DPI NGO Thursday Briefing "Remember Slavery: Triumphs and Struggles for Freedom and Equality" - 29 March 2018

Kimberly Mann
Chief of Educational Outreach in the United Nations Department of Public Information

As the Chief of Educational Outreach, she develops the strategy for and oversees the implementation of global education initiatives, including remembrance of the transatlantic slave trade, Holocaust education, Model UN and other youth projects. In March 2015, Ms. Mann organized the unveiling of the Ark of Return, The Permanent Memorial to Honour the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade and leads the Remember Slavery team. She joined the Africa Section of the Department in 1989 and has held a number of positions at the United Nations since then.

 

Mamadou Niang 
Managing Director, Executive Editor of Next Media.tv

A senior broadcast television and digital production executive, Mr. Niang has more than 28 years of experience in international newsrooms as a senior journalist. His expertise ranges from reporting news, to producing documentaries and human interest programmes for global television. His involvement in his community includes publishing the first weekly for the West African community in Harlem and helping community media start-ups in print, broadcast and digital media navigate the complex New York and Northeast media markets.


 

H.E. Mr. Courtney Rattray
Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the United Nations

Until his latest appointment, Mr. Rattray served as Ambassador to China since 2008. From 2005 to 2008, he was Director of the Bilateral Relations Department in the Ministry of Industry and Investment, in Kingston. Before that he was Deputy Chief of Jamaica’s Embassy in Washington, D.C., between 2001 and 2005. Mr. Rattray holds a Master of Science in international business from South Bank University in London as well as a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from West Virginia Wesleyan College, and is currently pursuing Master of Arts studies at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in the United States.
 

Danei Cesario
Associate Architect, Array Architects

Ms. Cesario's passion for architecture and advocacy has also led her to be a role model for emerging design professionals. She is Chair of AIA New York’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee, an industry leader recognized by the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation, involved with the Women in Architecture Committee and a member of the nycoba NOMA Executive Board. Further afield, she is a constant collaborator and contributor to England’s Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust and the National Board of the American Institute of Architects. Ms. Cesario is dedicated to fostering mentorship, sponsorship and leadership amongst the diverse members of AIA New York as they navigate their careers within architecture and beyond.
 

Charo Mina-Rojas
National Coordinator of Advocacy and Outreach for the Black Communities' Process in Colombia 

With more than two decades of experience in activism at the national and international levels, Ms. Mina-Rojas is an Afro-Colombian human rights defender. She was involved in the Havana peace process where she served on the Gender Committee of the Ethnic Commission. Currently, a member of the Special High Level Body for Ethnic Peoples, she is working to ensure the Colombian Government’s peace implementation plan fully adheres to the provisions of the Ethnic Chapter and other relevant provisions of the Peace Accord. She is also a member of the Afro-Colombian Solidarity Network.


 

Jadayah Spencer
Director of the International Youth Leadership Institute​

Ms. Spencer is an advocate for improving access to opportunities that enhance the lives of indigenous people worldwide. She works as a NGO Youth Representative to DPI on behalf of the New York Metropolitan Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolence, and serves on the NYC Young Women’s Advisory Council, addressing policy issues that affect young women of color. She is currently a Director of the International Youth Leadership Institute (IYLI) – a non-profit dedicated to nurturing a new generation of visionary leaders from the African Diaspora who inspired by their rich African heritage, are committed to leave a legacy in the world. Jadayah started her undergraduate education with NYU at age 16, and is now completing a self-designed Masters program.