Darfur Peace & Development Organization

Board of Directors Dr. Abdelrahman Bushara Dosa Dr. Abdelrahman Bushara Dosa is an associate professor at the University of Juba. Previously he worked as the Director General for the Regional Ministry of Agriculture for Darfur and then as the Minister of Agriculture for the Greater Darfur Region (1981-1985). From 1967 to 1982 he served as the Province Veterinary Research Officer at the Central National Research Laboratory in Sudan. During that period he also worked as a researcher at the National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa in the US (1977 to 1981). He is currently serving as the Deputy President of the Board of Directors for the Sudanese Popular Development Organization (SPDO), an NGO working in relief and support of war affected Darfur people. Professional Associations: Member of the American Society of Microbiologists; Member of the Sudanese Veterinary Association; Member of the Sudanese Environmental Conservation Association Dr. Nageeb A. Eisa Dr. Mohamed Nageeb Eisa is the Chief of Stockholm Convention and Chemicals Management, UNIDO. He earned a PhD in Process Industries in 1993 from the University of Technology in Compiegne, France. His previous career experience includes working as a process engineer in the Port Sudan Shell Oil Refinery, serving as a Research Associate as the University of King Abdulaziz in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and acting as a Research Fellow for the French Petroleum Institute in Paris. Cindy Castano Cindy Castano is the president of Alpha Management Group, Inc. (AMG), which is an organization that focuses on business development, management and documentary film production. She has 30 years experience in client relations, sales and business development and has been a licensed investment advisor. Prior to founding AMG, amongst several positions in sales/marketing, Cindy has worked in the investment/financial markets of USA, London, England and Geneva, Switzerland, specializing in high value, multi-million dollar accounts. Documentary film production is one of the primary elements of AMG's business and is structured under AMG Media, a division of Alpha Management Group. Ms. Castano is currently acting as writer, editor, and producer for a documentary entitled "MY SLAVE, MY INFIDEL," which is in production. The film focuses on the slave trade in Southern Sudan and has expanded filming as events continue to unfold Darfur, Sudan. AMG also has a documentary in negotiations which will focus specifically on the genocidal conflict in Darfur. Salih Mahmoud Osman Salih Osman is a human rights activist from the Darfur region of Sudan who for the last two decades has defended and provided legal representation to those who have been arbitrarily detained and tortured by the Sudanese government. He courageously defends members of all ethnic groups from persecution by the government of Sudan. Working as an attorney with the Sudan Organization Against Torture (known as SOAT), Mr. Osman challenges torture and impunity and defends people who are targeted solely because they oppose government policies or share the same ethnicity as the rebel movements in Darfur. He visits those who are detained and initiates legal action on their behalf. Dr. Gloria White-Hammond Gloria White-Hammond is the Co-Chair of the MA Coalition to Save Darfur. She has also served as the National Chairperson of the Million Voices for Darfur campaign in 2006. She has a strong background in international humanitarian relief work, with a specific focus on Africa. Since 2001 Dr. Gloria has made seven trips into war-torn southern Sudan where she has been involved in obtaining the freedom of 10,000 women and children who were enslaved during the two decades long civil war. In February 2005, Dr. White-Hammond traveled into Darfur to listen and learn from female victims of genocide in Internally Displaced Persons camps. Joe Johns Joe Johns directs Missional Living at Fellowship Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana. His passion is to hear and respond to the cries of the oppressed as Jesus did and help others to do the same. This passion has catalyzed his involvement in local and global initiatives including The Reclamation Project, NeighborLink, and Fellowship of Christian Refugees . On behalf of Fellowship, Joe has traveled several times to Darfur, Sudan as an aid worker, also bringing greetings from Darfurians in Fort Wayne to their families. Joe Madison Joe Madison, also known as "The Black Eagle" by his Radio-One WOL-AM listeners in Washington D.C. is one of America's top talk radio personalities. He graduated in 1971 from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri with a bachelor's degree in Sociology/Urban Planning. Today, Madison not only uses his microphone to bring attention to social injustices here and abroad, he also challenges himself and his listeners to do something about it. He has led demonstrations and arrests in front of the Sudanese Embassy for 90 straight days to end the genocide in Darfur. Madison followed this up with a campaign to divest $93 billion in Sudan, through state pension funds. Madison has traveled three times to the war zones in southern Sudan where he participated in the freeing of more than 7,000 slaves and delivering survival kits to refugees. He organized a "Sudan Campaign" to end slavery and raised thousands of dollars to free slaves. Omer Ihsas Omer Ihsas, a renowned singer and songwriter, continues to travel Sudan with his band, named "Messenger of Peace," and is known for his lyrics promoting peace, unity, and reconciliation among all Sudanese. In 2005 Ihsas was invited to compose original music for the film All About Darfur directed by Taghreed Elsanhouri. Ihsas was born in Nyala, South Darfur, and now sings about transcending division in Darfur and embracing peace. However, he makes clear his message is for Sudan and chooses to identify himself as 'Sudanese' rather than specifically 'Darfurian' in order to avoid emphasis on the separations within Sudanese society. He notes this mentality and focus as nationalistic and inclusive. Ihsas' songs in the early 1990s reflected his foresight into the impending crisis that would come to Darfur without efforts among all tribes to unify and mend divisions. Omer Ihsas continues to travel and perform across Sudan and in many other African countries. Suliman A Giddo Co-Founder and President of Darfur Peace & Development, is a graduate of Khartoum University and received Masters degrees from Strayer University, in Business Administration and Fordham University in Humanitarian Assistance. His post-graduate studies included Human Resources at Maduri University, India, and Professional Management Institute at New Jersey, UK. He also earned certificates from the Institute of Virginia and a Certificate in Disaster Studies at the University of Wisconsin. Consultants Executive Office Susan Burgess-Lent, Program Director Program Director Susan has worked with DPDO since 2004 and is currently functioning as the Program Director. She previously worked as a project manager for the African Immigrant and Refugee Foundation and InterAction, as a proposal consultant for CEDPA, and as budget and administrative coordinator with American Red Cross International Services. Susan is also a writer and worked for many years as a television journalist. Omer Ismail, Vice President / Advocacy Omer Ismail, Vice President of DPDO and key player in Darfur Advocacy, is a graduate of Khartoum University where he worked as a research assistant to Dr. Mansour Khalid, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs in Sudan. In 1988 he became the Operations Manager for the United Nations Operation Life Line Sudan. He fled Sudan after the current regime took power and since then has lived as a refugee in the U.S. He returned to the United Nations to serve in Somalia form 1992 to 1994. Suliman Rabih Assistant Director of Programs Dr. Abdalla I. Adam Director for Relief & Development Adil Hassan Asst. Director for Administration and Finance Karri DeSelm, Darfur Schools Project Coordinator Karri DeSelm, the Darfur Schools Project Coordinator for DPDO, has earned a BA in both photography and religion from Carson-Newman College in Knoxville, Tennessee. During her undergraduate work, she spent a semester studying with the School for International Training in Durban, South Africa. There she had the opportunity to intern with the Network on Violence Against Women, surveying rape and crisis units within police stations across KwaZulu Natal. She also acts as head tutor in the volunteer program Global English Connection. She plans to pursue her MBA at Eastern University in the fall of 2007, enrolling in the program for International Economic Development. Suliman A Giddo, President / CEO Suliman Giddo, Co-Founder and President of Darfur Peace & Development, is a graduate of Khartoum University and received Masters degrees from Strayer University, in Business Administration and Fordham University in Humanitarian Assistance. His post-graduate studies included Human Resources at Maduri University, India, and Professional Management Institute at New Jersey, UK. He also earned certificates from the Institute of Virginia and a Certificate in Disaster Studies at the University of Wisconsin. He worked 12 years for the United Arab Emirates Government and six years at the American Red Cross.