Our Staff | Chef Academy Senegal

Meet The Board of Directors

Chef David Diop – Board of Directors President

Executive Chef and Business Owner, Chef David Diop is well respected in Colorado for his professionalism, masterful culinary creations, and high standards for excellent customer service. After graduating culinary school in Denver Colorado in 2014, he worked in several well renowned Colorado restaurants, such a Le Central French Restaurant downtown Denver, Inverness Hotel and Golf Resort Restaurants in Denver Tech Center, Comedy Works in Denver Tech Center, and several others. His extensive culinary experience led him to open Colorado’s first West African Gourmet Food Truck, Pikine Grill. Pikine Grill was inspired by the wonderful street food from David's hometown in Pikine Dakar Senegal. The Pikine Grill Food Truck and Catering Compay has been featured on local Colorado news as well as the very popular Food Network. Pikine Grill has a 5 star rating on every social media and search engine, and has given Chef David the opportunity to help put Senegalese food on the US map. More importantly, Chef David is a visionary who plans to use his platform to give back to his home country. For over five years, he has nurtured and cultivated his idea of a developing a sustainable culinary program in his hometown of Pikine Senegal that he hopes will positively change lives and uplift communities out of object poverty. He created Chef Academy Senegal, à US nonprofit organization, with a sole mission to develop a culinary arts school for low income students left behind the traditional education route. He recruited other successful professional passionate individuals to join his organization, and together they are leveraging their expertise, network, and skills to bring Chef Academy Senegal to life. Chef David Diop currently serves as an advisory Board Member for Emily Griffith Technical College’s Culinary Arts Program, and is a regular participant and sonar for many cultural events in Colorado celebrating the African diaspora. Chef David serves as President of the Board of Directors of Chef Academy Senegal.

Jenny Devaud – Board of Directors Secretary

Geneviève (Jenny) Devaud, Ph.D.

OVERVIEW

Jenny joined the board of the Chef Academy after 10 years of engagement with the people in Senegal and several month-long visits to that country. She is deeply connected to and supports the advancement of her Senegalese family on many levels. While she is a Harvard educated physicist working as the Principal Scientist for Ball Aerospace, often partnering with NASA on advanced space technologies, Jenny has always found time in her busy schedule to mentor others, particularly women of all ages at formative junctions of their lives. Being a scientist may suggest that she is “out there”, but the truth is that she is deeply practical, grounded and committed to her ideals. Remember, she helps launch the impossible on a daily basis! The mission of Chef Academy melds Jenny’s ongoing desire to help advance the lives of others, particularly women and the Senegalese people, not just one day at a time, but to build success for current and future generations of Senegal.

EMPLOYMENT/EDUCATION

Principal Scientist. Ball Aerospace, 2004 – present, Materials and Process Engineering Principal Scientist, head-disk interface and drive integration, Maxtor, Quantum (1992-2004) Research Scientist, University of Colorado, 1990-1992, Nanometer lithography using biological templates. Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University, 1986-1989 Ph.D., Applied Physics, Harvard University, 1986 B.S. in Materials Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1981

Fallou Thiobane – Board of Directors Treasure

Fallou is a native of Senegal residing in Denver, Colorado. He migrated from Senegal to New York City where he began his studies at age 16. After he completed his education, he was offered a role to serve as a senior Financial Report Writer for the University of Colorado in Denver. Fallou joined the board of Chef Academy Senegal because he believes he could help make a difference. Having to grow up in Senegal until the age of 16, he experienced how it feels to be left behind by not having a traditional education through the school system in Senegal. He knows the difference it could make if one is given an opportunity to get an education at a young age.

EMPLOYMENT/EDUCATION

Financial Report Writer at University of Colorado, Database Administrator at Madison-Oneida BOCES. Bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems, Master of Science in Cybersecurity, Specialized in Computer Forensics, Certs. on behalf of the NSA, DHS and NIETP, Certified Digital Forensic Examiner.

