersey where he resides. His volunteering
efforts include providing aid to New Jersey’s Sudanese
refugees as well as Sudanese victims of human
trafficking focusing mainly on resettlement assistance
programs. Mr. Elsharif is the founder of Peacebuilder, a
Sudanese based volunteer group lending support to the
Sudanese community in the U.S. His socio-political
experience also includes working for the Saudi Consulate
in Dubai, U.A.E. He is currently studying for his Master
of Science degree in Public Policy. He is the newest
board member of the Darfur Rehabilitation Project, where
his role entails taking on the organization’s Community
Foundation Initiatives (CFI). Mr. Elsharif is committed
to justice, equality and the fair administration of the
law.
Fatima M. Haroun - President DRP
Fatima M. Haroun is
one of the leading advocates on behalf of the people of
Darfur. She is a native of Jebel Marra, a beautiful area
of Western Darfur that has been destroyed by the
Janjaweed militias in recent years. A graduate of
Khartoum University she has an extensive background in
rural development in her homeland. Prior to the current
genocide she helped establish women's training centers
that taught rural women handicrafts and marketing skills
as well as providing health and literacy education. In
addition to her work with DRP,
she currently is working with Southern Sudanese Women on
reconciliation following the long war in Southern Sudan
and is helping form an organization that speaks for
Sudanese women in general. Ms. Haroun is a social worker
for the city's department of human Services in
Philadelphia. As part of her Darfur advocacy she has
testified at U.S. congressional hearings, been a
featured speaker at numerous demonstrations and rallies
and has given many TV and newspaper interviews. Ms.
Haroun is the current president of Darfur Rehabilitation
Project, Inc. To read Ms. Haroun's response to the Jan
'07 State of the Union address click
here.
Mohamed-ElMukhtar Abdallla Hassan
Mohamed-ElMukhtar Abdallla
Hassan was born in Um Kadadda, eastern
Darfur, Sudan. He earned his BS in Electronics &
Electrical Engineering from Menufia University, Egypt in
1981. Mr. Mukhtar worked as a telecommunication engineer
in Sudan’s Telecommunications Corporation from 1981 to
1983 and later served in the Sudanese Airforce as an
Avionics Engineer from 1983 to 1991. When the government
of Omer Elbashir came into power in 1989, many Sudanese
civil servants were forced to quit their jobs. Mr.
Mukhtar was forced from his position in 1991 joining the
private sector to work as an electronics engineer in the
Darfur region. In 1998, Mr. Mukhtar came to the US and
worked for Corvis Corporation in Maryland. Mr. Mukhtar
is a long-time Darfur activist who established the
Association of Darfurian People in Washington DC before
joining the Board of Directors of the
DRP.
Osman Jami
Osman Jami was born
in Damlin, east Sudan. His family is originally from
Darfur and returned there during his childhood. He
attended the International University of African Law
where he earned a docotorate in law. Mr. Jami became a
human rights activist, championing the causes of the
Darfurian people while working in the law firm of Assia
Altaib. The Khartoum government arrested him for his
activities, primarily because he spoke out for women’s
rights and was a member of the Democratic Alliance
Party. Upon his release he escaped from Sudan to Chad
and then to the United States where he is a current
resident. Mr. Jami continues to be a human rights
activist and worked with the Darfur People’s Association
in Brooklyn, NY and later became a co-founder and vice
president of DRP.
Adel Khamis
Adel Khamis’
family was originally from Darfur. Born in east Sudan in
the town of El Gdarif, he was primarily educated in el
Gdarif. Mr. Khamis studied business administration. He
attended the DeVry Institute of Technology here in the
United States where he studied electronic technology.
Mr. Khamis lived in Saudi Arabia where he worked as an
accountant and as a room division manager at a local
hotel. He won the lottery--a yearly application process
offered by the United States--to come to the U.S. Once
in the U.S., Mr. Khamis opened an import/export company.
He is an American citizen yet still looks for his family
in Darfur and stays connected to his homeland. Mr.
Khamis became an activist fighting for equality and
human rights years before the current Darfur genocide
began because he saw problems emerging in his homeland.
Khalid Kodi
Award-winning
Khalid Kodi is a
Graphic Designer, Illustrator, Painter and Sculptor with
an international reputation. Kodi’s work is well
respected in every genre he chooses as a means of
expression, including installations which are sometimes
startling but clearly communicate the horror of the
on-going tragedy in his homeland, Sudan. His art is
often political; yet, hopeful, as he records the mundane
moments when we may simply enjoy each other’s company
despite the cruelties that would force us to live in
fear. Still, Kodi forces us to consider the alternatives
to that which is serene. He says, “By not looking, we
abandon the child, the man, the woman and indeed, the
nation. It’s like the Nazi’s in the 30’s and 40’s;
people knew what was going on but they didn’t speak out.
By being quiet, they’re contributing to genocide, and I
have no problem calling it that.”
Yahya Mohammad Osman - Vice President
Yahya Osman, a
Darfurian, was born January 1968, in Algadaref, Sudan,
He studied Political Science at the Nassar University in
Tripoli, Lybia (1988-1992). Mr. Osman worked as an
advertising representative for Om Alkram Charities in El
Fashir, Darfur, as a manager for an International Group
and was a partner of the Almumtaz Export Import Company.
Mr. Osman then became Assistant for the Information
Minister of Darfur, Sudan. Mr. Osman’s human rights
activities began in 1997, and continue until this day.
When in Sudan, he was a member of the Umma Party but
relinquished his membership when he came to the opinion
that the Party did not build a strong opposition to the
current regime. When he arrived in the United States,
Mr. Osman became founder and Foreign Affairs Secretary
for the Darfur Peoples Association, a Brooklyn-based
organization, and is a founder of Darfur Rehabilitation
Project, Inc.
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