Staff:
Liz Fanning, CorpsAfrica’s founding executive director, has more than 20 years of leadership, fundraising and marketing experience at non-profit organizations that focus on public education, community empowerment, environmental preservation, and international development. She served as a Peace Corps Volunteer (Morocco 1993-95) in the High Atlas Mountains, where she lived in a small Berber village and worked on environmental sustainability projects. Liz has worked in leadership roles for a wide range of non-profit organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Schoolhouse Supplies and the Near East Foundation, and she has served on numerous Boards of Directors. She was a founding Board member and Vice President for six years of the High Atlas Foundation, a nonprofit organized by former Peace Corps volunteers from Morocco. Liz has a BA in Economics and History from Boston University and a Masters in Public Administration with a concentration in Finance from NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Email: lfanning@corpsafrica.org.
Board of Directors:
Younes Abouyoub holds a Ph.D. in political sociology and M.A. in Geopolitics and Law. He is a research scholar at the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies at Columbia University (New York) and a research fellow at the Foundation for Migration, Population, and Environment (Switzerland). He has also worked as a consultant for the United Nations Department of Political Affairs (New York), and the United Nations Environment Program in Nairobi and was a member of the Panel of Experts on Sudan. His research interests cover issues of sustainable development, migration, political ecology, governance and electoral systems, with a special focus on the African continent. He has published numerous scholarly articles and op-ed articles. He has been a guest on several occasions to comment on issues related to his expertise in Africa in major media networks. He is a contributing author, inter alia, to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Modern History, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam, The Routledge International Handbook of World-Systems Analysis, the Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration (Wiley-Blackwell), and the edited book: Global Politics In The Dawn Of The 21st Century, Akis Kalaitzidis, ed. Athens Institute for Education and Research, Athens, Greece, 2009.
Harris Bostic II joined the Abyssinian Development Corporation as the Senior Advisor in 2009. He has oversight of ADC’s Social Services, including workforce development, Senior Services, Abyssinian House, our Tier II transitional shelter, and Economic Literacy. Prior to joining ADC, he worked in leadership positions for the William J. Clinton Foundation, American Red Cross, Peace Corps, Clinton-Gore’96, Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games and PaineWebber, Inc. Mr. Bostic earned an MS degree in Public Policy from the Andrew Young School of Public Policy at Georgia State University and a BA degree in Business Administration from Morehouse College, both located in his hometown of Atlanta. He has served as a Board of Director member of such organizations as Hostellers-International, World Affairs Council, National Peace Corps Association, British-American Project, Habitat for Humanity and Covenant Community, Inc.
Marc Douglas is a Foreign Service Officer for USAID who specializes in economic growth and private sector development. He just finished serving a 26-month tour in Sudan, where he oversaw the Agency’s largest development portfolio in the region. There, he helped to integrate USAID’s development work into USAID’s transition and humanitarian portfolios, and into the work of other US Government and non-USG actors. Prior to serving in Sudan, he worked in Afghanistan, where he helped to develop USAID’s alternative development (i.e., non-poppy livelihood options) portfolio and similarly integrate these activities into broader efforts. He will continue this work in Afghanistan beginning in October, 2011. Between now and then, he will further USAID’s efforts to distill and disseminate lessons learned on economic growth in conflict-affected countries. Mr. Douglas also has experience working on economic issues for a number of organizations, including the U.S. Department of State, the World Bank, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Emerging Markets, the U.S. Peace Corps, the U.S. Crisis Corps, Technoserve Inc., and as an entrepreneur in Russia shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union. He has degrees in international economics (Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies), general business management, international business management, and journalism (all from the University of Maryland).
