Journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault has joined the international advisory board of the Africa Atlanta 2014.

A former foreign correspondent for National Public Radio, Public Broadcasting Service, the New York Times, and CNN, Hunter-Gault, was the first African-American to enroll in the University of Georgia in 1961. She recalled those memories during a speech on campus April 3 and was a participant in the April 4 Ivan Allen Prize Symposium honoring Congressman John Lewis. 

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is honorary chair of Africa Atlanta 2014.  Members of the Africa Atlanta 2014 International Advisory Board are Yves Abrioux, professor at University of Paris; David Kibler, cultural attaché, Consulate General of France in Atlanta; Cynthia Blandford Nash, honorary consul general in Atlanta for Liberia; Corrine Kratz, professor, Institute of African Studies and Department of Anthropology, Emory University; Emily Bourne Grigsby, attorney and arbitrator; Geneviève Verbeek, consul general of Belgium in Atlanta; Shelby Lewis, emerita professor at Clark Atlanta University; Haskell Ward, senior vice president of SEACOM; Keith Jennings, senior associate and regional director for Southern and East Africa National Democratic Institute in Washington; Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, the Supreme Court of Georgia; Lily Diaz-Kommonen, head of research, School of Art and Design, Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland; Guido Gryseels, director, Royal Museum of Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium; and Lubungi Muniania, Tabilulu Productions, New York. 

The Atlanta Advisory Board Co-Chairs are Barbara Rose, New Generations Partnerships, Inc.; Buck Shamburger, Georgia Tech Athletic Association; Taz Anderson, Taz Anderson Realty, Inc.; David H. Flint, Schreeder, Wheeler & Flint, LLP; Wayne Hogan, Georgia Tech Athletic Association; Seth Hopkins, Booth Western Museum; James H. Terry, II, Georgia Tech Athletic Association; and Jimmy Trimble, Fidelity Bank.

Africa Atlanta 2014 is a city-wide year-long celebration renewing cultural and economic bonds among African, European, and American cultures in Atlanta led by Ivan Allen College Dean Jacqueline Royster in collaboration with partners from across the city.  Events and activities will begin on February 6 with the exhibit "Mapping Place: Africa Beyond Paper" at the Robert C. Williams Paper Museum and a complementary performance by Giwayan Mata at the Ferst Center. Check out the schedule at www.africaatlanta.org