Bamba Ndiaye is a visiting assistant professor of African studies at the Oxford College of Emory University. Before joining Emory, he held a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship and Lectureship at Cornell University’s Society for the Humanities. He earned a PhD in comparative humanities at the University of Louisville.

His research interests are the intersection of Black Atlantic social movements, civil society, critical race theory, Black popular cultures, mobility, Pan-Africanism and digital humanities. Ndiaye is also the creator and host of The Africanist Podcast.

Maseke Rioba is a Kenyan from the Kurian minority. She is a communications professional, podcaster, writer, public speaker, and pan African with key interests in minority communities.

As a fellow, Rioba seeks to redefine textbook definitions of different concepts, particularly debate and public speaking amongst youth in Africa, the lives of minority communities, and their socio-economic rights, queer spaces in Africa, and female genital cutting.

Takondwa Priscilla Semphere is a Malawian writer and teacher based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She cares deeply about stories and their potential to make the world more inclusive and just. Semphere is an unrelenting student who loves to have conversations about Africa, storytelling, equity, and centering peripheral experiences to enrich learning.

She is a graduate of Smith College, where she studied African Studies and Women & Gender Studies and was a 2018-19 of Princeton in Africa Fellow. She is currently a member of faculty at the African Leadership Academy, where she teaches Writing, Research, and African Studies. Her writing has appeared in Ayiba Magazine, Africa Is A Country, and The Huffington Post, among others.

Kamogelo Tinyiko Theledi is a broadcast journalist, writer, film and theater director who is passionate about contributing to better cultural policy mechanisms and implementation frameworks for South Africa as well as being an activist for artists and cultural practitioners.

As a fellow, she hopes to foster more conversations about cultural policy dilemmas and their impact on artists and practitioners on the continent. Her episodes will highlight the successes and shortcomings of current cultural policy frameworks, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the continent, and the people making a difference in society with their art and activism.