Alia Kate has been involved in Morocco since 2005. When she first moved to Morocco, Alia worked in Rabat as an Advocacy Specialist on a non-formal education project run by Management Systems International (MSI). Upon returning to the United States, Alia began Kantara: Moroccan Rugs, a fair trade business that imports carpets directly from women living in rural villages of Morocco. Currently she makes yearly trips to Morocco where she splits her time between cooperatives, associations, and family groups throughout the Middle and High Atlas mountains. Because of her comfort in both urban and rural Moroccan milieus, Alia has been able to establish and maintain important connections with women artisans, small business cooperatives, and local education NGOs. Alia’s writings on Morocco have been published in MoroccoBoard, Hand/Eye Magazine, and Weave A Real Peace (WARP) Newsletters. She has given talks about the life and lifestyle of weavers in Morocco at a New York Public Library Branch, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and several other schools, galleries, and educational institutions.
Wendy Knight (Secretary) was a Research Analyst at GiveWell.org. Her background includes work in education, political organizing and evaluation of social services. She has taught in early childhood settings in both New York City and Saltillo, Mexico and has been involved in several non-profit education initiatives. Wendy holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan where she concentrated on policy and evaluation of social systems and served as a primary evaluator for the Even Start Family Literacy Program in Romulus Michigan.
Deborah A. Lee is Program Manager for Pastoral Care and Community at Trinity Church Wall Street, and is also in the diocesan process towards ordination to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church of the United States. She has been a mental health counselor and educator, both internationally and within the United States. She joined forces with several non-profit organizations around the U.S., including working with refugees for Episcopal Community Services in Arizona, as well as providing mental health therapy for church communities in Colorado. Deborah’s international experience brought her to Mexico, working as a program coordinator for BorderLinks, an international leader in experiential education that raises awareness and inspires action around global political economics and social justice. She served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Meknès, Morocco (1993-1995), teaching at a school for the visually impaired, and worked in Lima, Perú as a counselor and teacher for the Network of International Christian Schools. Ms. Lee holds a M.A. degree in Clinical Counseling from Colorado Christian University (2007), a B.A. degree in Comparative Literature and French from Williams College in Massachusetts (1992), and has studied with the School for International Training in Cameroon.
Kate McLetchie (Vice Chair and Treasurer) is Development and Communications Officer at Global Partnership for Afghanistan and was recently the Executive Director of the African Rainforest Conservancy. With nearly ten years experience in environmental conservation, international development, fundraising, and nonprofit operations, had served for two years as Country Director of the High Atlas Foundation and had raised funds as part of the development team at Echoing Green to support emerging social entrepreneurs around the globe. Kate first discovered her love for Africa when she joined the Peace Corps after college and was assigned to work in a small village in rural Morocco as a community development volunteer. She holds an MS in marine and atmospheric science from Stony Brook University (2005), and a BA in biology from Wheaton College, MA (2001).
James Miller is Director of the Fulbright Program in Morocco, MACECE – the Moroccan American Commission for Educational and Cultural Exchange. Director of the American Research Center in Tunis, CEMAT, 2003-2006, while on leave from Clemson University and President of the American Institute for Maghreb Studies (AIMS). Geographer of the Sijilmasa Project which excavated medieval Sijilmassa and explored the Tafilalet oasis. Author of Imlil and numerous other publications on Morocco, including the forthcoming Sijilmasa, The Last Civilized Place. Three-time Fullbright grantee in Morocco. has lectured at the TALMS summer Arabic program. PhD. University of Texas, 1981.
David Sanford is a Founding and Managing Partner of Sanford Wittels & Heisler, LLP, a national law firm with offices in Washington, D.C., New York and California. He received his law degree from Stanford Law School in 1995. Mr. Sanford is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest rating given to an attorney by judges and attorneys throughout the United States. Mr. Sanford served as Lead Counsel representing over 6000 female employees in Velez v. Novartis. The presiding federal judge described the case as having been “brilliantly tried.” After a seven-week trial, SWH secured the largest employment verdict ($253 million) in United States history. SWH obtained a court-approved settlement of $175 million on behalf of the class that the judge described as “extraordinary” and “one of a kind.” The United Nations has recognized the Novartis case as among the top 10 cases in the world advancing women’s rights, and is the only case from the United States so recognized by the UN. In July 2011, Mr. Sanford gave an address on women’s rights at the United Nations. Mr. Sanford sits on the editorial board of Employment 360, as well as the board of the Neighborhood Defender Services of Harlem. He has appeared on most major television networks and cable news shows, including “Good Morning America,” “NBC News with Brian Williams,” “20/20,” FOX News, MSNBC, CNN, NPR, and Voice of America. See comment. Recently, Mr. Sanford appeared on the Forbes Radio Channel in a “Special Tribute to America’s Best Lawyers.” Mr. Sanford served as a law clerk for the Honorable Gladys Kessler of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia; as a law clerk in the White House Counsel’s Office under President Clinton; and as a summer law clerk for the Honorable Dorothy Nelson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Pasadena, California. Before law school, Mr. Sanford was a professor of philosophy at Williams College, and taught at UNC-Chapel Hill and Oberlin College as well.
