Team Profile

Joanna Rees Gallanter, WEF-GLT Co-sponsor of AVCF initiative:  Joanna founded Venture Strategy Partners ("VSP") a $225MM Fund in late 1996 and serves on the Boards of Directors of IVAST, Shoptalk, QuinStreet, Sabrix, Quovera and Confluence.

Joanna brings significant experience in operations, finance and marketing.  In addition to her eight years in finance and investment banking, Ms. Gallanter has also held several senior management positions having worked with or for Groupe Danone, General Foods, Digital Equipment Corp., Texaco, Brown Forman and RJR Nabisco.

Ms. Gallanter earned a BS from Duke University where she was a member of the varsity gymnastics team and her MBA from Columbia University.  Ms. Gallanter is a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Leader for Tomorrow (GLT) class of 2000.

Olukunle Malomo, WEF-GLT Co-sponsor of AVCF initiative:  Olukunle Malomo is the CEO of Trevalon Inc.  He is also Founding President and Chief Executive Officer of HummingBox, Inc., a communications infrastructure company based in Philadelphia, PA, where he serves as Chairman of the Board.  Olukunle is also Chairman of the Board of AfricSoft Inc, an offshore software development company based in Nigeria.

Olukunle's background and experience includes positions with both IBM Global Services and Cap Gemini US and U.K., as well as a wide array of professional accomplishments.  In January 2001, the World Economic Forum selected Olukunle as one of its 100 Global Leaders for Tomorrow class of 2001. He has been a featured speaker at the Harvard Business School, The Wharton School and the White House on African technology and digital divide issues. He has also been featured in Fortune Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, CNN Business Unusual, Smart Money magazine, Wharton’s “Catching a Rising Star”, the World Link Magazine, and was a recipient of both the Shils Zeidman Fellowship for Entrepreneurship and the Henry Morgenthau Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business School. 

Olukunle holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, and an MBA from Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania. 

George Osawaye, Program co-ordinator:  George comes from a strong entrepreneurial background and has been involved in starting up and running several companies in Africa, Europe and the US.  He has a keen interest in applying business principles to facilitate socio-economic development, with a particular emphasis on Africa and is involved in various initiatives aimed at empowering individuals of ethnic minority origins in Europe and Africa.

He is founder and CEO of Cussins Group Limited, a business incubator, business intelligence and strategy consulting company based in London, England.  He also serves as an independent advisor and consultant to various startup initiatives in Africa and Europe.  George holds a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, a masters degree in information systems from the London School of Economics, UK and an MBA degree from Harvard Business School, US, with concentrations in entrepreneurship, finance and strategy.