Amini Kajunju

Biography

Amini Kajunju is the executive director of the IUGB Foundation. The Foundation is dedicated to empowering students and helping to develop the necessary resources to make the International University of Grand-Bassam (IUGB) a center of excellence for higher education in West Africa.

Kajunju joins the Foundation from Africa Integras, where she served as director of strategic partnerships. Africa Integras, a New York-based firm, invests in the development of education infrastructure, including academic facilities, student hostels and faculty housing at African universities.

Prior to her role with Africa Integras, Kajunju was the president and CEO of the Africa-America Institute (AAI), a New York-based non-profit dedicated to strengthening human capacity in Africa. She is the first African to serve at the helm of the oldest non-profit organization of its kind in the United States.

A native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kajunju also founded the Bashi Group, an international consultancy focused on education and entrepreneurship in Africa in 2016. 

With 20 years of experience in entrepreneurial and economic development, she joined AAI from the Workshop in Business Opportunities (WIBO), a New York-based non-profit small business development service provider serving entrepreneurs in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, where she was executive director for 10 years.

Kajunju previously served in program positions at the International Executive Service Corps (IESC) and Social Science Research Council (SSRC) and conducted field research at the Center for Humanitarian Outreach & Intercultural Exchange and spent a summer at The Carter Presidential Center. 

She was honored as “Advocate of the Year” at Applause Africa’s African Diaspora Awards 2013 and was named Forbes’ 20 Young Power Women in Africa 2013.She sits on several volunteer boards including Education Congo, JA Africa, Walnut Hill School of the Arts and is an advisory board member of the University of South Africa.

She holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in International Relations with an emphasis on economic development from Brigham Young University and a Masters degree in Public Administration with a concentration in finance and management from New York University. Amini speaks French and has a basic understanding of Kiswahili and Lingala.