Board of Directors

Aimiamia Amadasu-McCray is an SVP, Head of the Markets Standard support team, Global Head of People Strategy for ICG KYC Operations, and Buffalo KYC site lead at Citi. She co-chairs at the Citi Buffalo’s Black Heritage Network and the Buffalo Green Team committee.  She is also a member of the Asian Heritage Affinity, Hispanic Heritage Affinity, PRIDE, and Family Matters Affinity networks. Aimiamia leads a variety of initiatives to promote and educate her community about diversity and inclusion.

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Aimiamia joined Citi in 2015 from M&T Bank, where she was a Vice President, Business Manager II for 2 years, overseeing the Mortgage and Collection Compliant resolution and Collections Call Monitoring teams. She has been in the financial aid and banking industry for over 18 years working for companies such as Keybank and Bank of America.

Aimiamia earned her M.B.A. in Healthcare Management from American InterContinental University. She also holds a dual degree, B.S. in Biology and Psychology from Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y. She and her husband are raising three amazing children.

Joëlle is an accomplished Talent & Development professional in Finance. She has developed a deep expertise in identifying, evaluating and mitigating skill gaps as an Advisor to highly matrixed organizations. Her career growth is attributed to a
commitment for workplace learning, service excellence, and developing people.

She currently serves as Vice President - Global Learning Advisor at Citi. In her function, she leads the talent development and learning initiatives in the Investment Banking, Capital Markets and Corporate Banking divisions. Prior to joining Citi, she carried out development strategies at various boutique Investment Banking firms such as Lazard, Evercore, and Rothschild.

Joëlle holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the Fisher School of Business at The Ohio State University and a Masters in Fine Arts in Creative Producing from Columbia University. As a life-long learner, she is passionate about both personal and professional growth; she thrives when helping
organizations reach their business goals and contributing to people’s individual success. She loves to hike, attend live music events, and travel the world!

A native from Syracuse, New York, James Jackson received his Bachelor of Science (BS) in Business Administration from the University at Albany, Master of Business Administration from Niagara University, and recently earned his SHRM-CP and PH certifications. Currently, James serves as an experienced Senior HR Business Partner in the DC Metro Region at Amazon.
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James has a passion for HR and enhancing people's experience to better the needs of the business. He understands that people are your most valued asset; when they feel empowered, desired outcomes are obtained.
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James has served in a volunteer capacity in many different ways in Western, NY including supporting the youth involved with Buffalo Promise Neighborhood schools/programs, being a site Team Leader for the United Way of Buffalo Day of Caring as well as a Say Yes to Education (Buffalo) Mentor. He has made it a mission to not only support the communities he lives in but the communities that reflect the true need for change and support.
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Outside of professional work and volunteerism, James likes to get involved in a multitude of different things such as working out, hiking, finding new restaurants, and seeing the world one trip at a time!

Lembe Tayilo was born in the DR of Congo and grew up in several cities around the world. Lembe has an MBA in Management, a BA in Sociology, and an AA in Social Sciences. She is a Certified Professional Life Coach, a Certified Retirement Coach, a Certified Training and Development Specialist, and a graduate of Executive Life Coaching, and Kingdom School of Ministry. She is training to become a Chaplain.
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Lembe spent over twenty-seven years in international development. She worked for the United Nations Development Program in Africa, and non-profit organizations in the United States, holding positions in executive support, administration, logistics, procurement, supply chain management, recruitment, training, and capacity development. Lembe has traveled to over thirty-five nations and speaks four languages. In her international career, coaching, mentoring, and volunteering activities, she connects with people of different cultural backgrounds. As a missionary, Lembe travels to various nations empowering communities for change and transformation through the Gospel message of the Bible. 
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Lembe joins International Child Advancement because of her passion to provide innovative strategies, empowering children through education and several chances for success, and building strong, healthy, and happy families.

Jacqueline Laing is a native of Jamaica and has lived in the Philadelphia, PA area since the age of 8. She is the daughter of Jamaican immigrants who migrated to the US along with her four siblings for better opportunities.  Jacque was educated in the Philadelphia Public school system and upon graduation, spent several years working remedial jobs prior to deciding to pursue a college education. She started out at the local Community College earning an Associates Degree in Computer Programming. After graduating from Community College, she continued her educational pursuit and received a Bachelor's Degree in Management of Information Systems and a Masters in Finance and Instructional Technology and Design.

Her educational endeavours have allowed her to serve in various capacities within the public sector.  She has over 25 years of her professional career in program/project management, learning and development, budget planning, and managing client relationships within  chemical, Utilities, communications, and banking/finance sectors.  Jacque has actively served with numerous community organizations through the years and currently serves as the co-chair of the Women's Network of Delaware and an active financial literacy volunteer for Women of Color and Veterans in underserved communities. She also coaches individuals with resume writing and interview skills.

Jacque is a Program Manager VP at Citi within the Trade and Treasury Solutions line of business.  As an employee at Citi, since 2021, she has managed and led Payments and Receivables transformational initiatives for institutional clients and is responsible for handling the day to day financials within her line of business. Jacque lives in southern New Jersey with her husband and sons.

Silvia Johnston is an Organizational Development Senior Advisor at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, a leading institution for cancer research and treatment. With over 20 years of experience in business process improvement and employee engagement, Silvia has a passion for helping organizations and individuals achieve their full potential and deliver exceptional results.  Prior to Roswell Park, Silvia was a Senior Vice President at M&T Bank for 23 years leading teams in various departments from Retail, Marketing and Risk Management roles, to managing organization-wide employee recognition, talent and service programs.  

Silvia is also an adjunct professor at University at Buffalo School of Management, where each Spring she teaches Performance Management Systems & Rewards, reinforcing her passion to continue to learn and share best practices with the next generation of business professionals.  She sees this role as a way to give back to her community where she was an active student leader and where she received her BA in Social Sciences and MBA in International Marketing.  

As a daughter of immigrants where her parents arrived in Downingtown, Pennsylvania from Germany and Korea in the 70s, Silvia was shaped early to help those in need as both her parents were orphaned by war and abandonment.   Over the years, volunteering with various organizations in Western NY whose mission is to support child development, made International Child Advancement a perfect fit to support both local and international initiatives, giving children hope for their futures. 

Scott Hameister is the Director of Payments at ACV Auctions.  Scott and his wife are proud new parents to a beautiful baby girl as of September 2023. 

Although Scott regularly works from an office, he enjoys working with his hands, being outdoors, and has a mild addiction to power tools.  He enjoys anything DIY, and takes pride in working with his hands.    

He continues to focus on being an influential, proactive, and adaptable senior leader with 10+ years of experience developing strong business partnerships with key stakeholders, managing multiple complex priorities simultaneously, and driving change initiatives that result in business revenue growth. In addition, he is a dynamic professional who cultivates an inclusive work environment, successfully leads projects from inception to completion while remaining within budget and scope, and quickly provides data-driven recommendations to complex matters.

Scott earned his Bachelor of Science majoring in Finance and International Business from University at Buffalo. He and his wife are new human parents, and continue to be experienced parents to 2 dogs, 1 horse, and many fish!