The Executive Team
EXECUTIVE
TEAM.
Ambassador Charles R. Stith - Chairman
Mary Mildred Stith - Pula Group President and Pula Graphite Partners Director, Pula Kahama Gold Partnership Director
Dr. Mary “Mimi” Stith is President of the Pula Group, a US-based company that invests in high value opportunities in mining and energy in sub-Saharan Africa. Under her leadership, Pula has developed a model for ethical exploration and mining in sub-Saharan Africa. An East Africa specialist and fluent in Swahili, Stith has also worked throughout the African continent for two decades. At Boston University’s African Presidential Center, she created a communication strategy for the Center in 16 African countries. While at APC, she also served as the interim attaché to President Karl Offmann, the former President of Mauritius. Mary earned a PhD in Anthropology from Boston University, focusing on natural resource management in Tanzania. She holds an M.A. in Quantitative Methods for the Social Sciences from Columbia University and a B.A. in Philosophy from Spelman College. She conducted graduate environmental research at Columbia University’s Earth Institute and served at the American Museum of Natural History’s Center for Biodiversity Conservation. Among many other fellowships, Mary held the Martin Luther King, Jr. Fellowship (Boston University) and was a Fulbright Scholar.
Pula President - Dr Mary Mildred Stith in the News - SA hosts AGOA Summit (Dr. Mary Mildred Stith),
Newzroom Afrika (YouTube) - November 2, 2023
Bernard Katompa - Pula Graphite Partners Director and Advisor to the Chairman
Bernard Katompa is a seasoned business leader with a proven track record of making things happen. In addition to his role on the Pula Group Executive Team, he is currently serving as Chief Executive officer of Belfy Trading, a family business he is building in Johannesburg, South Africa. Prior to this venture, Bernard spent almost five years from September 2007 to July 2012 at the helm of Liberty Africa, a Business Unit he started from scratch on behalf of the Liberty Group to provide insurance and wealth products to the untapped African market and create value for all stakeholders. During this period, he managed to successfully establish Liberty’s presence in 16 African countries.
He joined Liberty from BHP Billiton, where he had a successful professional career, having started as Senior Internal Auditor in 1992 in Johannesburg, South Africa, to end as one of the top 50 Senior Executives of the World’s largest resource company in 2007. He is multilingual and has led businesses in Africa, North America, Latin America, Australasia and Europe, turning loss making entities into profitable operations.
He is a Chartered Accountant. Mr. Katompa holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Sciences, a Master’s Degree in Commercial Sciences and completed the Advanced Management Program, all from Harvard University.
Kenneth Jennings - Pula Graphite Partner Director and Pula Group Chief Geologist
Dr. Kenneth Jennings is a certified professional geologist and environmental scientist who has worked for government (the US EPA Headquarters); industry (Amoco and Microsoft Corporations) and consulting firms. He earned a BS in geology and geophysics from Yale, a Masters in geology from the University of California Santa Barbara, and a Doctorate in environmental science and engineering from UCLA.
His strengths are knowledge and experience in a wide range of environmental science and geology and an ability to convey difficult concepts in plain terms to a broad audience from policy-makers to the general public. He has explored for oil and gas, performing mapping, interpreting geophysical data and characterizing the production potential of oil finds. In addition, he has conducted large-scale investigations of contaminated soil and groundwater associated with former mining sites, military bases, and industrial sites. He has a strong grasp of sedimentary processes and the fate and transport mechanisms governing the movement of substances in the subsurface, which is vital to exploring for uranium deposits in sands and gravels.
Dr. Jennings has extensive international experience, having provided environmentally sustainable products and services in the US, Mexico, Barbados, Mauritius, Trinidad, Japan, China, Singapore, Puerto Rico, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, and France. He has also traveled widely in Africa, including visits to Nigeria, Mauritius, South Africa and Tanzania.
J. Trey Edmondson - Operations & Chief Technology Officer
In his current position, Trey is responsible for logistics, operations and technology. His roles in business development, operations and project management have been with LG Electronics, BDS Marketing, American Express, and Passages Wines. He has also been a consultant to small and independent businesses, providing social media, website and mobile app strategy and development.
The majority of his early career was spent in the music and entertainment business working with several companies including Sony Music and EMI Music responsible for sales, digital and mobile marketing. A large part of this time was during the pivotal industry shift of delivering content in digital and streaming formats and the change in the monetization of this content.
Trey received his Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications and Public Relations from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA. He started and founded his own business upon graduating college, The Vine, a resource for local residents and visitors to the Atlanta area via voice recordings. He transformed the business in the early days of the internet, created a website and shifted its presence online.
Trey has done advanced studies in Digital Media Marketing at New York University and graduated from Momentum Education’s Leadership Program.