Meet our Board of advisors

Each of us is endowed with the experience and insight needed to offer our support to a truly worthy cause. Through mentorship, guidance and our creative abilities, we hope to make a lasting impact for The Jemimah Noonoo Foundation and for the community of Anomabo.

 
 
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Rev. Dr. Kofi Aaba Noonoo PhD, M.Div, MRE, LCPC

Board of Advisor President

Rev. Dr. Kofi Noonoo holds a Ph.D. in Pastoral Care and Counseling from Northwestern University, Evanston. He is also a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in the state of Illinois. He obtained his Master of Divinity, Magna cum Laude, and Master of Religious Education, Cum Laude from Memphis Theological Seminary. He was ordained by the Presbytery of Liberia in 1978 and transferred his membership to the Presbytery of Chicago of the Presbyterian Church of the USA in 1992.

Rev. Dr. Noonoo is a native of Anomabo in Ghana, West Africa. He grew up as a Methodist, attended Adisadel College, an Anglican Secondary School, and served as a Pentecostal minister for seven years, before he joined the Presbyterian Church in Monrovia, Liberia.

Dr. Noonoo worked as a Child Welfare Specialist and therapist at the Catholic Charities foster care program for 25 years. In addition, he also worked for the developmentally delayed clients of the Department of Human Services.

Rev. Dr. Noonoo serves the Chicago Metropolitan Community diligently by officiating funeral services, baby dedications, weddings, and other special activities. He is also the Chaplain of the Ghana National Council and an active member of the Fanti benevolent Society.

Currently, he is the senior pastor of Ebenezer United Church and the President of the Council of Ghanaian Churches in Chicago.

 


 
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Dr. Paul Lartey PhD.  RPH

BOARD OF ADVISOR committee  

Dr. Paul Lartey is CEO of LaGray Chemical Company, a vertically integrated pharmaceutical manufacturing company in Ghana. He previously worked for Abbott Laboratories, Pharmacia-Upjohn and Pfizer, all in the US. Dr. Lartey was also Director of Infectious Diseases Drug Discovery Research at Pharmacia and at Pfizer. He has a number of patents and publications in drug discovery and in synthetic organic chemistry.

Dr. Lartey has a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy and a Masters in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Science and Technology, Ghana, a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from the State University of New York at Buffalo, USA and did post-doctoral studies in Synthetic Organic Chemistry at Yale University in the US.

As founding Chair of FAPMA and former Vice president of the West African Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations, Dr. Lartey has made significant contributions to the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa and the Pharmaceutical Plan for ECOWAS.

Dr. Lartey is a Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, Fellow of the West Africa Postgraduate College of Pharmacists and a Fellow of the Ghana College of Pharmacists.


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Dr. Alexandra Graham PhD. MBA

BOARD OF ADVISORs committee

I am a scientist, pharmaceutical and finance executive, visionary entrepreneur, teacher, consultant and global health advocate with more than three decades of international experience in global health, pharmaceuticals, higher education, hospitality and healthcare infrastructure development.
I have had the privilege of holding several high-profile positions in my long career and experienced first-hand the many challenges that are faced by pharmaceutical companies and donors in making quality health products available where desperately needed. I am a collaborative communicator and have contributed my skills and expertise to several organizations working to improve access to quality medicines. I also understand the challenges of providing quality education for nurses in resource constrained environments. I am proud to say that I have played my part in finding solutions to these problems in my roles at Abbott Laboratories, LaGray Chemical Company, St. Karol School of Nursing and USAID
As a life-long learner, I have a knack for reinventing myself periodically so was honored to be a Science and Technology Policy Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) at USAID from 2016-2018. I gained experience in science diplomacy, policy development and USG relations and functions.
In my latest adventure, I have established a diversified commercial finance company providing innovative, alternative financing solutions to enterprises of all sizes. LaGray Finance specializes in business loans and other commercial finance products for enterprises in the healthcare and hospitality space. We facilitate the acquisition of capital of up to $500,000,000 for:
• Business construction and acquisitions
• Equipment lease or purchase
• Commercial real estate
We work with the Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide loans to small business owners and with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide funding for businesses in rural areas.


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Mrs. Nettie Noonoo

Board of Advisor VICE President

Mrs. Nettie Noonoo was a primary school teacher at a Catholic school in Yepeka, Liberia, for five years. She was entirely dedicated to her husband's ministry as a Sunday School teacher and choir director. She left Liberia for the United States in 1982. 

Mrs. Noonoo received her certificate in nursing as a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) from Oakton Community College in Des Plaines, IL. She started her career in Orthopedics at Evanston Hospital, continued with Pediatrics at Lutheran General Hospital, and eventually settled in geriatrics, psychiatrist, and assisted living nursing services.  

Mrs. Noonoo is an avid believer in education and healthcare. She is a philanthropist and has been giving back to Ghana and her native country Liberia for the past 35 years. She has financially supported many young children to complete their education and also helped them set up various businesses.  

Mrs. Nettie has over 30 years of nursing experience and is currently working as a school nurse, taking care of elementary students with diabetes and other health issues. She is a part-time elementary school tutor for Mathletics and language arts. 



Hannah Noonoo

DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER

In 2009 and 2010, Hannah spent several months in Ghana and experienced her homeland’s beauty firsthand. Seeing where her father was born and raised taught her to appreciate the small things in life that so often are taken for granted.

Hannah took an interest in Bankruptcy Law an accepted an internship, Downtown Chicago in 2010. It entailed assisting paralegals and attorneys with the intake and processing of documents required to draft petitions. She also Corresponded with clients, lenders, and creditors, by sending status updates at each stage of the case while also performing legal research and legal tasks related to bankruptcy. In 2012 Hannah continued to work with clients that were violated under section 361 and 362. She spent endless nights sifting through client complaints against creditors, to ensure creditors were not breaking the Law to collect a debt while covered under bankruptcy chapter 7 or chapter 13.

In 2015 Hannah decided to shift professions and pursue a career in healthcare. With such strong role models in the healthcare field, Hannah was determined to find herself in the healthcare world. Hannah went on to become a Lab Technician at Rush University Hospital in Chicago, IL. She worked closely with the Pain Center and some of the top Anesthesiologists in the country at Rush in a training program to reduce opiate addiction. Hannah tested the patient’s blood, saliva, and urine for opiate levels.

She also worked SXSW, exposing her to the background production of live performances, event planning, and promotion. Hannah has also worked closely with churches in her neighborhood to organize soup kitchens, youth programs, resumes building work shop’s and so much more. Hannah is a well-rounded individual, dedicated to meeting and exceeding expectations in everything. She holds herself accountable to the highest ethical standards.

In 2016, Hannah was hand-selected by a team of Anesthesiologist to enter an innovative program at Siemens headquarters (the leading brand in healthcare equipment) in Delaware, Maryland. She represented her department and was trained on the new innovative technology testing machines that changed the way Labs administered testing for patients moving forward.

Hannah currently has ten years of experience in the healthcare field. She has dedicated her time, love, and compassion to each patient she encounters. Her hobbies include singing, songwriting, hosting events, modeling, organizing community programs, and marketing. Hannah has partaken in several fashion shows and has performed her music live at several events.