Abyssinian Fund

The Rev. Nicholas S. Richards, Co-founder & President of The Abyssinian Fund, also is the Assistant Minister for Global Outreach at the internationally-renowned Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York.

Rev. Richards is responsible for the strategy and operations for The Abyssinian Fund's offices in New York and Ethiopia. The Fund serves as a conduit to further develop and create more opportunity for the farming cooperatives and residents of Ethiopia.

A gifted preacher, Rev. Richards has always been passionate about international affairs. His leadership of Abyssinian's international ministry has spawned a series of projects, including development efforts in Ethiopia, humanitarian relief in Haiti and on-going educational services in Kenya.

While a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, he received a fellowship in International Human Rights, which fueled his interest in studying abroad. He later received a certificate in Human Rights at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. A staunch advocate for the role of ethics in international relations and diplomacy, Rev. Richards has been featured several media outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Africa Channel.

Rev. Richards has received fellowships to travel and study in Switzerland, Israel and Palestine. Most recently, he was selected as a member of the New Leaders Program at the Carnegie Council and the American Foreign Policy Association.

Born in Mandeville, Jamaica, Rev. Richards grew up in Bronx, NY. He completed his Bachelors of Arts in Political Science and Philosophy at Morehouse and received his Master of Divinity degree at The Union Theological Seminary in New York.

Zerihun is a highly trained agricultural engineer who has more than 30 years of experience. Over the years, he has become a nationally respected leader and expert on Ethiopia's coffee industry.

Fanta knows everything from growing, managing and processing coffee crops to creating and enforcing policies to protect the crops and cooperatives. He also has solid experience in quality control, sales, marketing and construction.

As field director, he serves as The Abyssinian Fund's key point of contact in Ethiopia, helping to direct the operations and develop a business plan to ensure that the farmers receive premium pricing for their crops.

Each step along the way, Fanta steadily developed his skills. He learned the intricacies of coffee process at the Coffee Plantation Development Corporation (CPDC) at Limu Bebeka and Teppi State farms for the Washed Coffee and Coffee Improvement Projects. During the 1990s, he strengthened his knowledge of government standards and quality control, developing and enforcing policies in several key positions, including serving as the Senior Post Harvest Technologist (PHT), for Coffee and Tea Authority and as Head of the Quality and Standards Authority of Ethiopia.

To help the Abyssinian Fund find new buyers, Fanta has experience in sales with HAGBES, the leading trading company in Ethiopia.

Fanta has a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Engineering from the former Addis Ababa University Alemaya College of Agriculture, Ethiopia and a Masters of Science in Post Harvest Technology. He's a married father of three children who enjoys football, basketball and film making and photography.

As Field Coordinator for The Abyssinian Fund, Demeke plays a critical role in working with the Ethiopian farmers and their cooperatives to produce high quality coffee crops that will garner a premium price in the global marketplace.

Demeke works closely with the field director, and together they work as the leadership team, cultivating crops and linking farmers to new buyers around the world to bolster the coffee cooperatives.

Demeke's deep roots in the community help the Abyssinian Fund develop and implement many key initiatives. Demeke has worked as a team leader, project coordinator and most recently as a business advisor with TechnoServe Ethiopia, he had numerous duties, many directly related to the coffee cooperatives. He actively worked within the community to develop coffee wet mills by identifying entrepreneurial cooperatives. He worked with cooperatives to help them prepare the coffee washing stations installation and he provides training to wet mill station staff on coffee quality management, bookkeeping, and on other good governance related topics.

Demeke's work Rural Organization for Betterment of Agro Pastoralists (ROBA), a local NGO, ZOA Refugee Care, an international NGO, allowed him to develop and strengthen his human resource and project management skills. In each of these roles, he has played a critical role in mobilizing the local communities to participate in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of numerous projects. He also has had to demonstrate his ingenuity when he introduced mud technologies for house construction and making improved stoves.

Demeke is married and has a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Agriculture (Plant Science) from Alemaya University, Harrar.

Dr. Butts is Pastor of the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, NY and President of the State University of New York at Old Westbury. In addition to founding the Abyssinian Development Corporation and helping to establish the Thurgood Marshall Academy for Learning and Social Change, Dr. Butts serves as Chairman of National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS. He is also an active board member of the American Red Cross of Greater New York and New Visions for Public Schools. Dr. Butts serves as Chairman of The Abyssinian Fund Board.

