Two new board members and two incumbents seeking reelection have won seats on the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota (OLM) board of directors.
Terms for four of the nine members on the board were expiring and up for election on Sunday.
Six candidates – including three that were seeking reelection- vied for the four board seats. The candidate field was split evenly between men and women.
One board member, Mr. Alec Deah, did not seek reelection.
Messrs. Arthur Biah and Mohammed Dukuly were reelected while the voters decided not to retain Mr. Ishmael Komara on the board. Biah is also the current board chair.
Big win for women
Voters also decided to double the number of women on the board by electing Mses. Charlesetta George and Romanda Gaye-Schaeppi to join Mses. Edwina Willie and Cora Sneh. The board will now have five men and four women.
Members serve a two-year term.
The board of directors is the governing body of OLM, which is a membership-based organization, but day-to-day operations are run by the executive director who reports to the board. The current executive director is Kamaty Diahn.
Yesterday’s election was held at the Liberian Community Center in Brooklyn Park starting at 7 a.m. and went on for 12 hours. It was conducted by an independent elections commission chaired by local nonprofit sector executive Mr. Stephen Wreh-Wilson.
The electoral body chair in a written statement on behalf of the commission expressed “deep gratitude to the OLM membership for their active participation throughout the electoral process.”
“OLM congratulates the newly elected members and calls upon the community to extend a warm welcome to these leaders,” she said. “As the elected board members assume their roles, the organization looks forward to a future marked by unity, growth, and prosperity under their guidance.”
Minnesota is home to the largest population of Liberians in the nation.
Induction
The four elected on Sunday will be sworn in on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2023. The ceremony will be held starting 5 p.m. at the Liberian Community Center, 7001 78th Ave. N, Brooklyn Park, MN 55445.
About Tom Gitaa Gitaa, Editor-in-Chief
Born and raised in Kenya's coastal city of Mombasa, Tom is the Founder, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Mshale which has been reporting on the news and culture of African immigrants in the United States since 1995. He has a BA in Business from Metro State University and a Public Leadership Credential from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He was the original host of Talking Drum, the signature current affairs show on the African Broadcasting Network (ABN-America), which was available nationwide in the United States via the Dish Network satellite service. On the show, he interviewed Nobel laureates such as 2004 Nobel Peace prize winner, Professor Wangari Maathai, the first woman from Africa to win the peace prize and heads of states. Tom has served and chaired various boards including Global Minnesota (formerly Minnesota International Center), the sixth largest World Affairs Council in the United States. He has previously served as the first Black President of the Board of Directors at Books for Africa. He also serves on the boards of New Vision Foundation and the Minnesota Multicultural Media Consortium. He has previously served two terms on the board of the United Nations Association. An avid runner, he retired from running full marathons after turning 50 and now only focuses on training for half marathons.
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