About Us

Our Story

After graduating from college and realizing that the entities making decisions impacting Black families and communities historically avoid hiring Black people and funding Black-led ideas, Esi and Peter decided to create an organization that would equip young Black people with awareness of this problem and the tools and skills necessary to build grassroots solutions that will provide Black job seekers and entrepreneurs with more access to Black-led, Black-benefitting economic opportunities.

– Co-Founders of DIFFvelopment

Vision

We envision a world where Black people know their history and view themselves as part of a collective global community that is empowered and responsible for identifying, defining and solving its own socioeconomic issues through visionary entrepreneurship, wealth building and philanthropy.

Mission

Through our mission of re-empowering the global Black community through historically centered re-education that empowers aspiring Black visionaries to develop their world differently, we give ambitious young Black people the wake-up call they need to put their love for their family and community into transformative action that disrupts negative historical patterns and creates sustainable solutions to longstanding problems.

Meet the
executives

Esi Kagale Agyeman Gillo

CEO & Co-Founder

Esi Kagale Agyeman Gillo is a forward-thinking Ghanaian and Ugandan American with a diverse academic and international, nonprofit and corporate background. She has over 15 years of volunteer, administrative, programmatic and executive-level nonprofit experience, focused on connecting and uplifting Black communities around the world and providing youth with educational services that advance them psychologically, spiritually and socioeconomically. As the CEO & Co-Founder of DIFFvelopment, Esi re-empowers the global Black community by holistically empowering aspiring Black visionaries to disrupt negative patterns of history through personal development and entrepreneurship, and manages a diverse team of employees, contractors and board members, and all aspects of strategic planning and implementation, and beneficiary and prospective and existing funder relationship building. Esi holds an MSc in African Studies from the University of Oxford, UK, a BA in Afro-American Studies and Psychology from Smith College, and has studied in Uganda, Rwanda and Ghana. Esi was recognized by Education 2.0 as an Outstanding Leader, and is the author of Understanding How to Build Black Generational Wealth: A Historically and Culturally Centered Self-Help Book, recognized by Investopedia as the Best Primer on Building Black Wealth.

Peter Markeeo Gillo

CTO & Co-Founder

Peter Markeeo Gillo leverages his passion for creativity in all aspects of life to support aspiring Black visionaries as they develop their unique spheres of influence within the global Black community. He brings extensive experience in Social Policy and Community Development, Regional Planning from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a background in Political Science and Sociology from Clark Atlanta University. Peter also holds a certificate in International Political Systems and Development from Nanjing, China, and is a life member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity.

Meet the
team

Wanjiku wa Gitau

Director of Programs

Wanjiku initially came to DIFFvelopment as a volunteer who was looking to put her passion for the empowerment of African people around the world to good use. Leveraging her expertise in hospitality and dynamic project management to build much-needed technical programmatic systems and outreach strategies, Wanjiku quickly became a crucial member of our team. As the Director of Programs, she oversees all of DIFFvelopment’s partnerships, programs and data management, supports our grants application process, and is responsible for delivering the consulting component of our 10-week summer internship program.

Alexandra Gayle

Alumni Relations Facilitator

Alexandra is a 2018 Consultrepreneurship alum and veteran DIFFvelopment volunteer. She joined the team as the Alumni Relations Facilitator and we couldn’t be more thrilled to entrust our most sensitive processes and responsibilities to someone who has firsthand experience with our flagship program.

Anton Esaulov

Website Developer

Rakibul Hasan

Nafeza Kingston

North America Programs Administrator

Abubakar Abdullahi

Africa Programs Administrator

Opoku Bonsu

Meet the
Board

DuWayne D. Harrison

Chair

DuWayne is a leader in PwC’s Cloud and Digital practice with over 27 years of int’l technology and cross functional leadership experience that spans management, IT, and operations for financial services, healthcare, enterprise solutions, pharmaceutical, government, nonprofit, and education clients. He has played a key role in helping senior business and technology executives understand the best ways to use existing and emerging technologies to run their enterprises, accelerate growth, and ultimately deliver greater business value to their customers. DuWayne has been a frequent speaker at industry conferences & world forums and won numerous awards.

