Founders
A Liberian, Mr. Alexander B. Cummings. is a humanitarian, philanthropist and a proven business leader. He is a retired Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of The Coca-Cola Company, the world's largest beverage manufacturer.
Mr. Cummings has a long history of philanthropy and supporting Liberia; providing scholarships to students in Liberia, donating to various causes and supporting Liberia globally. In 2011, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf conferred on Mr. Cummings the distinction of Knight Great Band – Humane Order of African Redemption; the medal is one of the highest honors in Liberia and is awarded for humanitarian work in Liberia, for acts supporting and assisting the Liberian nation.
Mr. Cummings joined The Coca-Cola Company in 1997 as Region Manager, Nigeria. In 2000, he was named President of the Company's North & West Africa Division. In March 2001, he became President and Chief Operating Officer of the Africa Group, responsible for the Company's operations in Africa, encompassing a total of 56 countries and territories across the continent.
Teresa Cummings recognized her passion and purpose for helping young women and children, very early in her life. She pursued a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Masters of Arts in Guidance and Counseling; and practiced as a counselor for teen mothers, adopting families and was the Executive Director of a Social Services Agency as well as the Young People Department director at her church.
In the years that followed, she participated in raising funds and was a proponent for different causes such as American Women of Color, Nyumbani Gold Charity in support of the Nyumbani Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya and the Nelson Mandela Invitational held in Cape Town South Africa, which helped to raise funds for the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
She has extensive experience working with a wide variety of non-profits focused on aiding and empowering young girls and women. She currently serves on the boards of causes that support a school in Liberia and a girl’s training center in Sierra Leon, served on the Women With Heart organization for the Morehouse School of Medicine and was honorary co-chair of the organization fund raiser in 2016. She served on the board of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Greater Atlanta and is the current Chair of H.E.A. R. T.T. ( Health, Education and Relief Through Teaching), an organization whose focus is to improve the healthcare system in Liberia.
Board Members
Mr. Eugene Bedell was born in Monrovia Liberia. As a child he attended the B.W. Harris Episcopal School in Monrovia. Later he attended College of West Africa (CWA) high school in Monrovia and eventually graduated from B.W.Harris high school in Monrovia Liberia. After graduation, Mr. Bedell matriculated to ST. Augustine College in Raleigh North Carolina where he received a Bachelor’s degree in Economics. Later Mr. Bedell matriculated to the University of Maryland University College in College Park Maryland where he received an MBA.
Mr. Bedell is married to Sandra Maria Santos and has two grown children Eugene Bedell Jr. and Eugenie Bedell. Currently he is President and CEO of Advance Telecom Process, LLC based in Virginia, USA. Prior to ADTelP, he was one of 4 Principals (served as Senior VP) in an established Economic Management Consultant firm based in Washington D.C. called “Snavely King Major O’Connor and Bedell. Some of Mr. Bedell’s other experiences include serving as VP of Business development for BCBCC and Senior Executive positions at Teldata, ATT and MCI WorldCom/UUNET.
He has served on the following boards: Native Island Business Community Affairs (NIBCA) based in Hilton Head Island SC, Mitchellville Preservation Project based in Hilton Head Island SC and the Stroke Comeback Center based in Vienna Virginia.
Rosalind Brown is a corporate executive, humanitarian and social entrepreneur . She believes in making an impact on society especially the next generation. Rosalind currently works as a Director for an international financial institution in Cote d’Ivoire. Prior to her current job, she worked at the United Nations in various departments, including the Board of Auditors and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. Her love for developing people moved her to become the co-founder of the Vine International School in Liberia, an elementary school founded in 2013 and the Luke International School in Cote d’Ivoire founded in 2017.
Rosalind is the founder of the Liberian Association of Unity and Development an NGO founded in 1996 which help Liberians in need and promotes educational achievement and spiritual growth. She is also a co-founder of AGAPE, an NGO in Cameroon that provides a safe environment for street kids to study and develop the skills necessary to succeed in life.
In 2020, Rosalind was inspired to start a YouTube broadcast which encourages people about the faithfulness of God. Rosalind has a Master of Arts in International Education, with specialty in International Development from New York University and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Finance from Bentley University.
Richelieu Dennis – Founder, Sundial Brands; Founder/Chair, Essence Ventures; Founder, New Voices Fund & New Voices Foundation; Founder/Chair, Social Mission Board Entrepreneur, investor and social commerce innovator Richelieu Dennis has a passion for entrepreneurship and innovation that traces back to his family’s roots in Africa and is sustained by a mission to serve underserved communities by advancing the philosophy of economic inclusion as a human right.
In 1991 upon graduating from Babson College and being unable to return to his native Liberia due to civil war, Richelieu – joined by his mother Mary Dennis and best friend Nyema Tubman – founded Sundial Brands, the manufacturer behind top beauty and personal care brands SheaMoisture and Nubian Heritage. Richelieu served as the company’s chair and CEO until December 2019 and set the vision for its Community Commerce purpose-driven business model and its success as the number one natural hair and beauty company serving Black women and the larger multicultural and natural communities he coined as the New General Market. Under Richelieu’s leadership, Sundial grew from selling products on New York City streets to co-creating a comprehensive portfolio of offerings with major U.S. retailers and gaining global distribution. In addition, Sundial’s Community Commerce investments impacted tens of thousands of people throughout its global supply chain and in the U.S. through improved infrastructure, increased incomes, healthcare access, safer work environments, entrepreneurial and educational opportunities, and more. The company also obtained B Corp and Fair for Life certifications and received industry accolades for its corporate social responsibility efforts.
