Governance

Originally Lebanese but born in Ibadan, Ali Safieddine has been living and working in Nigeria for almost 20 years. Educated in the UK, graduating from the London School of Economics, Ali has been working for his family business, heading a local cosmetic manufacturing plant in Lagos. Having exited the business in 2014, Ali is now the Managing Director of Numaya Ltd, a Trading and IT Company based in Lagos.
Ali is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organisation, a global network of young chief executives with over 22,000 members in more than 125 countries. Ali also sits on the Board of the Lebanese International School in Yaba, Lagos. Ali is a passionate horse rider and a member of the Lagos Polo Club, he can be seen playing polo on most “dry” weekends in Ikoyi.

Ali is married to Fatin and they have four children, three of which are enrolled in AIS, Aya in grade 10, Nour in grade 7, and Mohammed in grade 4. Malik, just a year old, will surely follow in his sibling’s footsteps one day! Ali is honoured to serve on the Board at AISL and loves being part of the community.

Funke has been an active member of the AISL community for the last six years and describes herself as a fulltime wife and mother, and a part time entrepreneur. She is one of the co-founders of 3Line Card Management Ltd, a payments and transaction processing firm in Lagos. Before her appointment as General Manager in 2009, she served as the Head of Corporate Services, overseeing the human resource, finance, administration, legal and compliance units where structures were formulated from inception.

Funke is skilled in achieving operational efficiencies and increasing revenue. A dependable team player who possess 14 years senior management experience spanning across retail, electronic commerce, electronic payments, and more recently the Agro-allied industries. Her areas of expertise include business process improvements, operational quality control and compliance.
She graduated from University of Westminster, London, with a BA Hon in Economics degree. Thereafter, she gained a Masters degree in Information Technology from the University of Nottingham where she was awarded a distinction in her dissertation titled ‘Using Collaborative Virtual Reality to Gain Competitive Advantage in The UK Tourism Industry’.

She began her career in 1996 as a Sales Executive at DH Evans London the multi-million pound retail business, from where she rose to become an Assistant Manager responsible for the HR, payroll and training of over 200 staff. During the Internet boom, she gained in-depth experience as a Systems Analyst working for Accenture, UK. While at Accenture, she was part of the pioneering project team that rolled out a network transformation for the UK's second largest retail chain, resulting in immediate savings of more than 35 million ($50 million) per year. This exposure to technology and commerce fuelled her next pursuit. She joined Auravita.com, London, an innovative software development company and subsidiary of Healthe Ltd in Zurich. She served as the Business-to-Business Manager overseeing all electronic procurement and electronic invoice financing. 
She has served as the Secretary of Changing Our World Foundation – an NGO working to alleviate poverty in the Obalende area, an organization she still works with to date. Every Wednesday, she teaches ‘Human Values’ at a State run school for the underprivileged in Falomo, Lagos State. Funke relocated back to Nigeria in 2005 and is happily married to Demola Ade-Ojo. She is the proud mother of Sefeoluwa, Ademide, and Folajimi who all attend AISL.

Andrew Nahman is the Executive Director of Nahman Construction and is responsible for establishing and overseeing the day-to-day management of the company. He began his professional career in Nigeria in 2007 after working in the US for four years. In 2012, he and his brother brought the first American hamburger franchise to Nigeria when they opened Johnny Rockets.

Andrew spent most of his youth in Lagos and attended AISL between 1987 and 1995. In fact, his wife is also an alumnae to AISL; the two attended AISL during the same period in the early 90s. He currently has a daughter in second grade and another in kindergarten. He loves being part of the AISL community once again. He calls Lagos and Los Angeles his home, and loves the fact that he can be close to the ocean wherever he goes.

Carol Cox, originally from Bellevue, Washington, serves as the Deputy Consular Section Chief in the Consulate General in Lagos, Nigeria. She arrived in Lagos in August 2016 and is serving a four year tour. Prior to this assignment, Carol served in Washington, D.C., in the Office of African Affairs, West; Abuja, Nigeria; Vancouver, Canada; Chennai, India; Luxembourg, Luxembourg; and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Before joining the Foreign Service, Carol worked in public accounting and international telecommunications.