Advisory Council:
Akwasi Aidoo has extensive experience in philanthropy in Africa. His previous positions include regional program officer for West and Central Africa at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), head of the Ford Foundation’s offices in Senegal and Nigeria from 1993 to 2001, and director of the Ford Foundation’s Special Initiative for Africa from 2001 to 2005. Dr. Aidoo sits on the boards of several nonprofit organizations, including the Resource Alliance, Fund for Global Human Rights, Global Greengrants Fund, Open Society Institute for West Africa, and International Beliefs and Values Institute. He was educated in Ghana and the United States, completing his Ph.D. in sociology at the University of Connecticut in 1985, and has taught at universities in Ghana, Tanzania, and the United States. He writes poetry and short stories in his free time.
Thom Anderson is an assistant professor at Lyndon State College in Vermont. He currently serves on the Advisory Board for the Center for Rural Students and is a Class Director for the Midwest Community Development Institute. Thom served in the Peace Corps from 1991-1995 and performed grassroots community development work in the Eastern High Atlas Mountains of Morocco. From 1997-1999, he worked as the Center Director for the United Seamen’s Service in Casablanca, Morocco. In 2000, Thom cofounded the High Atlas Foundation (an international community development organization) and is currently a member of the advisory board. From 1999-2005, Thom managed the Peace Corps Fellows Program (an internship program for Returned Peace Corps Volunteers) located at the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs (IIRA).
William M. Bellamy is the Warburg Chair in International Relations at Simmons College. He was named the director of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in October 2008. At the time of his appointment, he was a resident senior fellow in the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC. Previously he served as senior vice president of National Defense University. A career diplomat, Ambassador Bellamy was U.S. ambassador to Kenya from 2003 to 2006. He served as principal deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs (2001-2003) and as deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs (2000-2001). His earlier diplomatic assignments include deputy chief of mission in Canberra, political minister-counselor in Paris, and political counselor in Pretoria and Cape Town. Ambassador Bellamy holds a bachelor’s in history from Occidental College and a master’s in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University).
Karl Hofmann is the President and CEO of Population Services International (PSI), a Washington DC-based nonprofit company operating in more than 60 countries around the world. With programs in malaria, reproductive health, child survival and HIV prevention, PSI promotes products, services and healthy behaviors that enable low-income and vulnerable people to lead healthier lives. Prior to joining PSI, Mr. Hofmann was a career American diplomat for 23 years. He served as United States Ambassador to the Republic of Togo, Executive Secretary of the Department of State, and Deputy Chief of Mission (senior career diplomat) at the American Embassy in Paris. Mr. Hofmann also served on President Clinton’s National Security Council staff. Mr. Hofmann is the recipient of the State Department’s Distinguished Honor Award. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and the National Defense University. He is a director of the Washington-based U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy, and a member of the External Board of Advisors of Pennsylvania State University’s School of International Affairs. Mr. Hofmann’s years of living and working in Africa and the Caribbean (he also served in Morocco, Rwanda, Lesotho and Jamaica) have given him a deep understanding of development issues, including public health, especially HIV/AIDS. His languages are French, Spanish and German.