Reverend Richards is a Co-founder and President of The Abyssinian Fund and serves as Assistant Minister for Global Outreach at the Abyssinian Baptist degree in social ethics and international development from The Union Theological Seminary, a B.A. degree in Political Science from Morehouse College and a Certificate in Development Studies from the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

Dorria L. Ball has over 16 years experience in sales management and is currently Senior Director of Human Resources at Kraft Foods, Inc. Ms. Ball began her career with Kraft over 16 years ago in Sales Management and transitioned into human resources in 1994. She is currently the Co-Chairperson of the Worldwide Board of Directors for Dress For Success, former member of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund advisory board, and Steering Team member of the William J. Clinton Foundation's Harlem Small Business initiative.

Karole Dill Barkley retired from a 20 year career in international corporate finance, having served as a Director and Reinsurance Analyst with Standard & Poor’s and as a Vice President with both Swiss and Bermuda-based banks. She has significant expertise in credit risk, market risk, structured finance, asset management, and international insurance and reinsurance markets. Ms. Dill Barkley founded and currently operates Sweet Harlem Pop, an all-natural snack food manufacturer. She has previously served on the boards of Abyssinian Development Corp, HARKhomes, the Bermuda Artworks Foundation, and completed two terms on the Board of Managers of the Harvard Club of New York City. She holds a Masters in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School and a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Harvard College.

Linda H. Dunham is an active supporter of community literacy, after school, cultural and artistic programs that help young people reach their fullest potential. She has received numerous awards for her leadership and community involvement and has served on local boards for organizations such as the Community Service Society of New York, Aaron Davis Hall, John Harms Theatre, MAMA Foundation, Children's Museum of Manhattan, and the Ronald McDonald House of New York. Currently, Ms. Dunham is chair of the Global Board for Ronald McDonald House Charities.Linda holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Fordham University. She and her husband own and operate seven restaurants located throughout New York and New Jersey.

Dr. Hailu is a development economist with over fifteen years of teaching, research and policy advisory experience. He recently co-authored a book on agrarian transformation in Eastern Africa. Dr. Hailu holds a PhD and works as Economic Advisor to the United Nations in New York.

Ann Walker McDowell is a member of the DealMaker Team at Bloomberg Finance L.P. where she focuses on mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining Bloomberg, she was a senior associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, where she also focused on mergers and acquisitions and other general corporate matters. Ms. Walker McDowell is a certified public accountant, and was a senior auditor at Ernst & Young LLP and at Arthur Andersen LLP. Ms. Walker-McDowell holds a B.B.A. in Accounting from The University of Houston, and a J.D. degree from Columbia University School of Law. Ms. Walker McDowell is a member of the Board of Directors of the Columbia Law School Association.

Les Payne is a former Newsday columnist and manager. He co-founded the Trotter Group and served as founder and former president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). Mr. Payne was the Inaugural Professor for the David Laventhol Chair at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and has reported extensively from the United Nations, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean, and from more than 26 countries in Africa, including Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Guinea and Mozambique. He is a frequent lecturer about journalism, art, and social issues.

Marjorie Pierre-Merritt has held positions as the Assistant Corporate Secretary of The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation, Counsel at The New York Times Company, and Assistant General Counsel at Warner-Lambert. She is currently a Vice President and Assistant Secretary at TIAA-CREF. Ms. Pierre-Merritt holds a J.D. from New York University School of Law and a B.B.A. in Accounting from Baruch College.

Lamonda Williams has an extensive career as a radio programmer and on-air personality and has worked at various radio stations throughout the U.S. Most recently, Ms. Williams was Director of Urban and Latin Programming at Music Choice, an interactive music network based in New York. She holds a Master's Degree in Journalism and has received several industry awards recognizing her achievements.

Al Zollar recently retired from IBM with over 34 years of experience as a senior executive in several of IBM's software businesses, including database, development tools, networking, collaboration, service management and security. He was most recently General Manager of Tivoli Software, a global leader in the delivery of integrated service management software to over 22,000 clients around the world. Mr. Zollar has also been a board member of the Chubb Corporation, a member of the Executive Leadership Council, and has received numerous awards and honors as an accomplished black executive in corporate America. Mr. Zollar holds a masters degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of California, San Diego.