Meet the YOWLI 2010 Facilitators (III)

 Tina Morton

Tina Morton is a media activist, video oral historian, Assistant Professor of Radio, Television & Film at Howard University and a 2010 Pew Fellowship in the Arts recipient. Deeply committed to facilitating members of community groups in telling their own stories, Tina has taught various organizations in Philadelphia how to use media for social activism. In 2005, she facilitated a South Philadelphia community group to help create "The Taking of South Central...Philadelphia" a documentary focusing on problems of gentrification affecting so many communities. Tina’s own work focuses on oral community and family histories. 

 Her award-winning documentary,Severed Souls" chronicles community memory of the execution of Corrine Sykes, a 20-year-old North Philadelphia resident wrongly executed for murder and the first African American woman to be legally executed in PA. Most recently she co-directed and co-produced "Belly of the Basin" a documentary focusing on survivor stories from Hurricane Katrina and the intersection of race, class, and politics. It garnered best documentary at the 2008 Hollywood Black Film Festival. Presently Tina is working on documenting ODUNDE, the oldest continuously running African American Festival in Philadelphia, PA

Jemila Abdulai

Jemila Abdulai is AWOMI's Program Coordinator and oversees AWOMI's programs and day-to day activities. A Ghanaian citizen, she participated in and successfully completed AWOMI’s second edition of the YOWLI in 2008, after which she secured her Bachelor of Arts degree in both Economic and French from Mount Holyoke College, USA, in May 2009. During her college career she focused on economic development, gender and international trade, particularly as it concerns Africa and the Global South. She also wrote numerous articles on international issues for the college newspaper and led the Mount Holyoke African and Caribbean Students Association (MHACASA) in organizing programs and fundraising for donation to  African or Caribbean charities annually. 

As an international development correspondent with the Development Executive Group (Devex) in Washington, D.C., she wrote and published over 30 news, career and business advice articles on humanitarian relief, gender issues, and current events in the development sphere. Additionally, she has interacted with and interviewed numerous high-level development professionals including Harriet Fulbright, UNIFEM Chief Ines Alberdi, Millennium Challenge Corporation Head Daniel Yohannes, and Norwegian Minister for Children, Gender and Equality Audun Lysbakken. She also attended and covered key events and panels organized by the World Bank, international NGOs, and the U.N. including the 54th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York, USA. An ardent believer in the value of knowledge sharing, Jemila is also an active blogger (www.circumspecte.com) and social media activist.