THE INTERVIEW Can you please tell me a little bit about Roland and YAA?
Roland was born and raised in Cameroon. He moved to the U.S in 2003 and started his education at Bristol Community College, Fall River Massachusetts. He graduated from there with Honors with an Associates in Liberal Arts Maths and Science and also received the most prestigious award for any student of color which is the Student of Color Achievement Award bestowed by the Governor of Massachusetts. His awards and achievement gave him an opportunity to study at Northeastern University where he earned a dual degree in Business Administration and Biology and then a Master of Science in technology Entrepreneurship. Roland is an acclaimed social entrepreneur and has proven this in his numerous activities in the social enterprise sector. Currently, he is the founder and executive director at Youth Action Africa nonprofit organization, Co founder of LeBoulo Inc – a job search portal exclusively for Cameroonian jobs, and founder and principle consultant at CUZA Hold- ing in Cameroon. He is affiliated to numerous professional organizations which include the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, the World Entrepreneurship forum and the Information for Development forum by the World Bank.
YAA is a global network of youth joining effort to promote technological advancement in Africa as a means to alleviate poverty and improve health conditions through carefully crafted education initiatives that target specific areas of interest to create and implement successful and sustainable project initiatives that are innovative and scalable. It is a hybrid 501 c 3 tax exempt organization formed and incorporated in Boston, Massachusetts. It has as its mission to alleviate poverty and im- prove health conditions in Africa through improved access to information and resources in Africa.
What universities or colleges in the United States or outside of the United State are the chapters of YAA based?
Northeastern University Chapter and Gettysburg University Chapter in the U.S. Two computer learn- ing and business development centers in Ghana and Cameroon
I know you started the Northeastern University branch of YAA, can you please tell me what were you doing prior to that, and what help did Northeastern University gave you in the starting process? YAA was started as a class project while I was a Middler at NEU. From a course project, it quickly transformed into campus project and then into a student organization which an initial goal to pro- vide preventives for malaria in Cameroon.
At NEU, I gained the knowledge to and could envisage applicable resources within the campus’ infrastructure and student body.
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