Hamza Kassongo

Hamza Kassongo is one of the oldest media personalities in Tanzania, and has been an active radio- and television broadcaster since the country gained its independence in 1961. He has led the Radio Tanzania Dar es Salaam, trained and worked with BBC and been active in the African media group. Kassongo has worked as the Director of Channel Ten, a private television channel in Tanzania, where his famous Hamza Kassongo hour television session has gained wide popularity. Currently he is the Protocol Advisory Chair of the Tanzania Rotary Club Association. 

​Dr. Sam Nyantahe

Dr. Samweli Nyantahe is the co-founder and Executive Director of Daima Associates Limited, a private company engaged in the provision of development and management consulting services in Tanzania and abroad. He has also served in a number of boards of public and private organizations in Tanzania and the EAC Region, such as the National Development Corporation (NDC), The Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI), East African Business Council (EABC) and as a Chairperson of the Audit Committee of Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), to name a few.

Mary Rusimbi is a Tanzanian activist, researcher and educator on gender equality and development. She has a rich experience in training with gender and development analysis and implementation, NGO management and governance leadership. Rusimbi is the co-founder of Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP) and a member of the Foundation for Civil Society, an independent non-profit organization that aims to empower citizens in promoting development and good governance. Her impact has also been amplified through her active participation as a chair and member of several boards, where she has acted as a gender specialist in Tanzania and abroad.  

Kelly Askew is a Professor of Anthropology and African studies at the University of Michigan. Her research has focused on critical developments studies, postsocialism, land conflicts and indigenous political movements. Along with media anthropology, she also specializes in media and ethnographic filmmaking, with much of her work being located at the interactions of art, politics and aesthetics in Africa. She also combines this expertise with documentary film-making, mainly focusing on the Maasai in Tanzania and Kenya. Her publications include Performing the Nation: Swahili Music and Cultural Politics in Tanzania (Chicago, 2002), The Anthropology of Media (co-edited with Richard Wilk, Blackwell, 2002), African Postsocialisms (2006).

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To find out more about her work please visit her full academic profile. 

Laura Edmondson is the Professor of Theater and a Chair at Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Darthmouth College. She specializes in Eastern and Central African theatre and performance, focusing on human rights and activism in postcolonial theatre. Her works explore the performance of conflict and violence as well as nationalism. These themes are central in her books Performance and Politics in Tanzania (2007) and Performing Trauma in Central Africa: Shadows of Empire (2017). She has also collaborated as a playwright on Forged in Fire with Ugandan performer Okello Kelo Sam and Tanzanian musician Robert Ajwang, exploring Okello’s experiences of the LRA Conflict in northern Uganda through music, dance and text. In addition to working in the United States she has also taught at the Bagamoyo College of Arts in Tanzania and in the Department of Literature at Makere University in Uganda. 

To explore more of her work please visit her full academic profile. 

Fantu Cheru is a Senior Researcher at the African Studies Centre at Leiden University and the Emeritus Professor of African and Development Studies at American University in Washington, DC. He has served as a member of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Panel on Mobilizing International Support for the New Partnership of African Development (2005-2007) and as an advisor and consultant to governments and donor institutions such as UN Economic Commission for Africa, UNDP, UN-Habitat, SIDA, DANIDA and NORAD. As a political economist, his research focuses on emerging powers, African development, South-South cooperation as well as natural resource governance with a special expertise on Ethiopia. Some of his publications include Agricultural Development and Food Security in Africa: The Impact of Chinese, Indian and Brazilian Investments (2013), Africa and International Relations in the 21st Century (2011), co-edited with Scarlett Cornelissen and Timothy M. Shaw, and The Rise of China and India in Africa (2010), co-edited with Cyril Obi. 

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Professor Sheryl McCurdy

Sheryl McCurdy is an Associate Professor of Health Promotion and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. She has worked extensively on public health, HIV and drug policy in Africa, with much of her work focusing on Tanzania and Ghana, especially on heroin use in Dar es Salaam. Her studies have also expanded on drug use, sexual health, mental resilience and recovery among sexual and ethnic minorities in Tanzania and the US. Along with harm reduction in substance use she is also interested in disaster recovery. More broadly her research aims to combat the inequalities in donor driven public health programmes often leading to unequal access, with the creation of interdisciplinary collaboration between public health, medicine and social sciences being one of the ways forward. She holds an MA in Development Studies from the University of Dar es Salaam and a PhD from Columbia University.

​Rasmus Stuhr Jakobsen

Rasmus Stuhr Jakobsen is the CEO of CARE Denmark, a leading global humanitarian organization that specializes in working alongside disadvantaged communities, especially women faced with poverty. Rasmus has a strong background in Danish and International humanitarian sector having worked with Danish Refugee Council, World Food Programme and Danish Red Cross, where he served the role of Deputy Head of Region East and Horn of Africa. With 20 years of experience with protracted conflicts and development and humanitarian programming from the field and HQ level, he owns experience in several aspects of conflict response. Furthermore, he acts as a member of the advisory board to the Danish Minister for Development and as the chairman of Globalt Fokus, an association of Danish non-governmental organizations engaged in global development, environmental and humanitarian activities.

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Christoph Lodemann

Christoph Lodemann is a development professional with 22 years of experience with humanitarian aid and development work. Currently Christoph holds the position as the Advisor and Fund Manager of CISU – Civil Society of Development, working in organizational capacity development of CSOs. He has worked in Tanzania for Action Aid Denmark, Danish Centre for Culture and Development as well as Niras for the Royal Danish Representation in Tanzania. He has further worked as a development advisor in Uganda and Kenya through Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Through his work he has developed expertise in the areas of health promotion, art and culture, land rights, governance, and human rights. His mission is to provide efficient quality services in the context of international cooperation for development agencies and civil society organisations.

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To find out more about Christoph's work please visit his website.

Julie Koch

Julie Koch is the International Director of ActionAid Denmark, with over twenty years of experience with international development and global issues, including humanitarian contexts. Previously Julie has served in leadership and management positions in several different NGOs, driving social change such as IWGIA, Greenpeace and Save the Children. Julie holds a PhD in International Development Studies and 5 M.Phil. in Latin American Studies, she holds deep knowledge and research experience of development issues in Africa and Latin America. Having worked closely with policy advocacy and in Denmark and internationally. Concerned about inequality and power relations, she has developed strong expertise on children and youth, governance and democracy, civil society and human rights, employment, gender, education, protection and climate. 

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She tweets @julie2300koch