Suliman A Giddo, President / CEO suliman@darfurpeace.org
Suliman Giddo, Co-Founder and President of Darfur Peace & Development, is a graduate of Khartoum University and received Masters degrees from Strayer University, in Business Administration and Fordham University in Humanitarian Assistance. His post-graduate studies included Human Resources at Maduri University, India, and Professional Management Institute at New Jersey, UK. He also earned certificates from the Institute of Virginia and a Certificate in Disaster Studies at the University of Wisconsin. He worked 12 years for the United Arab Emirates Government and six years at the American Red Cross.
Susan Burgess-Lent, Program Director susan@darfurpeace.org
Program Director Susan has worked with DPDO since 2004 and is currently functioning as the Program Director. She previously worked as a project manager for the African Immigrant and Refugee Foundation and InterAction, as a proposal consultant for CEDPA, and as budget and administrative coordinator with American Red Cross International Services. Susan is also a writer and worked for many years as a television journalist.
Katherine Naugle, Executive Assistant Katherine@darfurpeace.org
Katherine Naugle, earned a BA in both International Studies and Spanish from Towson University in Baltimore, MD and a certificate in Hispanic Studies from the University of Granada in Spain. During her undergraduate work, she completed extensive studies of economic development and African politics with a focus on Sudan. Her senior research project focused largely on the global climate change as a contributing factor to the conflict in Darfur.
Omer Ismail, Vice President / Advocacy omer@darfurpeace.org
Omer Ismail, Vice President of DPDO and a key player in Darfur advocacy, is a graduate of Khartoum University where he worked as a research assistant to Dr. Mansour Khalid, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs in Sudan. In 1988 he became the Operations Manager for the United Nations Operation Life Line Sudan. He fled Sudan after the current regime took power and since then has lived as a refugee in the U.S. He returned to the United Nations to serve in Somalia from 1992 to 1994.
Stephen M. Harrigan, Solar Cooker Project Manager stephen@darfurpeace.org
Stephen Harrigan considers his home a small village in Sierra Leone. Raised by missionary parents, he spent most of his early life in the interior of this West African country. After completing his graduate training in the United States, Steve and his wife returned to Sierra Leone in 1987 with World Partners. They spent the next eight years raising four children, running a medical clinic and developing literature for the local people.Civil war inevitably found its way to their village. Steve and his family evacuated to Burkina Faso and finally to Guinea, living in a village a few miles from the war zone of Sierra Leone. Fleeing refugees with desperate needs -- as well as fear of rebel infiltration – became a daily reality. When peace came in 2001, Stephen was reassigned to Fort Wayne IN. He works on the resettlement issues of many refugees in the United States. His knowledge of multiple languages and African culture has uniquely equipped him to blend the two worlds of Africa and America.Through collaboration with DPDO, Stephen developed the solar cooker project for Darfur. Involving Americans with Africa is one of Steve’s passions and his vision is to mobilize the next generation to act for a better world.
Amal Allagabo, Program Assistant amal@darfurpeace.org
Amal Allagabo, Program Assistant for Schools and WomenÕs Center Programs, is a graduate of the Dubai School of Nursing in the United Arab Emirates. She also earned a BA in Political Science/ International Studies in Louisville, Kentucky and an MA from George Mason University in International Commerce and Policy. AmalÕs graduate work had a primary concentration in International Business Management and Peacekeeping. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Science and Technology Studies at Virginia Tech. Her doctoral thesis will investigate how science and technology alters or benefits knowledge production of indigenous societies in East Africa with a specific focus on Western and Southern Sudanese communities.
