Molly Ola Pinney - Founder/ Director

Molly has worked and volunteered for children with developmental disabilities in various capacities for over nine years. These diverse positions include serving with City Year Seattle/King County, working as a leader and division head at Camp Takodah, mentoring 'disengaged' youth, and directing Dublin Summer Playground. Five years ago Molly began working as an ABA Therapist and classroom aide for children with autism and has worked in both the United States and Ghana.

In 2003, Molly moved to Ghana to accompany an American child with autism and met many other Ghanaian children with autism and their wonderful families. Two months into her visit, she was spending much of her time at the Autism Awareness Care and Training Centre, where she and Auntie Serwah were working together to create what would become known as the Global Autism Project.

Molly is currently pursuing her degree in Sociology at Columbia University in NYC. Her research primarily focuses on children with autism in underserved populations. She is a member of the Association for Behavior Analysis and Society for Precision Teaching.

Nic joined the Global Autism Project team in March of 2005. He currently resides in Accra, Ghana. He has worked closely with the executive director of  AACT, Auntie Serwah, to enhance AACT's educational program, improve its administrative practices and utilize local resources to improve its services.

In 2003 Nic moved to the West African country of Mali to serve with the Peace Corps. Over the course of his two years as an agriculture volunteer he grew to love that part of the world and has been living and working in West Africa ever since.

Before joining the Peace Corps Nic worked in Washington DC, splitting his time between the non-profits Peace Action and the Ashoka Foundation. He studied philosophy and Human Rights at Trinity College in Hartford, CT.

Ann Beirne has worked with children with autism in camp, school, and home settings for 15 years.  A graduate of Columbia Teachers College's Masters program in Early Childhood Special Education, she was inducted into Kappa Delta Pi, an honor society in education.  Ann was one of the ELIJA Foundation's first scholarship recipients, which allowed her to work with Bobby Newman, New York State's first certified behavior analyst.  She has worked in home programs for young children with autism for 11 years and was a classroom teacher for children with autism as well as children with multiple disabilities.  Ann served as assistant director for the 92nd Street YM-YWHA's Camp Bari Tov, a one-to-one day camp for children with autism.  She is a member of the Association for Behavior Analysis.

Taffeta Wood began working with special needs children in Iceland in 2001 as a teacher and Special Olympics trainer.  She went on to become a Special Education Teacher in the United States.  Working in the Los Angels Unified School District as a Special Education teacher, her students included those with autism.  It was during her work as a teacher in an at-risk school there that Taffeta became concerned with the accessibility of services for all children with autism.

She is very excited to work for The Global Autism Project in the capacity of special events planning.

Julie is the newest team member at The Global Autism Project.  Before joining The Global Autism Project, Julie worked at AID FOR AIDS, where she served as the volunteer coordinator for the annual My Hero Gala.  Previous to AID FOR AIDS, Julie was the volunteer coordinator and counselor for Identity House's crisis walk-in center.  In addition, Julie has over 12 years experience working with children of all ages, both in home and school settings. She is currently pursuing her degree in Sociology at Columbia University and plans to pursue a doctorate in education in 2009, focusing on working with under-served populations in public schools.

“Auntie” Serwah was born in Ghana, and in her adult life moved to the United States where her son, Nortey was diagnosed with Autism. When she returned to Ghana to find no available resources, she just “started doing.” She will be the first to tell you: “I don’t know what I am doing, I am just doing. I’m just a mom.”

After spending a short amount of time in the centre you quickly realize that whatever she is doing, she is doing well. She is a tremendous resource to parents of children with Autism and goes out of her way to ensure every child brought to her attention receives services.

Mawusi Adiku was born in Ghana, and is currently employed by the Autism Awareness Care & Training Centre where he serves as the Program Coordinator. Mawusi has been with AACT since its inception in 1998, when it was just a small group of students in Auntie Serwah’s home.

Mawusi has been working with children with Autism for 13 years. He is a speech therapist who received his training in Russia at the University of St. Petersburg after winning a scholarship to study abroad while he was working as a Trainer of Teachers in several training colleges, including: St. Francis, Evangelical Presbyterian, and the Ada Teacher Training College.
People often comment on his dedication and patience. Mawusi has been a champion for children with Autism living in Ghana for many years.