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Founded in 1996 as an initiative of the Center for Traditional Music and Dance, Badenya attained independent, nonprofit 501 (c) (3) status in 2003. Over the last two decades, Badenya has brought West African artists together and provided African immigrants the opportunity to present and educate the public on the seriousness, richness, and diversity of their culture from their perspective. 


Currently, Badenya alongside the people of Dankawlie village, Sierra Leone are co-creating holistic solutions to the educational, environmental, and cultural needs of the community while preserving and adapting the traditions of the village. The projects include Dankawalie Secondary School (DSS), a dynamic secondary school in a post-conflict remote rural village in Sierra Leone, which combines formal education and local traditions, and a solar grid that advances livelihoods by providing electrical power to the entire village. 

Kewulay Kamara - Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Kewulay Kamara, internationally renowned poet/ storyteller, multi-media artist, development pioneer, and lecturer, has been the subject of three feature articles in The New York Times and has appeared on A&E Television, Public Television, and other major media outlets. Originally from Sierra Leone, Kewulay descends from a lineage of oral poets and historians called Finah. He has performed at The Cathedral of St John the Divine, The Kitchen, Symphony Space, Gerald Lynch Theater, City Center, The Museum of Natural History, and Oxford University, and participated in The Peoples Poetry Gatherings, and the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry and Langston Hughes Festivals. He is the recipient of numerous grants from major foundations including the Ford Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, the National Geographic, and National Endowment for the Arts. He has lectured for 25 years at the City University of New York. 

Mr. Kamara serves on UNESCO’s Steering Committee on Foresight and Strategic Planning. He spends his time between New York and Sierra Leone where he has led a variety of development and cultural preservation initiatives for more than twenty years.