Elizabeth Lusskin is Chief of Staff and VP of Strategic Initiatives at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University. She is an attorney with nearly two decades of experience in non-profit management, economic development and government service, Liz now helps clients increase their effectiveness through improved focus, organizational structure and strategic implementation. Liz was appointed by Mayor Bloomberg to serve as a Public Member of NYC Loft Board, having completed a three-year tem on the Rent Guidelines Board. Prior to consulting, her immediate past employment was as Deputy Commissioner for Programs and Development at the NYC Department of Small Business Services, focusing on reorganizing the Agency and reorienting its services to more effectively serve small businesses and entrepreneurs. For nearly seven years prior to joining the City, she was General Counsel of the Alliance for Downtown New York, Inc., a non-profit corporation that manages the Downtown-Lower Manhattan Business Improvement District. She has also served as a Legislative Counsel in the New York State Office of Federal Affairs in Washington, D.C., under Governor Mario M. Cuomo. She has held the Menapace Fellowship in Urban Land Use Law at the Municipal Art Society in New York City, where she acted as in-house counsel to that civic organization, which specializes in land use and historic preservation issues. She is a graduate of New York University School of Law, where she oversaw a revitalization of its Public Interest Law Foundation during her term as President, and of Yale University.
Kevin F. F. Quigley led the National Peace Corps Association, a national membership organization for individuals influenced by the Peace Corps experience, whose mission is to foster peace through service, education and advocacy. Kevin’s overriding interest is in how non-governmental organizations work together with governments and corporations to address pressing social needs. He has held senior positions in civil society and government, as well as various research institutions. These include Acting CEO of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Workers and Communities, Vice President of Policy and Business at the Asia Society, and Director of Public Policy at the Pew Charitable Trusts. Kevin was previously Vice Chairman of USAID’s Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Assistance, Legislative Director to Senator John Heinz, Budget Examiner and Presidential Management Intern in the Office of Management and Budget and a Peace Corps Volunteer in Thailand. Kevin has been a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, Fulbright Senior Specialist, Guest Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Resident Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and a U.S.-Japan Leadership Fellow at the Keidanren in Tokyo. In addition to being the author of For Democracy’s Sake, he has published on a broad array of international issues here and abroad in newspapers, magazines, and edited volumes. Kevin serves on numerous boards related to international development issues and is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations. He is adjunct faculty at the School of Public and International Affairs at George Mason University, a member of the board of the American University of Afghanistan and past board member of Swarthmore College. He holds degrees from Georgetown University, Columbia University, University College Dublin and Swarthmore College.
Karen Rignall is a post-doctoral fellow at the Center for Contemporary for Arab Studies at Georgetown University. She holds a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from the University of Kentucky and conducts research on rural livelihoods and land tenure in Morocco and elsewhere in the Middle East and Africa. She earned an M.A. in history and anthropology from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and a Masters in Public Affairs from Princeton University, where she also received her Bachelor’s degree. Dr. Rignall has long experience in community development both in the United States and in the Middle East. She served as country director for the Near East Foundation in Morocco, National Outreach Director for ACCESS (Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services) in Michigan, and as a consultant on strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation, program development, and community development, among other roles in the non-profit sector.
Juliet Sorensen is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Northwestern University Law School’s Center for International Human Rights. From 2003-2010, Professor Sorensen was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago, focusing on fraud and public corruption. She has prosecuted City of Chicago inspectors as part of Operation Crooked Code, a bribery investigation into Chicago’s Building and Zoning departments. Professor Sorensen also prosecuted a Hutu leader of the Rwandan genocide as part of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement No Safe Haven initiative against human rights violators. Professor Sorensen has taught trial advocacy on behalf of the Department of Justice to prosecutors in South America and West Africa. Prior to her work at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Professor Sorensen worked as a litigation associate and a federal judicial clerk in Boston. She was also a maternal and child health volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps in Morocco from 1995 to 1997. She received her B.A. in politics from Princeton University and her J.D. from Columbia University School of Law. Sorensen is a member of the New York and Massachusetts Bars and the Federal Bar Association, and is admitted to practice in the Northern District of Illinois, the District of Massachusetts, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Sorensen was a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations (2000-2005), and was a Chicago Council on Global Affairs “Emerging Leader” (2008-2010).
