Cameroon: Southern Voice Appoints Dr Denis Foretia to Steering Committee

By Boris Esono Nwenfor [caption id="attachment_105898" align="alignnone" width="800"] Dr. Foretia, Co-Chair of the Denis & Lenora Foretia Foundation and Executive Chairman of the Nkafu Policy Institute[/caption] BUEA– Southern Voice, the global network of think tanks, has appointed Dr Denis Foretia, Executive Chairman of the Nkafu Policy Institute, to its Steering Committee (Governing Board). A surgeon by training, Dr Denis Foretia has always been involved in philanthropic activities and issues related to international development. He co-founded with his wife, the Denis and Lenora Foretia Foundation which works to catalyze Africa’s Economic Transformation through social entrepreneurship, science and technology, innovation, public health and progressive policies that create economic opportunities for all. The appointment, which takes effect immediately, ensures a new set of skills for the next phase of Southern Voice’s growth. Southern Voice envisages a world in which power has been realigned between countries. The result would be a fair and equitable engagement on global issues, and the advancement of a world in which people’s rights and needs are met and sustainable development is achieved. A former Executive Co-chair of the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance, Dr Denis Foretia helped spearhead major community service-oriented and leadership-driven projects geared towards uplifting inner-city children in the Greater Nashville area. His appointment to Southern Voice’s Steering Committee brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Steering Committee. "It is a great honour for me to join the Steering Committee of this very unique and transformational organization,” said Dr Denis Foretia. “The opportunity to contribute to the governance and direction of Southern Voice is simply incredible and I look forward to working with the entire team to ensure that the organization continues to grow from strength to strength.” Southern Voice is a global network of think tanks and research institutions contributing to the global dialogue on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It focuses on addressing the existing ‘knowledge asymmetry’ and ‘participation deficit’ in the dialogue on development to elevate the position and impact of Global South countries. Since its inception in 2013, Southern Voice has evolved into a vibrant network of 66 Think Tanks from Africa, Latin America & the Caribbean, and Asia, with each region having two representatives on the Steering Committee. They are all dedicated to leveraging quality local data and research, to enhance the debate on the SDGs and increase the 2030 Agenda's impact on the South. Dr Denis Foretia currently leads the Center for Multicultural and Global Health at the University of Tennessee where he also serves as associate director of the Global Surgery Institute. He was previously faculty in the Department of Surgery at Johns Hopkins University and a staff acute care surgeon at LifeBridge Health in Baltimore. He holds a Bachelor's degree with honours in Biological Sciences from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and a Doctor of Medicine degree from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee. He completed his surgical residency training at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta where he was also a Global Health Research Scholar. Dr Foretia received a Master’s in Public Health (MPH) from the Bloomberg School of Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the Carey School of Business also at the Johns Hopkins University.