Carol has a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, and a Masters of International Management from the American Graduate School of International Management, now the Thunderbird School of Global Management within Arizona State University in Phoenix, Arizona. Carol is an avid snow skier and enjoys tennis and water sports.

Teddie Brinkley began his career at ExxonMobil 14 years ago in Houston, TX as a pipeline design engineer. Prior to joining ExxonMobil, Teddie graduated from his home state school, North Carolina State University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. Teddie has held numerous, diverse roles since joining ExxonMobil in 2013, including design engineering, project management, supervisory roles, and marketing.

Teddie is currently based in Lagos, Nigeria and holds the position of OBO Asset Manager, responsible for non-ExxonMobil operated oil & gas assets in Nigeria. Teddie is married with three boys, two of which are enrolled in AISL. In his spare time, he a dedicated runner and triathlete, likes home improvement/construction projects, and enjoys building and driving radio control cars with his sons.

Clyde has been a part of the AISL community for 8 years with 2 kids enrolled, his Son in 6th grade and daughter in 4th grade. He is a graduate of the School of Business at Howard University of Washington DC with a BBA in Finance. Clyde started his career on Wall Street in New York City as a stockbroker and subsequently got licensed as a securities principal and equity trader. He worked at various firms and his last position was Vice President at Datek Brokerage Services where he led a team of 30 brokers trading a $100 million portfolio. He was also part of the selling group that took Goldman Sachs and UPS public in the late 90’s.
 
In 2003 Clyde returned to Nigeria and founded Caspian group an OEM representative for several premium brands in construction, oil and gas as well as a major exporter of renewable energy to major European markets. Recently, the group has diversified into the power sector. Clyde is an avid sports fan and a strong believer in the concept of education for all.

Nitinchandra Nandekar is the Managing Director of the largest media agency in the region, mediaReach OMD. Nitin is a Mechanical Engineering graduate and he subsequently pursued his masters (PGDBA) from, Mumbai India.Nitin has been leaving in Nigeria and West Africa from last 11 years. Nitin has more than 18 years of experience in all facets of media – strategy, planning, communication, buying, client servicing, finance and operations. He has worked with several global agencies like Mediaedge & Madison Media and in several markets like India, Middle East, and Levant region before joining mediaReach OMD West Africa. His experience spans a wide range of products including FMCGs, Durables, Telecom, Banking, Automobile, Airline industries etc.
 
Nitin is married with one beautiful daughter, Nisa studying in 7th grade.Nitin loves nature and nature related things in his life. He does Yoga and Meditation to keep him fit and active. He enjoys traveling, socializing with different kinds of people and spending time with his family.

Robert joined the school board in August 2018 and brings a wealth of relevant finance experience to AISL. He is presently the Business Process & Compliance Manager within the Finance Department of Chevron Nigeria Limited; a position he has held since early 2016. Robert was previously the Chief Auditor and Internal Control Manager in the Kuwait/Saudi Arabia Partitioned Zone where he spent almost 5 years. Prior to that he held a number of Finance leadership positions in the Republic of Congo, Indonesia, and Algeria. He started his career as a CPA for Arthur Andersen & Co in Kansas City just a few days after graduation from the University of Kansas in 1989. Robert is happily married to his wife Kwanjira and they have an adorable toddler named Mirabel.

Yemi is the General Manager Gas Portfolio for the Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria (SPDC) responsible for developing new gas business and managing contracts. She started her career with Shell in 2001 as a Production Engineer in New Orleans, Louisiana and her career has spanned various roles in engineering management, business planning and strategy development. Prior to joining SPDC she was the Business Adviser to the Shell Upstream Director in the Shell Headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands. Yemi holds a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Houston, Texas and an MBA from Arizona State University. Yemi is married to Benedict and has two children, Tobi and Tunrayo who both attend AISL.