Meet the Team
Meet the team behind the foundation
James
Founder
James founded For One World after an inspiring trip to Ghana where he worked with Bill, Ayisatu and others to create a plan for a school to help the dozens of children who had no school to attend.
Bill
Bill grew up in Virginia, obtained his Ph. D. in educational administration from Northwestern University and first traveled to Ghana in the 1960s.
Ghana has been his primary residence for 40 years. Â Bill has also lived with his wife Ayisatu in the US, Egypt and Indonesia where he worked on development projects. Bill is proficient in Twi (one of the prominent local languages) and Ayisatu is proficient in 12 other local languages! Â Bill and Ayisatu are the Directors of the Ayisatu Owen International School.
The school is named after Ayisatu, the founder of the school. She, James Mattison and daughter, Miriam, developed the idea for the school as a way to provide access to education for females and to improved the quality of learning.
John
John owns his own tax preparation and financial planning practice in Old Saybrook, CT. John
visits Ghana regularly and on four separate trips between 2007 and 2008 he helped establish basic computer-based accounting at the school. John is actively involved in several civic and charitable causes including Rotary International. John serves on the audit committee of the Board of Directors and aspires to be a linguist to the Asantehene
Zack
Zach has been with For One World since 2007. Zach has a background in licensing and intellectual property.
Zach leads the marketing and communication committee and is For One World Board member
Alex
Alex has been an active member of For One World since 1998. As one of the original members, Alex has assisted, among other
things, with the formation of For One World Corporation and federal recognition of the entity. He first visited Ayi Owen School in 1999. Alex is currently an attorney in New York City. His practice focuses on banking and finance, specifically complex financing. Alex is a member of the board of directors and leads the travel grant program.
Michele
Michele Palma is the Vice President of Development at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Hartford. Michele first
visited the Ayi school in Jan 2008 and has been with For One World since 1998 as one of the original members. She currently serves as a board member of For One World and leads the development committee.