In November 2017, Richelieu architected a first-of-its-kind deal in the beauty and personal care industry when he negotiated the landmark acquisition of Sundial Brands by Unilever – one of the largest natural beauty/personal care deals in the U.S. and also the largest consumer products transaction by a majority Black-owned company. As part of this purpose-driven agreement, he created a groundbreaking US$100 million New Voices Fund to invest in and empower women of color entrepreneurs. In addition, he founded the New Voices Foundation to provide support services for women of color entrepreneurs to achieve their vision through leadership development, skills-building, networking opportunities, and other innovative leadership initiatives.
Upon stepping down from his roles as Sundial chair and CEO, Richelieu created the Social Mission Board,partnering with Sundial and Unilever to scale Community Commerce across the global organization, as well as provide insights, strategy and learnings across Unilever. His mission is to build out Community Commerce models globally, with additional like-minded and like-missioned institutions, using proven frameworks helping entrepreneurs in underserved communities of color close disparities in access, capital and expertise.
In 2017, Richelieu founded Essence Ventures, an independent Black-owned consumer technology company focused on merging content, community and commerce to create an ecosystem that meets the cultural and lifestyle needs of people of color. In January 2018, the company announced that it had acquired Essence Communications Inc. from Time Inc. In December 2018, Richelieu announced the purchase of Madam C.J. Walker’s historic estate, Villa Lewaro, via the New Voices Foundation. Upon completion of restoration efforts, Villa Lewaro will be used as a learning institute, or think tank, where women of color entrepreneurs will receive in-person and virtual curriculum-based learning and other resources to help build, grow and expand their businesses.
Richelieu has been named by OWN to its “SuperSoul 100” list celebrating 100 trailblazers using their power, vision and life’s work to bring a higher level of consciousness and move the world forward. He has also been named one of the “Most Creative People in Business” by Fast Company. In 2017, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia conferred upon Richelieu one of the nation’s highest honors – distinction of Knight Commander, admitting him into the Most Venerable Order of the Knighthood of the Pioneers.
Charrise Findley, is an investor in underprivileged and disadvantaged youths with precision focus on empowering and transforming lives. She is a certified French translator, Corporate trainer, Etiquette/image consultant, Educator, Entrepreneur and Humanitarian.
Her commitment to serve extends to volunteering her services to Liberia, Ivory Coast, Jamaica and the USA through teaching French to elementary students, developing after school programs and conducting character education workshops for teachers, healthcare workers, corporate professionals and students of disadvantaged communities.
Her zeal to empower and improve the lives of disadvantaged youths led to the establishment of Charrock Ministries; The Charrock Boys and Girls Club afterschool program, and the Butter-flies and Gems mentoring program where she currently serves as President. To date, these organizations assist and impact the lives of over 100 young women in several West African countries.
Charrise also provides charitable support through her partnership with other ministries to improve knowledge, skills and livelihood. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Isaac A. David Memorial School in Paynesville, Liberia and the Advisory Board of Faith seeders Ministries in Sewell, NJ, USA.
Charrise’s axiom has always been: “Don’t be fatigued in doing good; for in due season we shall win, if we do not give up.”
Ellen Olounfe Pratt is the Commissioner of Land Use and Management with the Liberia Land Authority. Commissioner Pratt is an executive management professional and an urban planner with over 20 years’ experience in public and private sector institutions, both in the US and Liberia.
As one of five Commissioners of Liberia’s newly legislated land agency, Commissioner Pratt is charged with leading the development of national land use reform and governance instruments, including a National Land Use Planning and Management Policy, which will be Liberia’s first inclusive land planning strategy, and a catalytic policy in support of sustainable urban development.
In her previous position as Deputy Minister of Industry with the Ministry of Commerce, Liberia, Ms. Pratt implemented several critical development initiatives including the Harmonization of Liberia’s National Inspections Regime, and conceptualization of the Country’s first post conflict Special Economic Zone. Ms. Pratt was also the chairperson of the Presidential Taskforce on Manufacturing and Business Support, which was mandated to develop strategies to be implemented in the short and medium term to promote sustainable urban industrial development in Liberia. In her professional capacity as an urban planning expert, Madam Pratt has participated in knowledge exchanges and expert group meetings worldwide.
In May 2019, Ms. Pratt was a Monrovia TEDX speaker on the topic “Our Future World”. When Ms. Pratt is not at work formulating land use and management policies in support of Liberia’s land reform agenda, she serves as a volunteer mentor to at-risk young women. Ms. Pratt also serves on the advisory board of the Heritage International Leadership Academy and is the Vice President of Eta Beta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated. Ms. Pratt is a certified urban planner and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).
She earned her Bachelor of Environmental Design in Architecture from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, and a Master of City and Regional Planning from Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States.
Originally from Liberia, Nyema Tubman grew up in several West African countries until moving to the US to attend Babson College. After graduating from college in 1991, Nyema and his childhood friend Richelieu Dennis co-founded Sundial Brands LLC. The partners started making personal care products utilizing ingredients from their African heritage, most notably Shea Butter and African Black Soap, and selling them on the streets of New York City. Over the years the company expanded to include the SheaMoisture and Nubian Heritage brands (body washes, lotions, soaps, shampoos, etc.). Nyema functioned as the President of Sundial for 25 years before the company was sold to Unilever in 2017.
Today Nyema is an investor and philanthropist working through his family office. On both fronts, the family works with entities owned by people of African descent and/or serving in Africa. As black owned businesses continue to struggle to secure growth capital, they focus on working with pre-Series A companies to help bridge that gap. In addition to supporting charities in the US, the family supports nonprofit organizations working in the educational and medical sectors in Africa.
Nyema holds a B. S. in Finance & Investments from Babson College.