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 Stephen Hayes, President
Stephen Hayes is the president and CEO of The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA). CCA is an organization of nearly 200 US companies representing approximately eighty-five percent of US private investment in Africa. In his twelve year tenure as president of CCA, he has built the organization into one of Washington’s most respected non-profit organizations. Through strategic positioning and constructive dialogue, Hayes has led CCA to become effectively engaged in most political and economic issues affecting commerce between the US and Africa. These complex issues range from intricate trade legislation and small business development to workplace AIDS concerns. Stephen Hayes promotes the CCA primary purpose, “… to increase and support US-Africa economic engagement,” …while creating a formidable organization that recognizes a “one world” concept through the provision of a credible international business forum. For his work at CCA, Hayes was awarded by the US Department of Commerce its highest award, The Ron Brown Award for International Leadership in 2008.
In his work with Africa, he has also reached out to other parts of the world seeking greater partnerships. CCA recently initiated a dialogue with China to explore the potential for cooperative business projects in and with African counterparts. Hayes will lead a delegation to China in November to continue that dialogue. Under his leadership CCA has also joined in partnership with counterpart organizations in Canada, Europe, India and Japan in an effort to better coordinate and co-operate in business investment in Africa.
The international leadership qualifications of Stephen Hayes are notable and lifelong, beginning with a 1968 volunteer stint in a Middle East refugee camp. Before coming to CCA, much of his life was engaged in the international non-profit sector, including key positions in some of the world’s largest international non-profit organizations, including the World Alliance of YMCAs in Geneva, Switzerland, and the world’s largest student exchange organization AFS International. Hayes founded in 1985 the non-profit organization, the American Center for International Leadership (ACIL), which was funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, Ford Foundation and many others. This organization had as its purpose the initiation of dialogue between emerging leaders of the USA and other nations whose previous US relationships were non-existent or poor. His formidable efforts resulted in establishing dialogues with a network of emerging leaders of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, China, and Vietnam, as well as in Canada and Mexico. Among many achievements of the organization, in 1995 he organized the first delegation of Vietnamese leaders to visit the US since the end of the Vietnam War. From 1993 to 1999 he made several trips into Libya with the consent of the US Government to help lay the groundwork for eventual resolution of the Pan Am 103 case.
Mr. Hayes is a tireless advocate of US-Africa trade. He has assembled a small but stellar multi-cultural, multinational CCA staff that constantly exhibits a strong work ethic that emulates his own. Hayes has traveled to more than 120 nations, underscoring his innate respect for peoples and cultures around the world. He has received other numerous awards for his international work and compelling leadership ability. In July 2008, the Africa Chamber of Commerce of the USA also honored Mr. Hayes with its annual award for outstanding contribution to US-Africa relations, following then US Senator Barack Obama as the previous recipient. In 2004, the Transnet Foundation, South Africa’s largest foundation, chaired by Bishop Tutu, presented him the coveted Phelophepa Humanitarian Award for his organization’s contributions to economic development in South Africa. Hayes also has been honored by the Hungarian Government in 1990 for his work in “bringing down the Iron Curtain”, and by the Uganda YMCA for his work with refugees in the Idi Amin era. In 1984, AFS International awarded Hayes at their international Congress for his international program development, which changed the nature of the organization from one of bilateral to multilateral in hundreds of different and new exchange formats. He has also received commendations from other organizations including the United Nations Development Programme for whom he served as a consultant on international development from 1978-82.
Hayes was a principal founder of the Infant Formula Campaign, often popularly known as the “Nestle’s Boycott”. It remains the only successful global citizens campaign. The conclusion of the campaign was featured on the front page of the New York Times in 1983. He also was a founder of the International Coalition for Development Action, which continues today in Brussels, Belgium.
He resides in Maryland with his wife Phyllis and his Akita Bailey. His wife is employed by the University of Maryland Medical School.
Staff Directory
Stephen Hayes
President & CEO
Robert C. Perry See Bio
Vice President for International Programs
Mbayang Diouf Diop
Chief Financial Officer
Katrin Kuhlmann
Director, U.S.-Africa Business Center, Special Advisor to the President,
Theo Wellington
Senior Advisor to the President
John Jakulevicius
Director, Technology
Hillary Lucas
Director, Human Resources, & Executive Assistant
Vivienne Sequeira
Director, Membership and Infrastructure
Jennifer Wright
Director, Special Projects and Events
Haben Berhe
Trade & Financial Management Specialist
Brittany Clark
Special Projects & Events/Marketing Assistant
Biova Kabine
Program Manager, Member Service
Jed Leonard
Project Manager, Agribusiness
Bezawit Mane
Front Office Coordinator/Administrative Assistant
Sonia Mfasoni
Project Manager, SME Business Linkages
Aoko Samson
East African Program Consultant/ Manager
Justin Tinsey
Project Coordinator, U.S.-Africa Business Center
Daniel Wolf
Market Linkages and Investment Specialist, SATH
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