Who are we?

The Dakar Dragons team is a group of altruistic, dedicated, committed, passionate and like-minded business people who have the skills, determination and experience to help others. They know that change can only happen if action is taken. They believe that education is key to the developing world, and they understand that Africa can only change if its people are educated. The team is led by Mariéme Jamme, who is well known for her passion for empowering African business women to become self-sufficient and self-reliant.

Not all the team-members listed below will participate in the trip to Senegal in November-December 2009, but their contributions to the project are invaluable.

Penny Power
Patron of the Dakar Dragons
Founder of Ecademy, she was born in England in 1964.  She is married to Thomas Power and has three children, Hannah, Ross and TJ. Ecademy helps people achieve success in their business through online tools, community and through friendship. She has been in business since she was 19, when she joined the fast growing PC Industry in 1983. Although a business woman through and through she is very emotionally driven. She wants people to find purpose and be able to communicate it. When she created Ecademy she realized at that point that Social Networking was far more than technology, it was about the people and that has been she driver since 1998 when Ecademy was born.
Penny’s expertise in this Project will help African Business Women communicate better and find a common purpose in their lives. We are honored to have her as a Patron.

Mariéme Jamme
Team Leader
Mariéme Jamme was born in Senegal and grew up in France, where she was educated. An established Senegalese social entrepreneur and philanthropist now living in London, she is dedicated to helping empower women (and men) in Africa.  For Mariéme, educating African women to become self-sufficient is the key to effective change. When in Africa, she spends her time with rural African women, helping them get a basic education. Mariéme believes that African people need to be given tools, and education is a tool.

Romany has assisted many start up businesses with creative thinking and ideas to promote and establish their businesses, this has led to the launch of an online community called Better Networking.

James McBrearty Treasurer, Tax and Accounts
James has nearly two decades’ experience in tax and accounts. He is MD of taxhelp.uk.com, a company that specialises in helping self-employed people pay less tax and avoid fines. He has sponsored a child overseas since early 2008; is heavily involved with social networking; is a keen member of the Tony Robbins Community, and is a qualified pilot.

Dianna Bonner
Photographer
Dianna is a half-British, half-Canarian professional photographer, currently living between London and Tenerife. She has travelled to many countries and has worked with a major non-profit organisation. Her clients have included large blue-chip companies, charitable organisations and internationally famous musicians. She is also the official Ecademy events photographer. She promotes ethical photography and enjoys editorial and journalist work. In November she will travel to Senegal to document the Dakar Dragons project photographically. The mother of two lovely boys, Dianna is dedicated to her family.

Anna Lowe
Operations Management

Jonathan Roe- Corporate Finance

Jonathan worked in the City for over 25 years, mostly with Dresdner Kleinwort, helping companies raise equity capital from the Stock Market. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen and has a degree in Chemistry from Oxford University. He now acts as a consultant for companies which are planning to join the Stock Market and also acts as an expert witness and a small business mentor. Every journey starts with a single step. Jonathan hopes that by joining the Dakar Dragons he will be helping people to take more confident and assured strides along their paths and better enable them to reach out to achieve their full potential.

Jonathan ‘s long term is ambition is to see the first Dakar Dragon sponsored business make it on to the Dakar Stock Exchange.