YES Academy Uganda

YES Uganda 2021

The YES Academy Virtual program is a 5-day online intensive workshop in Songwriting, Collaboration, Musicianship and Production, sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Uganda.

With your acceptance into the program, you will be assigned a track with one of the instructors for the program. This will be your group for the duration of the program. The three-hour sessions with your instructor are the time to work with your assigned group or set virtual collaboration time between participants. Each group track will have between 8-12 participants, so you will have plenty of time to get to know your instructor and the other participants in your group. The YES Uganda Virtual Forum sessions will be the time to come together as an entire YES Academy group of 50 participants for common virtual lecture. 

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YES Academy Uganda 2021 Staff

Kaweesi Mark

Kaweesi Mark

Program Coordinator

Mark Kaweesi is a Ugandan artist; Breakdancer/Hip hop practitioner,
Creative facilitator, Community organizer and Educator who uses such skills as tools to develop abilities and create opportunities to empower people, uplift communities, promote youth activism and social change. He is a 2016 Mandela Washington Fellow. He founded Imagination Circle Ltd, co-founded Break-Fast Jam and joined Breakdance Project Uganda (BPU) to work with others in tailor making sustainable solutions to deeper problems such as low self confidence in children, dis-empowerment in young people and communities, bad leadership practices, inaccessibility to formal and informal learning opportunities, social divides, youth in-activeness, lack of productive employment, ineffective methods of education among others. He is featured in a book: BUILD! The Power of Hiphop Diplomacy in a Divided World By Mark Katz. Also in the documentary film “Shake the Dust,” produced by the American Hiphop artist Nas and Adam Sjoberg. Website: https://kaweesimark.com

David Wampamba

David Wampamba

Tech Support

David Wampamba is a passionate software consultant based in Kampala, Uganda. Currently working on building apps with Node.js, React, and ReactNative. He is a WordPress specialist, WordCamp, and tech events speaker. David is also passionate about teaching technology entrants and aspiring software developers.

Maria Stallone

Maria Stallone

Director of Programming

Maria Stallone has over 25 years of professional experience in international education and programming. She completed her graduate work in Ethnomusicology, achieving an Award of Merit, at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. Maria worked as a consultant for Columbia University and was the recipient of the prestigious Rotary Foundation Fellowship. She served as the Director of five different university study abroad centers in Asia and Europe. In this role she was responsible for all aspects of academic and logistical oversight of the programs, including supervising the development of new courses, building and managing multi-ethnic and multicultural teams, and all other aspects of in-country administration, budgeting and student services. Maria resides in Bangkok, Thailand where she is also an active member of the tango dancing community.

Instructors