Funke was born and raised in Nigeria where she obtained a degree in Electronics & electrical Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife in 1981 before she proceeded to New York for a Master's degree at Columbia University. Following graduation from Columbia, Funke pursued a career in ICT in the United States and successfully ended that phase of her career as an Executive Director with the Wholesale division of Verizon Communications in New York when she decided to return to Nigeria in 2005. She joined MTN Nigeria as Chief Technical Officer, and also served as adviser to Transcorp and Chief Operating Officer of NITEL for a brief period before launching Main Street Technologies in 2007. The company went on to raise $240 Million to build the pioneer private submarine cable system in West Africa - Main One Cable. The 7,000km cable runs from Portugal down to Accra, Ghana and Lagos, Nigeria and is delivering wholesale broadband capacity across several countries in West Africa today.

Join Funke during our #HBAW2014 panel discussion:

The New Africa: A Fresh Look Through a New Prism

Check out the latest confirmed panels & speakers below!

Patrice Motsepe was appointed to the Board of African Rainbow Minerals in 2003 and became Executive Chairman during 2004. Patrice was a partner in one of the largest law firms in South Africa, Bowman Gilfillan Inc. He was a visiting attorney in the USA with the law firm, McGuire Woods Battle and Boothe. In 1994 he founded Future Mining, which grew rapidly to become a successful contract mining company. He then formed ARMgold in 1997, which listed on the JSE in 2002. ARMgold merged with Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited (Harmony) in 2003 and subsequently took over Anglovaal Mining (Avmin). In 2002 he was voted South Africa's Business Leader of the Year by the CEOs of the top 138 companies in South Africa. In the same year, he was the winner of the Ernst & Young Best Entrepreneur of the Year Award. He is also the Non-executive Chairman of Harmony and the Deputy Chairman of Sanlam. He is also President of Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club.

Join Patrice during our #HBAW2014 panel discussion:

The New Africa: A Fresh Look Through a New Prism

Check out the latest confirmed panels & speakers below!

International Fashion Designer Ozwald Boateng is Founder of the brand Ozwald Boateng - 'Bespoke Couture Ltd'. Celebrating over 25 years in fashion, Ozwald Boateng conceived a new silhouette and palette for international menswear; creating a concept of style and luxury for men not previously envisaged but desired by men everywhere. Previously, he held the position of Creative Director of Givenchy Homme. He began making bespoke suits in the 1980's and is widely credited with introducing Savile Row tailoring to a new generation. In 1994, he was the first tailor to stage a catwalk show in Paris during Paris Fashion week. Boateng's many clients include Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Daniel Day Lewis, Russell Crowe, Jude Law, Forest Whitaker, Spike Lee, and Mick Jagger.

He was recently awarded a honorary degree for 'An Outstanding Contribution to the Clothing and Fashion industries', Named as one of the Most Influential Londoners by the Evening Standard and awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2006 Queen's New Year's Honours.

Ozwald Boateng also co-founded Made In Africa Foundation, in 2011 alongside Kola Aluko and Atlantic Energy. The Foundation was set up to support and fund master plans and feasibility studies for transformational and large scale developments and infrastructure projects across the African continent, introducing a funding mechanism to assist successful businesses in Africa to transform their existing investments and prospects and give Africa Independence through development and infrastructure.

Join Ozwald during our #HBAW2014 panel discussion:

A New Africa: A Fresh Look Through a New Prism

Check out the latest confirmed panels & speakers below!

Teresa Clarke, an investment banker and internet entrepreneur, has been doing business in Africa for twenty years. Ms. Clarke was the first African-American woman to serve as a Managing Director in the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs, where she led corporate finance and merger & acquisition deals for corporate clients in the industrials and real estate sectors for over a dozen years. She is now the Chairman & CEO of Africa.com, the leading website providing news and information about Africa to over 2 million monthly visitors, from over 200 countries around the world.

