About Us
Shidaa Projects, Inc. is a Vermont based 501(c)(3) non profit organization focused on sharing the values of West African Culture through workshops and performances in schools and community organizations and venues. Our goal is to promote diversity through the activities that we offer.
Our workshops and performances include drumming, dance, fabric printing using Adinkra symbols, drum making, beading, and cooking. These activities are created to incorporate all ages.
Meet Us
Jordan Mensah, MBA
Jordan started traditional African Drumming at age 9 in Ghana. He grew up in Bukom, a suburb of Accra, a community where drum and dance played an integral part of all community activities.
Heather Preis Mensah, MBA
Heather Preis Mensah is Shidaa’s Executive Director. She is an accountant by profession. She brings her talents in business administration and project coordination, ensuring the business is in good order and that shipments from Vermont reach the needy for which they are intended in Ghana.
Prosper Kuardio
Prosper is from La Côte D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). A pioneering member of the Koteba National Dance Ensemble of La Cote D’Ivoire, he has performed all over the world. He has collaborated with Jeh Kulu drum/dance company. He is enthusiastic about teaching others African culture through dance and drums.
Julie Hunter, PhD
Julie, a native of Vermont, studied ethnomusicology at Brown University and completed her Ph.D. in 2011 with a specialization in the music of Africa.
Emmanuel Riby-Williams
Emmanuel started traditional African Drumming on the streets of James Town, Accra with recycled materials at a tender age. This led Emmanuel to join a middle school drum and dance group.
Team Ghana
Following our deep passion for reaching the needy and less privileged in Ghana where various ethnographic challenges are confronted (not to mention the ongoing challenges the Covid-19 has created), the need for a strong, stable, & well organized local team is paramount. Shidaa Projects, Inc. is represented in Ghana by Team Ghana, a three member group of dedicated individuals with various philanthropic, human-centered, & customer-oriented project experiences. The team serves as a reliable bridge between goods shipped from the United States to the designated recipients (schools, children, students, and families) in Ghana. 🇬🇭 🇬🇭
Dolly Naa Abrahams, MBA
Dolly heads Team Ghana of Shidaa, which has facilitated the clearing, storage, and distribution of shipped items from the US since 2019. She is, primarily, a Senior data management officer of Ghana’s Social Security & National Insurance Trust (SSNIT).
Abraham Nii Tetteh Djarbann
Abraham Tetteh Djarbann is an educationist and school administrator. He has managed numerous educational institutions, including Modern Sch of Draughtsmanship (Accra) where he was Headmaster for over 20 years.
Mr. Andrew Ajetunmobi
Mr. Andrew Ajetunmobi is an IT specialist of the Unique Insurance Company, Ltd. (Ridge, Accra), where he has gathered more than a decade’s experience in computer related solutions to organizational operations.
Samuel Marquaye
Samuel M. Marquaye is a dancer, choreographer, percussionist and a comic actor, who discovered his talent at a very tender age in a place called Bukom, a suburb in Accra-Ghana.