27th April 2024
Press Release
FORMER UNITED STATES CONGRESS CANDIDATE JOINS MJFC ADVISORY BOARD
The Malick Jallow Foundation for Children (MJFC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Omar Bah, a US based Gambian to its Advisory Board effective 26th April 2024.
Dr. Omar Bah is a former US Congress Candidate who contested in the 2022 US Congress elections. He ran for the United States House of Representatives for Rhode Island. He is expected to work alongside seven others who were appointed late last year to serve voluntarily in the Board.
Dr. Omar Bah is a Gambian-American psychologist, torture survivor, a journalist and refugee from The Gambia in West Africa. He is also the author of the book, Africa’s Hell on Earth: The Ordeal of an African Journalist. Dr. Bah is the Founder and Director of Programs of the Refugee Dream Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Providence, Rhode Island, which provides a range of support services tailored to the needs of the refugee community.
Dr. Bah holds a bachelor’s degree in communications studies with a minor in political science; a master’s degree in Public Administration; a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology in Global Mental Health; and a doctorate in Organizational & Leadership Psychology from William James College. Dr. Bah has also completed trauma treatment certification at the Harvard Medical School through the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma.
He is currently an Adjunct Professor of clinical psychology at William James College. Dr. Bah mentors over 200 refugee youth in leadership and community building each year. His organization, the Refugee Dream Center, serves more than 3,000 refugee individuals in case management and English learning as well as health promotion, food assistance, mentorship, and job placement.
Dr. Bah is the driving force behind several initiatives, including the Global Survivor Leadership Institute, which focuses on research and training; the Dr. Omar Bah Foundation, which supports communities across the world; and Attuned & Inclined LLC., a company focused on promoting cultural attunement, trauma informed care, and organizational and program theory consulting. He has also developed training materials for trauma-informed care, cultural intelligence in working with immigrant and refugee cultural populations, as well as survivor-leaders.
In 2022, Dr. Bah ran for Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District seat.
Below is a summary of some of his major community development engagements:
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
2016-2022 Member, Diversity Community of Congress Jim Langevin
2020- Rhode Island Equity Council COVID-19
2020- Consultant, Organizational Development through the Community Change Leadership Network
2019 l- Member, President’s Advisory Council – University of Rhode Island (URI)
2017- Board Member, Global Advisory Board of the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies, Watson Institute For International & Public Affairs, Brown University
2016-2019 Board Member, St. Mary’s Home for Children
2016 – Member, Ten Men Project with the RI Coalition Against Domestic Violence
2016- Volunteer, New Bridges for Haitian Success Inc.
2012-2014 Member, Social Equity Advisory Committee, State of Rhode Island
2012-2015 Member, Human Relations Commission, City of Providence L.
Partnered with the Mayor’s office of the city of Providence to encourage community education of human rights and policing issues; Appointed by the mayor to serve on the city’s Human Relations Board and advocated for more support for people of color and refugees within the city.
2012-2015 Member, Commission on Health Advocacy and Equity
2012-2013 Board Member, African Alliance of Rhode Island
2010-2015 Board Member, Childhood Lead Action
Project Partnered with the Childhood Lead Action Project to call attention to the rampant lead poisoning of refugee children; Helped strengthen refugee resettlement services to apartments with lead safety certificates; Formed the Refugee Housing Coalition, alongside refugee community leaders, the state refugee coordinator, staff of the resettlement agencies, members of local agencies, and the state’s department of health; Advocated for proper monitoring and quality assurance to ensure that refugees were no longer placed in houses that had lead paint hazards.
Reacting to this development, Lawyer Malick H.B Jallow, Founder and President of the MJFC said: “We are very pleased to have Dr. Omar Bah on board to help direct the affairs of the Foundation. It is my firm belief that his pedigree, experience and exposure is an invaluable asset in archieving the objectives of the foundation in a timely and effective manner.“
“Once again on behalf of the entire foundation and myself, I extend a very warm welcome to Dr Bah and wish him all the best,“ he remarked.
