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The Ayele Foundation
Cassis Augustine Smith
C.E.O, President & Chairman
Augustine Cassis Smith founded the Ayele foundation. Focusing on education for the less privileged, he is leading the way in championing social interventions that will ease the plight of the vulnerable in Ghana. He has held many managerial positions and constantly engaged in research works whether for academic purpose or the people he serves. He believes in a new Africa spearheaded by the youth, empowered by indigenous people and accelerating human capacity through education whether formal or informal.
Taylor Steele
Director of Videography
Taylor Steele is from the great state of Utah, where all that’s missing is the ocean. Tay is currently attending Brigham Young University Hawaii, studying graphic design. His passion for powerful messaging and storytelling has led him to be a part of the Ayele production team. He strives to inform, inspire and move others by capturing life from the shoes of others.
Umi Jesen
Director of Education
Umi is a Native Hawaiian researcher and consultant specializing in indigenous education. She earned a BA in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity and a MA in International and Comparative Education from Stanford University in 2006. After a church mission to South Korea, she returned to Hawaii in 2009 to begin working in Native Hawaiian education. She worked at the Kamehameha Schools doing research, evaluation, and strategic planning for 3 years until she ventured off to work directly with Hawaiian communities and organizations to bring to life innovative ideas in education, cultural perpetuation, social enterprise, community development, and natural resource stewardship. Her passion to support creative, empowering ideas for change brought her to Ghana in 2014 where she first came in contact with Ayele Foundation. She currently is an independent consultant and serves as the Director of Education at Ayele Foundation. Umi resides in her hometown of Hauula, Hawaii and enjoys karaoke, snorkeling, and traveling.
Erica Linsenmeyer
Secretary
Erica Linsenmeyer serves as the Ayele Foundation Secretary. She attended the University of Washington where she majored in Political Science and received minors in Human Rights, Disability Studies, and Minority Studies. She enjoys being able to see the positive things she studied put into practice at the Ayele Foundation. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and son and enjoys time with her family, quilting, and doing good in the world.
Frederick Fafanyo Anku
Education Coordinator
Fred Fafanyo Anku was born and raised in Ghana. He received a Bachelor (B. Ed) in Psychology and Foundation of Education from University of Cape Coast in Ghana. He is currently the ICT Coordinator for the Sekyere South District Directorate of the Ghana Education Service. He has the ability to train both young and old to embrace the world of technology. This is his primary focus at Ayele foundation.
Doreen Drapson
Accountant
Doreen received a Master’s in Finance from Lincoln University of Pennsylvania. She has over 10 years of accounting experience and has worked at places like Sallie Mae and Account Plus. Doreen lives in New York and oversees the accounting for Ayele Foundation as part of her volunteer service in the community.
Felix Ohene Ntow
Government Liaison
Felix is a seasoned journalist with membership in the Ghana Journalist Association as well as Ghana Parliamentary Press Corps. He attended the Pan-African Theological University, and in subsequent years has operated in both capacities. He has great passion for charity work and has promoted programs to raise the standard of living in rural Ghana for two decades. His contributions to the foundation have been incredibly instrumental in pursuing its mission and will continue to be vital as we expand our programs.
Joseph Yankson
Operations Manager
Joseph was raised in Ghana and like Cassis, he has long had aspirations of improving the educational culture of Ghana. He studied shipping and logistics at the Regional Maritime University in Ghana and has since gone on to create his own trade business. He believes that seizing the opportunity to make an impact in the lives of other people is a moral obligation. Joseph not only heads up the implementation of our programs in Ghana but also oversees our student programs in cooperation.
Gladsy Tuo
Internship Supervisor
Gladys Tuo is a Lecturer and Head of department of Procurement and Supply Chain Management at Kumasi Polytechnic, one of Ghana’s premier Polytechnics and a pacesetter in Polytechnic education in the country. She is a Ghanaian by birth and was born in 5th May, 1976 in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. She is married with a son and is Christian. She started her education in the field of business management and now holds a Master of Science in Supply Chain Management and is a Chartered Member in Purchasing and Supply in the United Kingdom. As part of her service to the community, she is now an internship supervisor with the Ayele foundation ‘‘one school at a time’’ project in Ghana.
Bob Fuller
Member, Board of Directors
Dr. Bob Fuller began his career as a dentist after getting his D.D.S. from the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry. Beyond his dental career, he has been involved in education in his community for years including teaching pre-dental curriculum at Brigham Young University in Provo for 14 years and creating, designing courseware for Utah Valley State College, and teaching courses for special education at various schools. He has also started, managed, owned, and operated a host of successful businesses. He currently lives in Utah and serves on the Board of Directors for Ayele Foundation. He brings to the table enormous experience that will help the foundations development and funds management.
Mike Teig
Member, Board of Directors
Michael is President and CEO of TigerLight, Inc., a Utah based company that provides a Non-Lethal Defense System flashlight for police, military personnel and civilians. He is also an award winning filmmaker and author of 60 Seconds To The World and Surf Your Way Through School, an accelerated, enhanced learning program for students. Michael obtained a Master’s of Entertainment Business Degree at Full Sail University, graduating as class Salutatorian. He received a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Brigham Young University, attended USC School of Cinema Television, and graduated from Disney University’s Executive Management Program. He won 7 of 13 Course Director Awards. Michael resides in Midway, Utah with his wife Toni. They have nine children and 18 grandchildren. As an educationist, he adds incredible value to the foundations educational programs.
John Feagans
Consultant Deaf Education
John Feagans is responsible for the architecture and administration of several ASL learning websites. He has created several dictionary projects including one that teaches Japanese Sign Language alongside of ASL for teaching Japanese deaf students their English curriculum. John worked at Purple Video Relay Service, and when he retired he wanted to keep his ASL skills sharp. First, for practice he created the 77 Android quizzes available on ASLTC then he architected and built the system for publishing quizzes as e-learning modules. All quizzes are based on the curriculum created by Dr. Vicars on Lifeprint.com. Here he is signing “internet”. Learning new signs from different cultures motivates his work at Ayele foundation.
Bill Vicars
Consultant Deaf Education
Bill Vicars is the founder of “ASL University,” which is an online resource site for sign language students, teachers, interpreters, and parents of Deaf children. Deaf (hard of hearing) from birth, he earned a Doctorate of Deaf Studies (Ed.D.) and a Masters in Deaf Education from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. His undergraduate work includes a Bachelor of Science in Communication from Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. He currently teaches as a full-time tenured Associate Professor. His courses include various Deaf Studies-related topics including ASL linguistics, “classifiers” (depicting verbs), medical signing, computer signs, and other advanced topics. He and his wife Belinda (who is Deaf) reside in Sacramento, California. The foundation takes pride in Bills expertise in developing the Ghanaian online sign language dictionary.