MICHAEL J. DONES
CHAIRMAN & CEO
A business leader with cross-sector experience, a global mindset, and a proven track record of delivering transformation, positive business outcomes, and social impact.
He spent over 25 years as a corporate leader and executive for Fortune 50 companies in the United States across industries including global transportation, real estate development, technology and financial services. He earned his undergraduate degree in business from Morehouse College and an MBA from Clark Atlanta University.
Leveraging a rewarding corporate career, his commitment to positive business impact, and his direct engagement in Africa over 25 years, inspired him to establish Collective Work International, to create opportunities and provide future leaders with global competency and connection.
CHILUFIYA SAFAA
FOUNDING BOARD MEMBER & INSPIRATION OFFICER
An educator, business owner and novelist, Chilufiya Safaa has spent a lifetime examining the realities related to issues confronting African American women and children. She has been awarded two Masters degrees in Education and is an ambassador for Collective Work International.
She served as the Executive Director for a nonprofit entity in California for over 30 years. Additionally, she has been a corporate trainer working on issues of diversity and inclusion in the contemporary workplace.
As a novelist and educator, her published works offer a fresh perspective on African and African American love themes; allowing readers to examine what they thought they knew about continental African and African American people. It is her hope that in this increasingly global community, we can broaden views and begin courageous conversations about Africa’s place in the world. Uplifting Africa in a myriad of ways is Safaa’s passion.
ADVISORY COUNCIL
WILFRED BUSBY
ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBER
Wilfred Busby is Senior Vice President of Employee Experience for ALSAC, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Wilfred is responsible for establishing Employee Experience strategies and has led the Talent Acquisition, HR Consulting and Diversity Equity and Inclusion functions for the enterprise.
He spent 30 years as a leader at companies including FedEx, Service Master Companies, APL Logistics and Mimeo.com. His expertise includes executive leadership and management training, establishing and managing support centers, billing operations, helpdesk, teleservices and telephone sales operations. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Management from Crichton College and an Executive MBA from the University of Memphis.
Currently, he is also an Adjunct Faculty member at the University of Memphis Fogelman College of Business and Economics and a member of the Collective Work International Advisory Council.
RENÉE L. HORNE
ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBER
Renée Horne is the Chief Marketing & Customer Experience Officer of Chase Auto ($80 billion portfolio) where she oversees marketing investments and customer experience initiatives for OEM partners, and a network of 12,000 dealers.
Prior to joining JPMorgan Chase, Renée served as Vice President & Head of Consumer Lending Products & Experiences with USAA Federal Savings Bank, where she held accountability for the P&L and reporting leadership teams overseeing more than $20 billion in assets. She proudly earned Auto Finance News Executive of the Year Nominee recognition. Prior to that she was Managing Director of Global Marketing & Communications for FedEx after a 16-year career spanning finance, marketing, communications and digital.
She serves as a Board Member for the National Black MBA Association, is on the Board of Directors for the Digital Futures Initiative, and the Advisory Council for Collective Work International.
Renée earned a MBA from Saint Louis University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Missouri - Columbia.
PRISHANI SATYAPAL
ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBER
Prishani is a driven and dedicated Sustainable Development professional with over 23 years of global experience with a large African focus, in strategy, impact investment, engagement, assurance and implementation. She has held executive and advisory roles, from the boardrooms of leading companies and remote mining operations, to engaging with grassroots communities under baobab trees. She has worked in several industries, including Urban Development, Professional Services , Agri, and Not-for-Profit sectors, with the majority of career in mining. Prishani has previously worked for and been on the board of a global student exchange organization.
Her strategy development has focused on designing responses at scale and managing complex stakeholder relationships, while delivering projects that have addressed, among other things, climate adaptation, mitigation, and resilience, with emphasis on the water, energy and food security nexus.
Prishani has a Master of Science (Responsibility and Business Practice), from the University of Bath (United Kingdom).
TAMARA WEBB, Ed.D.
ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBER
Dr. Tamara Webb is an experienced higher education and public administration professional. Her primary focus is on supporting the college readiness and success of members of historically underserved and underrepresented groups. She expertly leverages skills and sensitivities in applied research, co-design, and principled innovation to build programs and generate contextualized and sustainable solutions to critical social challenges around the world.
She has lived and conducted research and work in nearly a dozen countries (including the U.S., Belize, Ghana, Liberia, Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tanzania, Rwanda, and South Africa.) and has over 25 years of experience at the federal government level; within local, national, and global non-profit organizations and foundations.
She earned her undergraduate degree in interdisciplinary studies from Cornell University, a Master of Public Administration from Baruch College School of Public and International Affairs, and both a Master of Arts in Anthropology and Education and a Doctor of Education in International and Comparative Education from Columbia University Teachers College.
MAKING AN IMPACT TOGETHER
Accelerating a Shared Prosperity