Temple CIBER board member named White House Champion of Change

This winter the White House named Dr. Christine Martey-Ochola one of 14 Champions of Change working with American Diaspora communities with roots in the Horn of Africa.

Martey-Ochola, a Temple Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) advisory board member, is co-founder and president of the Sub-Saharan Africa Chamber of Commerce.

Under her direction, the Sub-Saharan Africa Chamber of Commerce has facilitated U.S. business entry into multiple African countries and presented at many international business forums on African trade and investment.

Martey-Ochola, a native of Kenya, advises women’s organizations in the U.S. and Africa, HIV-AIDS intervention organizations and youth entrepreneurship groups, and she has also supported the establishment of computer labs in rural Kenyan schools. She has worked to increase partnerships between U.S. and African universities and assisted college students in securing internships with high-growth companies in Africa.

The Sub-Saharan Africa Chamber of Commerce commended Martey-Ochola for her outstanding leadership, selfless dedication, exemplary public service, creativity and strategic planning.

“From academe to health to accelerating private sector development, she is a Champion of Change who is leaving indelible footprints of progress in the lives of families—from the Horn of Africa to the streets of Philadelphia,” said Vuyo T. Dunjwa, executive chairman of the chamber’s board.

Martey-Ochola has also had a successful career conducting cancer research and teaching biochemistry and pharmaceutical chemistry.

– Christine Fisher