Mathieu Basse – Board Member

Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Paris Pantheon Sorbonne
Master’s degree in Business Consulting Paris Pantheon Sorbonne
Work as technology consultant for a consulting firm

Oumar bailo Diallo – Board Member

Membre chef academy
Licence en marketing management
Business import /export
Gérant d'une entreprise de transport en commun à mon actif

Ablaye Ndiaye – Board Member

Administrateur à Africulturban fondée en février 2006 par Matador de BMG 44, la vocation première de l’association Africulturban était de venir en aide aux populations victimes des inondations à travers l’organisation de concerts de solidarité. Aujourd’hui, elle a élargi son champ d’actions et propose de nombreuses activités socioculturelles dans le but de promouvoir, diffuser et développer la culture Hip Hop sur son territoire : organisation de concerts, d’expositions, d’ateliers de formations, de festivals, de performances, de rencontres professionnelles, autant d’activités qui fondent les bases des cultures urbaines. Africulturban se définit comme une structure d’encadrement et de suivi de projets et œuvre au mieux pour valoriser le caractère pluridisciplinaire du Hip Hop. Pour ce faire, Africulturban s’efforce d’offrir un cadre d’expression à toutes les disciplines que les cultures urbaines recouvrent, à savoir : Breakdance, Mcing, Deejaying, Rap, Slam, Graffiti, Urban wear, Rollers et les autres musiques urbaines.

En quatorze ans d’existence, Africulturban a noué de nombreux partenariats internationaux et compte aujourd’hui plus de 1250 membres, répartis dans les différents secteurs du Hip Hop et des cultures urbaines. La structure dispose d’un studio d’enregistrement, d’une salle de répétition, d’un atelier de graphisme et d’un studio de photo et de vidéo.

Grace à son dynamisme, Africulturban a réussi à impulser de nombreux projets socioculturels, parmi lesquel on dénombre, Festa2H (festival international de Hip Hop et de cultures urbaines) Hip Hop Akademy (centre de formation aux métiers des cultures urbaines) Flow Up (tremplin du Hip Hop sénégalais) Yuma (Youth Urban Media Academy) Hip Hop Edu

cation (Projet Hip Hop dans les écoles) Urban Doc (premier centre de documentation en Hip Hop et cultures urbaines) Urban Woman Week (premier festival Hip Hop féminin) krefour Poetik (club de Slam) King Booking Management (label de Fair Music) UFF (Urban Festivals Forum ).

Djibril Diallo Seye – Board Member

De mon vrai nom Djibril Diallo Seye, plus connu sous le sobriquet de « Ndiol Toth Toth ». Choisi parmi les 10 meilleurs artistes comédiens en 2007 pour représenter ma ville natale Saint Louis lors de la FESNAC (festival national des arts et de la culture), acteur de Cinéma du film « Adouna, la vie, le monde » réalisé par Olivier Langlois produit par la France 2 et qui a remporté un prix au festival Rochelle (France). Membre fondateur de la Compagnie Seetu Danse-Théâtre. J’ai surtout fait le buzz durant ces dernières années avec plus de 700 sketchs diffusés dans les télévisions et site internet sénégalais.

Sharon Diop-Dafondanouto - Executive Director

Sharon has seventeen years experience in Federal government nonprofit work, to include advanced skills in leadership development, strategic planning, and communication strategies. Sharon also has over ten years in non-government nonprofit work, to include time as a volunteer for several organizations, such as the United Nations Association, and United Nations Girl Up Initiative. Sharon also has served as a Board of Directors member, Board of Directors Secretary, and Board of Directors President for the Colorado African Organization. Through her collective experience, she has successfully developed and overseen the completion of several high level projects that have positively increased organization capacity, funding, and internal systems processes. She is an inspirational visionary who thinks big. She leads by example and works to help teams reach their full potential through encouragement and coaching. She focuses on common goals to develop a cohesive strategy that creates a thriving organization that is sustainable and forward thinking. She assists Board members in developing their skills and extending their ideas to further the organization. Sharon is respected in the nonprofit world as a consummate professional with high integrity, credibility, and sound decision-making abilities. Sharon serves as a Board of Directors Consultant to the Board's Officers, and she chooses to volunteer for Chef Academy Senegal because the organization's mission neatly aligns with her passion for global equality and her desire to see girls and women given opportunities to elevate out of poverty and positively change communities.