SEBAMALA ARTS
REDEFINING ARTISTRY
Our
Team
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With a predominantly female Board, part-time staff and creative teams led by women, we work to increase women's representation in the industry. All our work comprises of over 60% women administrators, performers, managers and production crews.
Founder/Creative Director
DOUGLAS DUBOIS started SEBAMALA ARTS in honor of his mother Annet Nakibuuka and late Aunt who raised him, Harriet Namayanja, to create platforms that support women who are survivors of gender based violence. He is an Advocacy Artist, Theater and Film Producer, Director and Actor, who prides greatly in works that empower underrepresented communities. Dubois develops equality, advocacy and gender programming, writes and produces social justice and social change film, theater and documentary productions. He has performed internationally and collaborates with artists across East Africa, United States and the UK. A Member of Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab (2019) where he directed a staged reading of The Surrogate, Dubois' aspires to increase appreciation for African Theater and storytelling that celebrates strengths of African women globally. He also establishes cross-cultural collaborations and platforms for African artists and immigrants in the diaspora.
Business Development & Strategy
PAMELA OTALI is a Public Relations Communications Manager with over 25 years of experience managing people and in producing theater production. A storyteller who tells stories to inform behavior change, influence a purchasing decision, inspire brand loyalty or simply to spark a thought process. She believes that every brand, person and organization has a story and it is an exciting process to help them unearth, define and share them - through a vision statement, company profile, social media content, a marketing and public relations campaign, a logo... She supports Sebamala Arts with research, creating strategies, testing ideas, devising production strategies and developing annual business plans while telling the most compelling story.
Head of Production
MARION NABIMANYA is an enthusiastic team leader with excellent team building and interpersonal skills, proven success with budgeting, community care and keen attention to detail. She has worked on productions such as Sunday (directed by Angella Emurwon) and our 2020/2021 production, Keycard. Marion joined the company as part of the Women+Youth Film Apprenticeship Program in 2020, and her proven abilities earned her the position of Head of Productions by 2021. She is a self driven and dedicated individual who is result oriented, passionate about completing tasks and responsibilities and highl;y motivated to learn and grow, optimizing long term success of the organization's objectives. She holds a Diploma in Leather Industry & Business at Makerere University and a Bachelors of Science in Travel & Tourism Management at Kenya Methodist University.
Programs Manager
YESHUA ESSIEN is a Nigerian born artist, singer and scholar of medicine, who enjoys literature, writing for medicine and the performing arts. Serving in leadership positions at churches in Kampala, Uganda and organizing and directing productions, he brings an eclectic treatise of production messaging, packaging people centered programming and community care into his work on all programs at Sebamala Arts ltd. Devoted to saving human life through medicine, his operations and service toward marginalized communities is empowering to young and aspiring leaders in health and arts communications. Essien also manages operations at the local office in Kampala and coordinates programs with our body of artists living and working in the diaspora.
Monitoring & Evaluations
GWOKYAALYA HALIMA is a graduate of Land Survey at Ndejje University and has worked as a secretary in academia, previously as an administrator at Kiddies Light College in Kampala Uganda. Passionate about women's empowerment at gender programming, Halima aspires to create a world where her daughter shall grow up with equal opportunities, access to health and all rights accorded to every human. In charge of Monitoring and Evaluations, she takes charge of report writing at Sebamala Arts, monitors organizational and staff performance and chairs meetings. She also caters to welfare of production teams and conducts follow up meetings with young women and youth during and after their apprenticeship programs at Sebamala Arts.
General Secretary
BEN SSEMAMBO joined the team as an Apprentice on WYFA in 2019 and has grown up the ladder to his current position. He has served in multiple positions as Production Assistant. He holds a certificate in mass communication at United Media Consultants and Trainers in Kampala Uganda, and uses his skills in journalism, print media, radio and television production to support arts based organizations. He volunteers at Youth Arts Movement Uganda, (YAMU) on programs like Visualize. He follows trends in filmmaking, photography, graphics design and video editing, using professional software like premiere pro, Photoshop, in design and illustrator. Ben aspires to work in a leading firm that places priority on professionalism and lead such employers towards attainment of set goals diversification in the field.
The Board
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In charge of overall decision making, long term organizational budgeting and planning. The Board guides the organization, support fundraising and global networking at the organization.
Angella Emurwon
Board Chair and Lead Mentor, Emurwon has built a strong background over the decade as Playwright, Writing Mentor, and Filmmaker. She is a two-time BBC Radio Drama Award winner. Her Her debut short film, Sunday, won Best East African short film at the 2019 Mashariki African Film Festival (Rwanda), 2nd Prize, Films by Women at Ndiva Women's Film Festival (Ghana, 2019). In 2015 the feature film project based on her radio play “Sunflowers behind a Dirty Fence” won CineMart Rotterdam Lab Award for Most Promising Project at Durban FilmMart (2015). Since 2014, in collaboration with Maisha Film Lab, she’s mentored screenwriters in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, and Germany.
Mary Helda Akongo
Lead, Women and Gender Programs. Helda is also the Fundi Girls Lead, at Fundi Bots, an organization that is accelerating science learning in Africa. Formerly, she worked with Zimba Women; a Ugandan organization that finds innovative technological solutions to create sustainable futures for African women as an operations and programs manager. She is a Design Fellow with Design without Borders and is passionate about using human-centred design practices to address complex challenges faced by organizations, businesses and communities in low and middle-income countries. Mary Helda has been awarded the Facebook Social Entrepreneurship Award and the 25 under 25 award by the Internet Society for her exceptional work with Zimba Women. She won the World Bank #Blog4Dev writing competition for penning a brilliant story on her experience as a victim of gender-based violence and her work with Roaring Doves. She believes that technology and design have the power to positively influence the social, political and economic development of women in Africa.
Dennis Yueh-Yeh Li
Consultant, International production and artistic engagement. Originally from Taiwan, Dennis earned his MA in Performance Studies at the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. He works as a director, playwright, and performer, having created productions addressed upon sexuality, philosophy, humanity, and social class, to give his unique perspective on time, space, and power relations. His works were shown at Theater for the New City, Dixon Place, Judson Memorial Church, and New Ohio Theater. Currently, Dennis works with The Living Theatre, and is an alumnus of Drama League’s New York Directing Fellowship, and of Target Margin Theater’s Institute Fellowship. Dennis is also a member of Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab.
Flora Aduk
Lead, Communications and Partnerships. Flora Aduk is a Ugandan journalist, marketeer, actress and blogger. Currently the Communication Manager at Nile Breweries, Flora began her career as a features writer in 2005 with a bias to women and social affairs. She is the former Features Editor/weekend editions, Daily Monitor and Editor of Daily Monitor's women’s weekly Full Woman and has written a number of weekly columns for the newspaper over the years. She also engages in editing documents and books, proofreading, advising on magazine design, writing documents and articles, media and public relations consultancy, and general communication-related tasks. With experience in media and communication spanning 13 years, her current challenge is harnessing the skills gathered over the years to become a prolific corporate communications executive.
Apprentices
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Our Women+Youth Film Apprenticeship (WYFA) program trains young and aspiring women filmmakers and youth who aspire for excellence and employment in the creative sector. This practical skills training program is led by merited women filmmakers who mentor and train other women, using short film productions as a tool for gender equality and women empowerment. Our apprentices take on Production Assistant roles during annual film and theater productions, and some grow into managerial positions at Sebamala Arts.
