the mERCY AZOH-MBI HEART FOUNDATION
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MERCY AZOH-MBI
Founder & Chairperson
Mercy Azoh-Mbi was born in Cameroon where she earned a master’s degree in geology before moving with her family to Ottawa. She was getting ready to pursue an MBA when disaster struck. After recovering from a health crisis, she and her husband, Solomon, founded the Mercy Azoh-Mbi Heart Foundation, a Canadian charity focused on raising awareness of heart disease. Mercy and her family currently live in Pretoria where her husband serves as high commissioner of Cameroon to South Africa.
For more about the Mercy Azoh-Mbi Heart Foundation, visit www.maheartfoundation.org.
SOLOMON AZOH-MBI
Vice President
Mr. Solomon Azoh-Mbi joined the Cameroon Foreign Service as a career diplomat in 1985. He served in various capacities in the Cameroon Ministry of External Relations until 1988, when he was appointed Deputy Chief of Service in charge of official visits at the Department of Protocol at the Civil Cabinet of the Presidency. Between 1991 and 1995, he served as Attaché at the General Secretariat at the Presidency, then as Chargé de Mission, where he also served as Senior Diplomatic Adviser to the President. From 2004 to 2008, he was Board Chair of the National School of Administration and Magistracy (ENAM) in Yaounde.
In 2008 he was appointed Cameroon’s High Commissioner to Canada, Cuba and Jamaica, with residence in Ottawa. He has been Cameroon’s High Commissioner to South Africa since 2021.
JAY M. NFONOYIM
Director
Dr. Jay Nfonoyim is Program Director, Chief of Critical Care and Clinical Medicine at the Richmond University Medical Center, and Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at New York Medical College. He also served as director of the Surgical Trauma ICU at Elmhurst Hospital Center and Assistant Professor of Surgery at Mt. Sinai Medical School. He has close to four decades of experience in the field of medicine. His areas of expertise are Saddle Pulmonary Embolism, Emphysema, and Angioplasty. He is affiliated with numerous hospitals in New York, including the Richmond University Medical Center and the Staten Island University Hospital.
He studied at the Universidad Tecnologica De Santiago and did his Intensive Care training at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai. He is a member of the American Board of Internal Medicine.
PAUL T. AYAH
Secretary & CEO
Paul held various positions in industry (translator, product manager, recruiting and training manager) until 1995 before founding STF Traducation, a language services firm that provides translation and language training services to government and corporate clients. He studied concurrently at Keele University and University of London, as well as Université de Montréal and McGill University. A committed community servant, Paul was president of the Goodwill Association in 2005 and 2006, president of the Association of Cameroonians in Canada (ACC) from 2008 to 2010 and is currently a co-chair of the Sasse Alumni Association. He has also served as a big brother for the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Montreal. Paul is a member of the Ordre de traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes agréés du Québec.
NTARIBO ASHU-AGBORNGAH
Treasurer
Ntaribo is a career diplomat. He currently serves as Director of Protocol, Ceremonies and Consular Affairs at the Ministry of External Relations in Yaounde, Cameroon. Prior to this appointment, he served as First Secretary at the Cameroon High Commission in Ottawa, and as deputy to the head of cabinet for Chantal Biya, Cameroon’s First Lady, at the Circle of Friends of Cameroon, a charitable organization initiated by Cameroon’s first lady. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English Private Law from University of Yaounde and a doctorat de troisième cycle in International Relations from the International Relations Institute of Cameroon (IRIC).
ALISA TONGG
Director
An award-winning celebrant and storyteller, Alisa is an everyday philanthropist and ordained minister who brings the Aloha Spirit everywhere she goes. She is also the founder of the Bacon & Lox Society, a creative collective and celebration congregation, and a former Director of the MIT Freshman/Alumni Summer Internship Program. Whether it’s creating a new food + wine festival to rebrand a region, championing fresher food in school cafeterias, serving on the board of a pediatric cancer charity or fundraising for her local non-profit hospital, Alisa uses her 20+ years experience of event planning, fundraising and community relations to make a lasting impact. She enjoys a reputation for creating community through her speaking engagements, the ceremonies she performs and the events she creates.
DENISE ALLEN-MACARTNEY
Director
An ordained minister, Denise pastors Gloucester Presbyterian Church in Ottawa, thanks to which she keeps discovering God’s deep compassion for people and their neighbourhoods. Earlier, she served six years as Director of Communications for Fidus Systems, an electronic design services company. Through her own business, Dynamic Writing, Denise provided training and communications consulting services to government agencies, corporate, and non-profit clients across Canada. She has served on the boards of The Presbyterian College, Montreal, and The Canadian Bible Society. Denise studied at Carleton University, Ottawa; McGill University, Montreal; and the Montreal School of Theology. She and her husband, Allen, have two children and six grandchildren. She enjoys wilderness canoeing, cross-country skiing, cycling, and hiking.