Ms. Clarke has taken sabbaticals from the investment banking industry twice in her career, during which time she has pursued entrepreneurial ventures in Africa. During her first sabbatical in the mid-1990s, Ms. Clarke founded and directed the Southern African practice of a US management consulting firm. During that five year period from 1995 - 2000 when she lived in Johannesburg, South Africa, Ms. Clarke was very active in the local community and among other activities, served as Vice-Chairman of the US- South Africa Business Council, the Washington based organization representing America's leading companies doing business with South Africa.

Ms. Clarke has a deep understanding of corporate social responsibility undertaken by American corporations doing business in Africa. As a social entrepreneur, Ms. Clarke founded the Student Sponsorship Programme of South Africa, a large scale non-profit operating in the education sector in South Africa for fifteen years that has awarded nearly 2,000 South African students with scholarships valued at over $15 million. Ms. Clarke has secured corporate social responsibility funding for the program from a wide range of US corporations doing business in Africa including Citibank, JPMorganChase, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and AIG, among others.

Ms. Clarke's vast experience doing business in Africa also includes serving on the investment committee of a $120 million private equity fund that invested in the Southern Africa Region, serving on the board of the Tony Elumelu Foundation in Nigeria whose focus is promotion of entrepreneurship across Africa, teaching corporate finance in the MBA program of Wits Business School in South Africa, and authoring the very popular "Ten Things No One Told You About Doing Business in Africa"

Ms. Clarke has lectured on doing business in Africa extensively, and delivered the keynote address at the 2013 White House conference on Doing Business in Africa, as well as the South African Consulate's conference on Doing Business in South Africa. In addition, she has lectured on this topic at several major universities around the world including Harvard, Wharton, Stanford, Princeton, Wellesley, Tufts, Oxford, and Lagos Business School.

Ms. Clarke produced and directed a 2013 documentary, Africa Straight Up which explores current developments in the business and technology sectors in Africa. The film, originally produced for digital distribution, inspired a strong offline following and was broadcast on television on the Africa Channel in both the US and the UK, selected as documentary of the month by AFTV in the Netherlands, screened at the Council on Foreign Relations, and licensed as in flight entertainment by South African Airlines and Arik Airlines of Nigeria. It is scheduled to air on BET, including over twenty African countries in the fourth quarter of 2014. Ms. Clarke also delivered a TED Talk on Bridging the African Diaspora Divide.

Ms. Clarke earned an A.B. in Economics, cum laude, from Harvard College, an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She has earned numerous awards for her business and philanthropic work in Africa, including two awards from the South African government, and was named one of the 25 Most Influential Women by the Network Journal. Over the years she has served on a long list of corporate and non-profit boards.

Join Teresa during our #HBAW2014 panel discussion:

The New Africa: A Fresh Look Through a New Prism

Chairman and CEO, Epic Records Group

Head Coach Tommy Amaker

Founding Partner, Pine Street Alternative Asset Management LP

A discussion on the evolution of Diversity, Teaching and Admissions at Harvard University. A Harvard University Professors and Administration panel.

Confirmed Panelists:

Alphonse Fletcher, Jr., University Professor; Director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, Harvard University
 

Jesse Climenko Professor of Law; Director, Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, Harvard Law School
 

 Senior Admissions Officer, Harvard College

  

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 The New Africa: A Fresh Look Through a New Prism

A landmark discussion of modern day Africa from a business, social, political and philanthropic perspective
 

Patrice Motsepe 

Ozwald Boateng, OBE 

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Confirmed Panelists:

Chair, President & CEO of Dreambox Learning

CEO, St. HOPE Public Schools

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Lean in or Lean Black: What Does "Lean In" Mean for Women of Color?

Chris-Tia Donaldson AB '00, JD '03

Founder & CEO, Thank God It's Natural

Nnamdi Okike AB '02, JD, MBA '09

Founder, 645 Ventures

Kofi N. Kankam AB '97, M.Ed '98

CEO & Co-Founder, Admit Advantage, Inc.

President, James H. Lowry & Associates & Senior Advisor to BCG

Founder, The Fashion Bomb

Nicole Sanchez AB '06, MBA '10

Hakeem Rahim AB '02