Joseph Wilson is Chairman of the Board of Symbion Power Africa, which builds complex electrical infrastructure in challenging environments. They help re-build and modernize developing regions through empowering local communities. He also manages JC Wilson International Ventures, a consulting firm specializing in strategic management and international-business development. Ambassador Wilson has held numerous senior government positions spanning more than three decades, with service under five U.S. presidents — Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr., and Clinton. He was Ambassador to Gabon and to the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe. As Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council, Ambassador Wilson was responsible for the coordination of U.S. policy to the 48 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. He was also a principal architect of President Clinton’s historic trip to Africa in March 1998 and a leading proponent of the Africa Trade Bill. In 2004, Ambassador Wilson chronicled his diplomatic career and battle with the Bush administration in his national bestselling book The Politics of Truth. In 2010, his wife’s book (Fair Game by Valerie Plame) was combined with his into a major motion picture starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts. He is a frequent contributor to national and international news media and the recipient of numerous awards, including the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Award, the Department of State Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards, and the University of California/Santa Barbara Distinguished Alumnus Award. He holds an honorary doctorate from NOVA Southeastern University in Florida.
Harris Wofford represented the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1991 to 1994. In the Bob Casey campaign for Governor in 1986, Wofford was chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and then served as Gov. Casey’s Secretary of Labor and Industry. He was president of Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, PA from 1970 to 1978. In the 1960s, Wofford served as President Kennedy’s Special Assistant for Civil Rights, and worked closely with Sargent Shriver in organizing the Peace Corps. Later he served as the Peace Corps’ Special Representative to Africa and its Associate Director. In 1949 he and his wife Clare had a fellowship in India to study Gandhi, after which they wrote the book India Afire. Wofford became an advisor to Martin Luther King in the 1950s after the Montgomery Bus Boycott. He was counsel to Father Theodore Hesburgh of Notre Dame on the first U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1958-60. During Kennedy’s 1960 presidential campaign he was the initiator of John Kennedy’s call to Coretta King when her husband was jailed in Georgia. In 1965, as the only administration official to do so, he walked the four days with King and the other marchers from Selma to Montgomery. After Rick Santorum defeated him in 1994, Wofford was appointed by President Clinton to be CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps, the Senior Corps, Service-Learning and other national service programs. Senator Wofford serves as the spokesperson for the Experience Wave, an organization working to expand opportunities for older, experienced citizens to volunteer in public service or work in“encore” careers that contribute to their community. Wofford is currently participating with Pennsylvania state leaders in a National Governors Association Policy Academy on Senior Engagement. He is also co-authoring an AARP report on civic engagement trends and the experience of volunteering by older Americans. He is the Pennsylvania co-chair with Senator Santorum of the One Campaign—inspired by Bono and nationally co-chaired by Senators Daschle and Frist to provide aid and support to nations fighting extreme poverty and disease. Wofford is on the boards of America’s Promise (which he chaired after founding chairman General Colin Powell became Secretary of State), Youth Service America, the Points of Light Institute-HandsOn Network, and serves on the Leadership Council of Service Nation. Senator Wofford is the author five books, including Of Kennedys and Kings: Making Sense of the Sixties. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago and of both Howard and Yale law schools. In 1954, he was the first white man to graduate from Howard University School of Law.
CorpsAfrica/Morocco Board of Directors:
President: Maguy (Marie-Yvonne) Kakon is a Moroccan author and real estate consultant. She was born in Marrakech. Her father, David, was an industrialist. The family moved to Paris in 1971. After her marriage, she settled in Casablanca. Kakon was the first Jewish woman to run for public office in Morocco. She began her advocacy work under the auspices of the American Women’s Club, the primary women’s rights organization in Morocco. She is active in promoting education for women. She believes that educating women will change the face of Moroccan society. Maguy Kakon is married to Aime Kakon, one of Morocco’s leading architects. They have four children.
