Mr. Gerald LeMelle is the Executive Director of Africa Action. Africa Action is the oldest organization in the United States whose mission is to change U.S. Africa relations to promote political, economic and social justice in Africa. Africa Action is widely recognized for more than five decades of solidarity with African human rights and justice advocates across the continent. It has been singled out for praise by Africa leaders from Kwame Nkrumah and Leopold Senghor to Julius Nyerere and Nelson Mandela.

Africa Action's predecessor organizations date back to 1953, when the American Committee on Africa (ACOA) was founded in New York. The ACOA was created by a group of black and white civil rights activists who had organized support for the historic Defiance Campaign in South Africa the previous year. The ACOA, together with The Africa Fund, which was founded in 1966, and the Africa Policy Information Center (APIC) founded in 1978, merged to form Africa Action in 2001.

Africa Action, working with civil society partners in Africa:

• Provides information and analysis of key human rights issues in Africa.

• Mobilizes public pressure to change the policies of the U.S. and multilateral institutions toward Africa, so that they support the efforts of Africans themselves to promote human rights, democracy and development.

Prior to joining Africa Action in the fall of 2007, Gerald served as the Deputy Executive Director for Advocacy at Amnesty International USA. For over twelve years, Gerald was responsible for the following programs: Business and Human Rights, National Campaigns, Casework, Country Specialists, the Domestic Human Rights Program, Government Relations, International Justice and Accountability, Just Earth!, OUTfront, the Program to Abolish the Death Penalty, Refugee Program, Urgent Actions, and the Women's Human Rights. Under his supervision the Advocacy Department produced over 1600 actions a year.

Prior to working at Amnesty International USA, Gerald served as the Director of African Affairs with the Phelps-Strokes Fund. There, he was responsible for seven programs including the African Student Advisory Program, the African Student Aid Fund, the African University Resources Program, the African Forum Series, the African Papers Series, the International Studies Curriculum Project and the Southern African Refugee Scholarship Program.

Gerald holds a J.D. from Georgetown University. He is a member of the New York, District of Columbia, and Supreme Court Bar Associations, and, a member of the Council for Foreign Relations. He has appeared on radio and television numerous times and has been published in newspapers across the country. He lived in Africa for ten years, primarily in Kenya and Tunisia.