Our Board
Ghana Beyond Subsistence
Dr. D. Rose Elder, President
Dr. D. Rose Elder, President, has worked in Ghana with American students and Ghanaian farmers, traders, and development leaders since 2003. First, collaborating with Ms. Linda Houston and now an expanded group, she encourages educational growth and sustainable development solutions. An associate professor at The Ohio State University ATI, DE coordinates humanities and social sciences and teaches world music and arts. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Wheaton College Conservatory, master’s and doctoral degrees (music theory/composition) from OSU, and studied theology at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio. She authored Why the Amish Sing: Songs of Identity and Solidarity (John Hopkins University Press, 2013) and many articles about Ghana’s arts and development issues. As a Fulbright Fellow, she taught American Protestantism at the University of Cyprus and in two subsequent years lectured on American music throughout Cyprus sponsored by the US State Department.
Ms. Linda Houston, Vice President
Ms. Linda Houston, Vice President, Associate Professor Emeritus, taught English, Agricultural Communication, and Speech for 37 years at The Ohio State University ATI where she received the OSU Distinguished Teaching and Distinguished Diversity Awards. She retired in 2011. She previously taught junior high school English and second grade in Utah. Linda earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Syracuse University. The Wooster community awarded Linda the Woman of Achievement Award for her work chairing both the substance abuse board and the women’s abuse shelter board and the Athena Award for her support of women in Wooster. She characterizes her 12-year involvement in Ghana with students as “the highlight of my life.” Serving with the GBS board will allow her to continue her work with the Board. She is a major contributor to the Women’s Hospital in Accra, continuing her concern for the people of Ghana.
Dr. Nathan Crook, Treasurer
Dr. Nathan Crook, Treasurer, is a cultural anthropologist and an associate professor at The Ohio State University ATI, where he teaches courses in rural sociology and World Literature. He has researched, written, and spoken extensively about regional approaches to culinary systems and agritourism, including authoring a book, A Culinary History of the Great Black Swamp: Buckeye Candy, Bratwurst & Apple Butter (History Press, 2013). Nathan has been involved in rural development work in Ghana since 2016 when he became involved with microloan and savings projects for farmers and petty traders. His collaborative research projects include interviewing traditional Ewe leaders and storytellers in the Volta Region, exploring Ghanaian life during the famine of 1983, gaining a deeper understanding of the Ewe leadership structure, collecting integration narratives among Muslim settlers/residents of the Ho Zongo, and developing an agritourism trail for the Ho, VR area. Nathan is a co-founder of Ghana Beyond Subsistence.
Dr. Edgar Singleton, Secretary
Dr. Edgar Singleton, Secretary, is the retired Director of First-Year Writing at The Ohio State University, where he developed curriculum, teacher training, and assessment for a course that enrolls more than 4000 students annually. He received his PhD in English from Ohio State as well as degrees in French and Music from Bowling Green State University. In addition to performing professionally as a musician, he continues to teach as adjunct faculty at both Columbus College of Art and Design and Ohio State. Originally traveling to Ghana with the Ghana Research and Education Abroad program, Edgar is now part of the Ghana Beyond Subsistence team. In Ghana, he has worked closely with teachers and engaged in regional teacher development activities in coordination with Ghana Education Services.
Dr. Peter M. Rutkoff, Board Member
Dr. Peter M. Rutkoff, Board Member, is a Distinguished Professor of American Studies at Kenyon College where he is also the Executive Director of the Kenyon Academic Partnership and a lecturer for the Cooperstown Graduate Program in Museum Studies, SUNY Oneonta. He has traveled extensively, holding Fulbright fellowships in Paris and Cyprus and conducting scholarly research in Ghana. He has authored more than a dozen volumes of fiction and nonfiction and received many teaching awards for his college teaching and numerous federal grants for his work with junior high and high school public school teachers in Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio.
Malik Abdurrahman-Austin, M.Ed., Board Member
Malik Abdurrahman-Austin, M.Ed., Board Member, has been in private and public education for over 30 years. A Wilberforce University and Indiana University at Bloomington graduate, he has been a classroom teacher and school administrator in Cleveland, Ohio, and Indianapolis, Indiana. Presently, Malik is at Pike High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he teaches AP African American History and American Government. He is also the sponsor and advisor to the Pike High School African Student Association, whose mission is to inform the public about the ongoing contribution and relevance of Africa and its diaspora to the world. Since his participation with GBS three years ago, he has been working with Ghanaian teachers, conducting and implementing annual workshops that collaborate with American and Ghanaian teachers in the sharing of teaching strategies and global “best practices” that will enable all children, regardless of the locale, to learn, be productive citizens, and to be able to problem solve and be critical thinkers. Aside from the work he is doing in education, Malik has met and befriended many Ghanaians during his visits, “friendships built on trust and mutual respect that will last a lifetime.” He has found a home in Ho and has learned the meaning of “family” through those interactions.
Ms. April M. Stewart, Board Member
Ms. April M. Stewart, Board Member, participated three summers with Ohio State ATI’s Ghana Research and Education Abroad during which she taught health and science classes at Mawuko Girls’ Senior High School and volunteered at the Volta Regional Hospital. A graduate of The College of Wooster and Ohio State, she is a registered nurse who works at a veterinary practice. April is a proponent of girls’ education and recognizes the immense value a good education is to a child’s life, family, and community. She will focus on programs for teachers in Ghana to enhance the quality of education for all.
Mrs. Jessica L. Crook-Collins, Board Member
Mrs. Jessica L. Crook-Collins, Board Member, participated for two summers with Ohio State ATI’s Ghana Research and Education Abroad, first in 2016 she focused on teaching eighth grade students how to play music on Recorders and in 2018, she focused her research on the Changing Role of the Royal Drummer in the Ewe Leadership Structure. A graduate of The Ohio State University with a bachelor’s degree in Community Leadership and Rural Development, Jessica is an Organic Certification Specialist with the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA).
Mr. Dickson Charles Asase, Extension Officer
Mr. Dickson Charles Asase, Extension Officer, has worked as the GBS consultant and facilitator in Ghana since 2018 and has collaborated with the GBS leaders in other capacities since 2003. Mr. Asase has a wealth of knowledge in current developments in the fields of adult learning, youth development works, sustainable agriculture, and rural development practices, and project management in Ghana. Dickson has served as an Agricultural Extension and Training Officer with both the E.P. Church Development and Relief Agency (EPDRA) and the Ghana Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA). He is a former Training Officer with PlanGhana and the American Peace Corps. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Youth in Development Work with a Certificate in Agricultural Extension and Rural Development from the University of Ghana, Legon; and additional certificates in General Agriculture from Kwadaso Agricultural College, Kumasi; Project Management for Development Workers from CORAT Africa in Nairobi, Kenya; and Organic Farming from the Kenyan Institute of Organic Farming (KIOF) also in Nairobi, Kenya. He also holds certificates in Beekeeping, Mushroom Farming, Rabbit and Grasscutter Breeding, and Snail Farming.