School Board
The AISOY Board consists of seven voting members, six of whom are elected and one of whom is appointed (the Ambassador’s Representative). (The Board may also include up to four ex-officio, non-voting members). The term of service for elected members is two years; the Ambassador determines the term of the appointed Ambassador’s Representative. Three Board members are elected in odd-numbered years, and three are elected in even-numbered years.
In even-numbered years, two of the elected board members must be American citizens employed at the U.S. Embassy, and the other elected board member must be a Cameroonian national. In odd-numbered years, two elected board members must be American citizens employed at the U.S. Embassy, and the other must be a non-American citizen.
Please meet our 2024-2025 Board members below:
Jose Tchofa - President
Jose is last year's Board President and works with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Cameroon Health Office. He has a total of two offspring AISOY alumni and one in G7.
Nancy Bonamy - Vice President
Nancy is a Swiss multi-expatriate for 28 years. She lived in over 12 African countries, the Middle East, Russia, Europe, and North America. She has experienced four professional career changes: she started as a teacher for an elementary school in Madagascar for 3 years, worked as a manager for professional musicians in France for 3 years, and then worked for 10 years as a humanitarian aid worker for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in highly sensitive contexts, and since 2014, she works as a certified Transition, Career, Resilience and Well-being Coach for humanitarian workers, expatriates' spouses, and international organisations.
Alain Desire ABEGA - Treasurer
He has been a civil engineer at The National Advanced School of Engineering of Yaounde since 2004. He worked in a private society, specialising in building, for one year after he joined the Yaounde City Council in 2005. Alain Desire ABEGA has spent 16.5 years in this local administration, where he occupied many posts of responsibilities such as project manager, head of urban roads and various networks, and member of the Internal Procurement Commission.
Christen Machak - Secretary
Political-Economic Section Chief at the U.S. Embassy in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
She has served in the Netherlands, Bangladesh, Trinidad and Tobago, and Germany. She has also held several positions in Washington including in the Bureau of Counterterrorism and on the Kosovo Desk. From 2021-2023, Ms. Machak served as an elected State Representative on the Governing Board of the American Foreign Service Association, the professional association for the U.S. Foreign Service.
John G. Robinson - U.S. Ambassador's Representative
Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Previous assignments include Addis Ababa; State Department’s Office of West African Affairs; State Department’s Office of the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment; Karachi; U.S. Mission to the EU in Brussels; Port-au-Prince; Berlin; State Department’s Office of European Union and Regional Affairs; and U.S. Mission to the OECD in Paris. Before joining the Foreign Service, John was a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Bamendjou, West Region, Cameroon, and worked at the American University of Paris.
Joseph Love - Child Protection Liason
He currently serves as the Regional Security Officer since August 26, 2023, at the U.S. Embassy in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Since October 2022, he served as the Deputy Regional Security Officer (DRSO) in Lima Peru, and arrived at Post on 10/18/2022 with my wife, Tia, and son Joseph Love 3rd. From 2020 until 2022, he served as the Regional Security Officer (RSO) in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. He served as the chairman for Post’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee. From 2017 until 2019, he was assigned as an Assistant Regional Security Officer (ARSO) in La Paz, Bolivia where he managed personnel assigned to the Chief of Mission protective security detail and personnel assigned to the residential security program, and he also spearheads enhanced security and law enforcement cooperation with the Bolivian National Police.
Mathieu Ebanda Enyegue - Member at Large
A distinguished professional in the banking and finance sector, Mr. Ebanda brings over 10 years of expertise as the former Head of Treasury for both UBA Congo and Banque Atlantique Cameroon. A proud alumnus of the International Relations Institute of Cameroon, where he specialised in Banking and Finance, he has honed a profound understanding of financial markets and treasury management. Leveraging his extensive experience, he founded Elite Capital Group SA, where he currently serves as the General Administrator. The firm is a prominent player in the financial markets of the CEMAC Region, with a strong focus on asset management and investment services. Under Mathieu's visionary leadership, Elite Capital Group SA has earned memberships in notable organisations such as AmCham and GECAM, reinforcing its commitment to excellence and industry standards.