Team

Mrs. Rosina Teye Appiah - Founder

Mrs. Rosina Teye Appiah holds a Master's degree in Social Work from the University of North Dakota, and she is currently a Licensed Master social worker. Mrs Appiah now works in private practice as a psychotherapist. Rosina had her bachelor's degree from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana. She has established  two not for profit organizations in the USA and in Ghana, Arise Above Foundation and Dolly  Foundation. The NGO (Dolly Foundation) provides training and community education on violence against women and cultural practices, and economic inequalities for women and girls in Ghana. She serves as Project Coordinator for United African Community, an African NGO based in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Mrs. Appiah has obtained diplomas from Cambridge International College in London, England. She completed a one-year leadership program under the Women in Politics Training (WIFT ) organized by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), ABNATU, and Women in Broadcasting (WIB) in Ghana. She was a Vital Voice fellow for a two-year organized by Hillary Clinton's emerging young leaders program.

Kimisean Liggett - Co-Founder

Kimisean Liggett’s early undergraduate academic interests led her to earn a degree in Early Childhood Education (AAS) from Truman College in Chicago, Illinois. She continued down the path of advocacy and later earned Bachelor’s Degree in Rehabilitation and Human Services with an emphasis on Developmental Disabilities, as well as, a Master’s Degree in Counseling from the University of North Dakota. Kimisean currently serves as a member of the Launch Program Family Self Sufficiency Board with the Grand Forks Housing Authority and secretary of the Policy Council at Grand Forks HeadStart. 

Today, you can find Kimisean working with clients to reach their personal and professional goals. She is the founder of SMILE Care Coordination & Social Support Services where she supports, mentors, and inspires individual lives everyday.  As an encourager of personal and spiritual growth, Kimisean supports others in their vision of becoming the best version of themselves. It is her dedication to her client’s success that inspires her compassion, commitment, and respect to those seeking supportive mental health and addiction recovery services.

Merit Fondong - Co-Founder

My name is Merit Fondong. I originate from Central Africa, Cameroon. I started my career as a chef for six years and went to college where I received my first bachelor's in Botany. I attended the accelerated program in nursing at UND, where I received my bachelor's in nursing, a master's in nursing as an FNP in 2015 and later a post master's in pyschiatry in 2021. I have taught undergraduate psych clinical at UND for three years, and FNP clinical for 5 years. I have been a Nurse Practitioner for almost 7 years and have worked in the ER, urgent care, nursing home/assisted living, treatment centers, disability physicals, and Primary Care. I have had the pleasure of seeing a wide variety of patients. I am a member of AANP, ANA, NDNPA, MNAPRN Coalition, APNA and ACANPUS. I am also MAT and Medical marijuana certified.

I have been married for many years and have five kids, four boys and one girl. My spiritual and family life is gold to me. I love cooking, working hard and efficiently and making a difference in somebody's life and my community

Sylvester Sarpong, MHA, PharmD, RPh

Dr. Sylvester Sarpong is a Pharmacist at Altru Health System and CVS Health. He graduated from Cedarville University School of Pharmacy, where he obtained a doctorate in Pharmacy and a Masters in Healthcare Administration. Serving and helping others is something he takes pride in and can do so through the field of pharmacy. This passion led him to Southern Ohio to serve an underserved community during his final year of pharmacy school. As a student, he was involved in voluntary organizations, serving as a mentor for refugee kids in the city of Dayton, Ohio.

Dr. Sarpong was born in Ghana where he developed a passion for pharmacy. He graduated college in Ghana with a diploma in pharmaceutical science, before migrating to the United States of America. He likes to travel and has been to seven countries and counting. In his free time he enjoys working out and cooking.

 

 

Mrs. Josephine Dwamena

Mrs. Josephine Dwamena is a medical student in training at University of North Dakota School of Medicine pursuing to becoming a future physician. Her goal in the future is to provide culturally competent care and health awareness to women and children living in medically underserved communities in Rural North Dakota. She plans on finishing her master’s in public health in the future. She has experience working as a Certified Nurse Assistant and Endoscopy Technician at Sanford Health Hospital. She also worked as Certified Behavioral Technician and Youth Care Worker where she worked with children with developmental disability.

Gaining knowledge in Public Health will be very important in my future career as a physician because I will be equipped with both science and clinical skills to address the health issues of not just my individual pa!ent, but also I will be able to reach medically underserved communi!es like the one I grew up in Ghana.

Phone: +1 701-757-0537       info@ariseabovefoundation.org    Address: 610 South 18th Street, Grand Forks, ND. 58201