Director, PricewaterhouseCooper LLP

Delicia Daniel

Treasurer

Delicia Daniel is a seasoned finance professional with over 20 years of experience in Fortune 500 companies, specializing in tax audits, compliance, and financial analysis. Currently a Senior Tax Analyst, Delicia is dedicated to enhancing financial transparency and corporate performance while promoting diversity and inclusion. She has served as co-chair of both the Black Employee Resource Group and the Women’s Employee Resource Group at Apple, demonstrating her commitment to creating inclusive spaces and supporting underrepresented communities.

Council of
Advisors

Arinze Onugha

Arinze’s practice focuses on forming and advising private investment funds, as well as representing regulated fund of funds, family offices and other institutional investors in connection with their primary and secondary investments in domestic and offshore buyout, real estate, venture capital, structured equity and other private investment funds

Partner at Fried Frank

Imani Missouri

Imani aims to inspire social impact leaders and communities to dream bigger for a brighter future in the areas of personal and leadership development, community development and equity, diversity and inclusion. Her career spans experience in the nonprofit, community development and education sector. She delivers leadership development trainings to Fortune 100 organizations as a certified facilitator through the Center for Creative Leadership. More recently, she served as the Chair of the Board of Directors for DIFFvelopment. Professionally, she led program strategy and development at Faith & Prejudice and was previously Program Officer, Knowledge Management & Strategy at Local Initiatives Support Corporation, where she engaged in multi-sector thought leadership and partnerships to advance capacity-building across urban and rural communities in America, spearheaded an internal and external racial equity strategy and collaborated on talent development initiatives. She has obtained a BA in Social Psychology from Smith College, MS in Urban Policy Analysis and Management from The New School, graduate certificate in Social Entrepreneurship from SUNY Empire State, Entrepreneurial Achievement by BE NYC Startup Intensive powered by FastTrac® and certificates in Women’s Entrepreneurship & Financial Management through Cornell University. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in Philanthropic Leadership at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University and looks forward to extending her expertise in support of DIFFvelopment’s vision.

Vanessa Cooksey

Envisioning a full creative life for every St. Louisan, Vanessa Cooksey leads the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis (RACSTL). RAC is the largest public funder of the arts. It has been pivotal in nurturing a vibrant arts and culture sector throughout the region, awarding over $100million since its inception in 1985.

Vanessa has more than 30 years of business and civic leadership experience. She’s held marketing, communications, and philanthropy leadership positions with various companies, including Mary Kay Cosmetics, The City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office, Cartoon Network, Anheuser Busch, Wells Fargo, Spire Energy, and Washington University in St. Louis. Vanessa is known for her ability to build results-driven partnerships, facilitate dynamic collaborations, create high-performing teams, and effectively convene diverse stakeholders.

Vanessa is a serious change-maker and has led innovative arts, education, technology, and health & wellness initiatives, reaching over 20 million children and adults throughout her career. Always willing to serve in her community, Vanessa’s humanitarian efforts over the last three decades have helped promote and advance human welfare and social reform across the US. Highly sought-after for her expertise in board governance, organizational culture, talent development, DEI, and reputation risk management, she has served on 150+ local and national non-profit boards, including the SIFMA Foundation for Investor Education, Harris-Stowe State University, Vote Run Lead, and Mercy Hospitals.

Vanessa earned her bachelor’s degree in Radio-Television-Film from the University of Texas at Austin and a master’s degree in business administration from Webster University. She has studied and traveled extensively in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Vanessa has received over 50 awards for her industry and community work, including the 2016 Eisenhower Fellowship, the 2018 St. Louis American Corporate Executive of the Year, and the 2023 LEAD STL Freedom Fighter Lifetime Achievement Award. She is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and Jack & Jill of America and enjoys cycling, cooking, and spending quality time with her family and friends.

JOIN#OURBLACKCOLLECTIVE

About Us

Meet the executives

Meet the team

Meet the Board

Council of Advisors

Meet the
executives

Meet the
team

Meet the
Board

Council of
Advisors