GLP General Web pages

BOARD OF TRUSTEES
	Dr. Emeka Akaezuwa is a Trustee of the Global Literacy Project, Inc. He is currently Associate Director of Digital Library Groups for Elsevier Science, Inc., New York, the world's leading publishers of scientific and electronic journals. As head of the Americas division for Information Technology, he is a digital libraries consultant for Mexico, Canada, and Brazil among other countries. One of his recent projects involved collaborating with the Yale University Library to create a digital archive for the 1,100 journals published electronically by Elsevier Science. He was formerly the Manager for Advanced Technologies for the Dow Jones Corporation.
	Mr. Denniston Bonadie is Co-Founder and Vice-President for Program Development of the Global Literacy Project, Inc. In 1992, he graduated from Rutgers College with B.A. degrees in Africana studies and history, and minors in mathematics and physics. He earned a master’s degree in city and regional planning in 2001 and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in urban planning and public policy from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. He is an adjunct professor in the Africana Studies Department where he teachers several courses in the including Pan-African Movements, Black Civilizations, African Presence in American Culture and the department’s Intro to Methodology.
	Ms. Diana Dade is a Trustee of the Global Literacy Project, Inc. As a retired dental hygienist from Hillside, New Jersey, she is an active member of the American Association of Retired Persons. Ms. Dade dedicates much of her energy to volunteering for a wide range of organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America and the Visiting Nurses Association. She is also a bibliophile who works closely with public libraries to raise funds, promote reading, and send surplus/discarded books to areas that need them. Based on her own experience with collecting and donating books, Ms. Dade urged GLP to become a formal institution in order to reach even more recipients.
	Dr. Olubayi Olubayi is Co-Founder and President of the Global Literacy Project, Inc. Olubayi Olubayi earned his Ph.D. from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey on the biology of bacteria-plant-cell interactions, in 1995. He holds a US research patent on the flocculation of bacteria, and he has published on bacterial physiology, the biology of plants, and on the place of science in Africana studies. He is currently an associate professor of microbiology at Middlesex County College, Edison, New Jersey; the chair of the biotechnology program at Middlesex College; and a lecturer in Africana Studies at Rutgers University where he teaches the senior seminar on wealth, and a class on the contributions of Africans to science. He is the founder and chair of the advisory board of PAMLO (the Pan-African Mentoring and Learning Organization) whose mission is to promote literacy and self-reliance on the continent of Africa. He is the adviser to the Youth Organization of Amagoro district in Kenya, and the founder of the Chamasiri Harambee Self-Reliance Project in Kenya. He is the founder and CEO of Global Literacy PRESS which is a new book publishing company in New Brunswick, New Jersey. This press has just published a book by Rutgers Africana undergraduate majors. The title of this book is “Wealth Not Income,” and the authors are students. He is currently writing a lab manual on protein purification, and another book on the responsibilities of educated Africans in rebuilding Africa. He is currently working on a plan to launch a micro-lending project in rural western Kenya, and along with several of his friends he is working on designing a Pan-African Leadership Academy to train the next generation of African leaders who will help the continent solve most of its problems.
	Ms. Kavitha Ramachandran is a Trustee of the Global Literacy Project, Inc. Over the past decade, she has taught in the departments of Geography, Africana Studies, the Educational Opportunities Fund Program, Douglass College Student Life, as well as the Learning Resource Centers of Rutgers University, where she published a manual for the instruction of ESL (English as a Second Language) students. She is completing her Ph.D. in Geography on the implications of 'diaspora' for place, culture, and identity. Ms. Ramachandran was an undergraduate fellow of the Rutgers Center for the Critical Analysis of Contemporary Culture and a graduate recipient of honorable mention by the National Science Foundation. Her research interests include race and gender in urban economic development, cartography and architecture, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as decision support technology, and theories of space, nature, and society. She is also a classical guitarist and yoga enthusiast.
	Dr. Edward Ramsamy is General Secretary and Human Resources Officer of the Global Literacy Project, Inc. He is assistant professor of Africana Studies and a member of the graduate faculty of geography and the Edward J. Bloustein School of Urban Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University. He has been a fellow of the Rutgers Center for the Critical Analysis of Contemporary Culture and the Social Sciences Research Council, among other honors. He was editor of The Common Purposes Journal, a Rutgers University publication exploring pluralism and cross-cultural understanding. Dr. Ramsamy has published on regional economic development and integration in southern Africa, housing in the developing world, as well as the geographies of change in South Africa. His book, From Projects to Policy: The World Bank and Urban Development, is forthcoming. Dr. Ramsamy's current projects include book-length manuscripts on Nation-Building and Identity in the 'New' South Africa and African-Americans in the Anti-Apartheid Movement. He plays squash in his spare time.
	Mr. Wendel Thomas is a Trustee of the Global Literacy Project, Inc. He currently holds the position of employment specialist for the Employment Service of Workforce New Jersey, a division of the Department of Labor. His duties include interviewing and matching employees with jobs based on their work experience, talents, and potential. He also conducts weekly seminars to assist applicants in taking advantage of job opportunities and works closely with state officials on how the State of New Jersey might enable its residents to gain more access to employment. Mr. Thomas has assisted hundreds individuals with securing jobs and acquiring the skills to compete in today's job market.
	Ms. Sivan Yosef is a Trustee of the Global Literacy Project, Inc. She is a senior at Rutgers College as well as the co-founder and co-president of the G.O.Y.A. Project, a student organization promoting volunteerism. As a political science major with a special interest in non-governmental organizations, Ms. Yosef has worked with Habitat for Humanity and the Rutgers University Model United Nations (RUMUN). She is also a fellow of the Rutgers Institute for Women's Leadership. Ms. Yosef works closely with GLP by organizing volunteers to collect and pack discarded or surplus books from local schools and libraries for shipment to poor rural areas abroad. She and her colleagues also dedicate their energies to other important community service efforts such as serving the hungry in local soup kitchens and assisting the homeless with various tasks. Ms. Yosef has traveled widely and speaks several languages.
In Memory of Dr. Thelma Tate Thelma H. Tate, passed away on May 20, 2005 after a year-long battle with cancer...
Dr. Thelma Tate Read A Tribute By Dr. Edward Ramsamy...	Thelma had a long and dedicated career as a librarian at Rutgers University, beginning with her first post at Douglass College in 1970. In 2003 her outstanding contributions were recognized when she was invited to deliver the prestigious Jean E. Coleman Outreach Lecture of the American Library Association (ALA) in recognition for her own work in ensuring that disadvantaged communities have equity of access to the tools of literacy. She served as Vice-President for Outreach of the Global Literacy Project, Inc. from our founding, and was a long-time Librarian at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. As a tireless advocate for literacy, education, and human dignity, she worked throughout her career to establish these goals at Rutgers and the community at large. As Coordinator of Global Outreach Programs for the Rutgers-New Brunswick libraries, Dr. Tate served as a catalyst enabling diverse groups of people, drawn from students, faculty, and staff, to work together to advance literacy as a tool for self-empowerment. Thelma traveled widely in Africa and Asia to promote these ideals and to develop liaisons between foreign libraries and Rutgers University. Among other honors, Thelma Tate was presented the Human Dignity Award of the Committee to Advance Our Common Purposes at Rutgers University.