Vice President: Omar Laafoura is an Executive Officer at Emporium Investment Group, where he leads a team in investing in small and medium enterprises in the region. He holds a degree in Public Law from the Hassan II University in Casablanca, Morocco, and a B.A. in History from Davidson College in North Carolina, USA. He has been involved with numerous social projects in Morocco and overseas and is an advocate of fostering local communities and their sustainable development. Omar is also Co-founder and President of the Casablanca American School Alumni Association.
Treasurer: Reda Oulamine is a senior attorney, founder of Oulamine Law Group and a member of the New York, Paris and Casablanca bars, as well as a human rights, democracy and rule of law activist. He is an American and Moroccan citizen. He studied law at Faculty of Law of the Université de Provence in France, where he obtained his Master’s degree in Business Law followed by a DESS degree in International Business Law. In 1997 he received a Post-Masters Certificate in Corporate Law, Taxation, and Accounting followed by a Master in Law (LLM) in Comparative Law from the University of San Diego, California under the Fulbright program. After his internship at the United Nations, Secretariat’s Office of Legal Affairs in New York, he joined several firms as a Legal Adviser such as “Masnaoui Mazars & Guerard” in Morocco and “Bryan Cave, LLP and Thomson Coburn, LLP”, “Paul Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison, LLP” in New York. In 2004, he became an associate at “Naciri & Associés/ Gide Loyrette et Nouel”, and advised “Financial Markets International (FMI)/USAID” on the reform and modernization of the Moroccan judiciary project. During the same year, he founded his law firm “Oulamine Law Group” in Morocco specializing in business, corporate law, and legal reform consulting. Reda Oulamine had accumulated a rich experience advising for instance the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCA) for the US-Morocco Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) project; the United States Department of Commerce on compliance-related legal aspects of US-Morocco F.T.A project or the World Bank/ I.F.C. assisting Moroccan government in improving its Doing Business rating. He also founded in 2008 Droit et Justice, an NGO aimed at establishing the rule of law and human rights in Morocco by advocating on behalf of vulnerable social groups and working pro bono for impoverished citizens with limited access to justice. He also served with the Carter Center as an international observer in October 2011 in the Tunisian election. In May 2012, Reda Oulamine was named 2012 Yale World Fellows. He was among 16 World Fellows – selected from a pool of 2,500 applicants
Boubker Mazoz is General Manager, Africa Regional Office, President Founder of MASCI, Sister Cities Casablanca Chicago, Neighborhoods Associations IDMAJ and founding president/CEO of Morocco Connect International, has over 40 years of experience in the development of public diplomacy and design, planning and implementation of information, media and cultural programs. As a resource manager and then Public Affairs specialist with the State Department at the American Embassy in Morocco, Mazoz has an in depth knowledge of the Moroccan political, academic and business communities as well as the media and civil society landscape. Since 1979 he has worked closely with high-level government and non-government officials, policy makers and business organizations from both Morocco and the United States in the various capacities of public diplomacy, public affairs and development.
James Miller is Executive Secretary of the Fulbright Program in Morocco, MACECE – the Moroccan American Commission for Educational and Cultural Exchange. Director of the American Research Center in Tunis, CEMAT, 2003-2006, while on leave from Clemson University and President of the American Institute for Maghreb Studies (AIMS). Geographer of the Sijilmasa Project which excavated medieval Sijilmassa and explored the Tafilalet oasis. Author of Imlil and numerous other publications on Morocco, including the forthcoming Sijilmasa, The Last Civilized Place. Three-time Fullbright grantee in Morocco. has lectured at the TALMS summer Arabic program. PhD. University of Texas, 1981.
Brian Seilstad has been involved in teaching and service for most of the past decade. He earned his M.A. in 2003 and taught high school in the U.S. for two years before joining the Peace Corps in Morocco as a Youth Development Volunteer from 2005-7. In 2007, he returned to the U.S. and worked as the deputy director of Youth Service California, a non-profit organization dedicated to making service a meaningful part of the lives of youth. In 2010, he returned to Morocco to teach at Al Akhawayn University, where he currently works. Brian is interested in a variety of areas related to the mission of CorpsAfrica including service-learning, civic education, and international development.
