our Board

Mr. McKinney is a leader with a proven track record in leading high performance teams. A skilled negotiator and customer/supplier interface manager, he brings over 25 years of experience in global supply chain management, including special projects management, proposal planning and preparation, administrative and financial management, and project planning and control. He is currently responsible for all aspects of the subcontract management activities for Advanced Mission Programs in the Payloads and Sensors Subcontracts organization for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. In this capacity, he develops acquisition strategies and proactively manages the surveillance over cost, subcontractor interfaces, technical, schedule, and contractual performance of an approximate $200 million portfolio.

Mr. McKinney currently serves on the advisory board of New Designs Charter School and the finance committee for the WATTSTAR Theatre Project. In these capacities, he advises on strategic planning, fundraising, marketing, finance, and program development. Previously, Mr. McKinney served on the boards of Los Angeles Urban Youth Golf, Su Casa Family Crisis and Support Center, WATTSTAR Theatre, and the Venus and Serena Williams Tennis Academy. 

A graduate of the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business, Mr. McKinney currently mentors students in the Career Advantage Program (CAP). He has successfully completed the following programs: The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Graduate School of Business and Management African American Leadership Institute, the UCLA Professional Designation in Government Contract Management, and the UCLA Professional Certification in Accounting.

Sheldon is a Business Development entrepreneur with a span of experience and a network of innovators and dynamic problem solvers across the profit and non-profit sectors. He spends his time sorting out the vision, strategy, funding and growth plans for companies in social innovation, marketing, entertainment, television production, licensing, pharmaceutical development, health care, and more. 

Currently Sheldon is active in a number of companies: IPTV; a full service television production and system integration company: Rare Rock Photos; licensee to rare photos of  the Beatles and Rolling Stones: Institute of Life Science Collaboration; a non-profit dedicated to working with the United Nations to solve some of the most challenging problems worldwide health care, through collaboration and innovation: University Equity Capital; streamlining pharmaceutical development, to expedite breakthrough health care solutions. He also sits on the board of directors for: Solei Points, in Boston, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and New Designs Charter Schools in Los Angeles. 

Prior to becoming a Business Development guru, Sheldon was the President of Walter Karl Companies a leading Direct Marketing company in New York. Sheldon graduated from Long Island University, is married, has a bunch of kids, and grandkids, and loves to think and connect with people. 

Dr. Derek Asiedu-Akrofi is a managing partner and head of the international law practice group at Akrofi & Akrofi, P.C., a Los Angeles based law firm specializing in international business, project financing, and immigration and humanitarian law. 

Dr. Asiedu-Akrofi holds master of law and doctorate degrees in international law, international banking, and monetary law from Columbia University School of Law, New York. He also holds an additional master of law degree in international law from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. He currently serves as a professor of law and as course director at the International Law Institute, Washington D.C., and is a Geoffrey Wilson Fellow at the University of Warwick School of Law and the Warwick Business School in the United Kingdom.

Throughout his career, Dr. Akrofi has served in many capacities including legal counsel for the International Monetary Fund, Washington D.C.; executive vice president of legal affairs for Protocol Inc., New York; and a member of the U.N. Committee of Experts on Debt-Equity Swaps constituted by the UN Centre of Transnational Corporations. He has taught at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Boston University School of Law, and Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Dr. Akrofi also has extensive experience in international law, anti-money laundering, financial fraud, international business, and consulting for various companies and governments in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, the former Soviet Republic, and Asia. His experience further extends as a legal adviser to international consulting projects including those sponsored by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, USAID (United States Agency for International Development), Austrian Development Cooperation, UNITAR (United Nations Institute for Training and Research), Kuwait Investment Authority, and the Middle East Securities Training Center.

Diego Abba is the current president of Opes International & Co., an international advisory firm based in Beverly Hills. He is the former CEO of Sleepy Giant, a fast-growing technology and service provider participated by TPG Capital and EMC (CAA). Mr. Abba's executive focus is on the content and digital space both in the U.S. and in Europe where he created and developed the position of VP Finance, Americas, with Activision/Blizzard and served as CFO of Zero9, a mobile content company majority owned by InvestIndustrial, respectively.

Prior to these roles, Mr. Abba advised clients in media, technology, and private equity for nine years, both in the U.S. and in Europe, while employed with Bain & Company. He also lived and worked in Asia where he started up Procter & Gamble, Vietnam. After contributing to the design and implementation of a global in-house bank, Mr. Abba became head of its finance division. He was also the Forex Manager Europe for P&G European Treasury in Belgium. Mr. Abba previously served on the board of MILES SpA, an Italian luxury company, where he led the company's turnaround and growth strategy.  

Diego holds an MBA from Cornell University and an MA in business from Ca' Foscari University in Venice, Italy, with a full academic year at UCLA.

In 1976, Kojoe Essien enrolled in the Department of Russian Language and Literature at Voronezh State University located in central Russia in the former Soviet Union. Five years later, he graduated from Rostov-on-Don Technical University where he excelled in water treatment and sewage engineering.

After holding various job positions in former West Germany and West Africa, Mr. Essien accepted an engineering position from Tri-Valley Construction in Covina, California, as a cost estimator and later became a construction supervisor. From 1986 to 1987, Mr. Essien worked as a substitute teacher in both the West Covina and Compton, California, Unified School Districts.

Driven by an unflinching desire to provide services to people in need, Mr. Essien answered President Bill Clinton's call for the private sector to assist in providing housing for low-income families. Shortly after the Clinton administration's Government Owned Real Estate (GORE) program was unveiled, Mr. Essien was among the first respondents in California. Using private and government resources, he built or completely renovated a total of 402 homes and apartments and sold them to disadvantaged families throughout Southern California.

In keeping with his vision, Mr. Essien sold these homes and apartments and structured resale transactions that produced millions of dollars. These proceeds were donated to deserving people as gifts for down payments or closing expenses, making home ownership a dream-come-true for hundreds of families who may never have had the opportunity to own a home.

Since 2001, Mr. Essien has taught evening real estate classes. To date, about half of his 600 students have earned a California state real estate license and are now actively promoting lending and real estate development in their communities. Of note: Mr. Essien has never charged a penny for his teaching services. 

Currently, Mr. Essien is the broker and president of American Federal Funding, Inc. and CasaHome Realty Corp. He is also the president of Casa Por Menos (Home for Less). He continues to work tirelessly on the provision of affordable housing for the Hispanic community in Southern California.