Meet the Board of Directors
Oduah Kwesi Sampson (Paa Kwesi)
President
Paa Kwesi has worked as a Cultural Administrator with the Centre for National Culture in the Central Region of Ghana. He was the Local Coordinator for a youth intercultural exchange program in 1996 where he planned activities with the involvement of volunteers and local communities for the entire duration of the volunteers stay, ranging from 3 weeks to 6 months.
With education as his highest priority, the majority of the volunteers were placed in schools to teach in IT, English, Science and Mathematics. What resulted was almost every volunteer recommended a friend or family to enroll to come to help raise the standard of education in Ghana.
Nicole Beauchamp
Treasurer
Nicole’s educational background is in “Cultural Studies” at Western Michigan University, specifically the study of Middle Eastern Cultures, Islam and Arabic. She’s traveled the world extensively, throughout Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Central America. She felt most at home and herself while in Ghana and she and Paa Kwesi decided to come together to share the wonders and magic of Africa with the rest of the world - thus the creation of Global Host Project.
Nicole also has extensive experience in office management and the running of administrative duties in a number of different capacities. She’s excited to combine these skills with her passion for Africa to move Global Host Project forward.
Ann Reed
Secretary
Ann Reed received her Ph.D. in anthropology and minor in African studies from the Indiana University in 2006. She is a cultural anthropologist and assistant professor at the University of North Dakota.
Dr. Reed has maintained a long-term interest in Ghana, dating back to 1993-94 when she studied social science and African literature and drumming at the University of Ghana (Legon). Since then, she has returned to Ghana on four separate research trips.
Some of the topics she has researched include impacts of structural adjustment programs on the household, economic development for villages surrounding Kakum National Park, pilgrimage tourism that attracts diaspora Africans to Ghana, and contemporary meanings of Ghana's independence for the oldest and youngest generations of Ghanaians.
Marsha Scarbrough
Board Member
Marsha Scarbrough is a widely published freelance journalist and author of Medicine Dance: One woman’s healing journey into the world of Native American Sweatlodges, Drumming Meditations and Dance Fasts, published in August 2007 by O Books, John Hunt Publishing, which recounts her experiences with Native American indigenous spirituality.
Marsha studied West African indigenous spirituality with master drummer/Yoruba ceremonial leader Ayo Adeyemi from Nigeria for 12 years. Marsha studied West African dance with Elise Gent at the Railyard Performance Space in Santa Fe for seven years.
Marsha has traveled widely in Europe, Asia, Mexico, Peru and Egypt. Along the way, Marsha traveled with Buddhist teacher Joan Halifax, danced with movement guru Gabrielle Roth, earned a brown belt in karate from martial arts legend Tak Kubota, participated in healing ceremonies with Native American medicine teacher Beautiful Painted Arrow/Joseph Rael and produced workshops and events for Nigerian master drummer/Yoruba ceremonial leader Ayo Adeyemi.
In 2006, the Los Angeles native moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. She’s a licensed New Mexico REALTOR® with EXIT Santa Fe Real Estate.
Anthony King, MD, FACC, FACP
Board Member
Dr. King attended Medical School at Dartmouth Medical School
He completed his residencies at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Harlem Hospital Center. He also completed fellowships at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Harlem Hospital Center.
Dr. King is the Medical Director of the Echocardiography Cardiac Services at Borgess Medical Center, the Medical Director of Cardiac Rehabilitation at Sturgis and the Medical Director at the Borgess Heart Failure Program & Borgess Heart Failure Clinic at Borgess Medical Center.