BOARD OF TRUSTEES
2025-2026
The AISM
2025-2026
AISM Board of Trustees
Mr. Monie Captan- Chairman
Mr. Gbovadeh Gbilia
Ms. Lilian Best - Secretary
Mr. Michael Aguilera -US Ambassador’s Representative
Ms. Helen Hariz
Dr. DieulaTchoualeu
Mr. Joe Barber
Ms. Allyson Brown
Mr. Christopher Hofmann
MEET the Board Chair
​Monie R. Captan was born in Monrovia, Liberia on May 28, 1962 and educated both in Liberia and the USA. He is an Alumni of ‘ACS’ now known as the American International School of Monrovia. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of San Diego in San Diego, California in 1985 and a Master of Arts in International Relations from the same university in 1987. Mr. Captan participated in an Executive Education Program on Leading Economic Growth at the Harvard Kennedy School in 2013.
Mr. Captan has lectured at the University of Liberia since 1992 and is currently an Adjunct Associate Professor at the IBB School of International Relations. He has taught courses in political economy and development, negotiations, and foreign policy decision making. Mr. Captan has published a book entitled, An Introduction to Liberian Government and Political System (2015), and co-authored the Liberia Economic Constraints Analysis (2013).
Mr. Captan is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Liberia Electricity Corporation. Mr. Captan’s wealth of experience demonstrates an excellent synergy between public, private and academic interests. He is married to Mrs. Ade Jones-Captan and has 2 daughters and several foster children. He is an avid golfer and member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.
Mr. Michael Aguilera
Michael Aguilera assumed his duties as Management Counselor at U.S. Embassy Monrovia in July 2024.
Prior to this assignment, he was the Division Chief in the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations’ Office of Area Management. Michael’s previous domestic work also includes Deputy Director of Analytics in the Office of Management Strategy & Solutions’ Center for Analytics, Deputy Director in the Bureau of Human Resources’ Entry Level Division, Property Management Advisor in the Bureau of Administration’s Property Management Division, Deputy Director in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs’ Office of the Coordinator of U.S. Assistance, and Post Management Officer in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs’ Executive Office.
Michael’s previous overseas work includes serving as the Supervisory General Services Officer at U.S. Embassy Baghdad, Management Officer at U.S. Consulate General Monterrey, Financial Management Officer and Consular Officer at U.S. Embassy Bucharest, and Assistant General Services Officer at U.S. Embassy Panama.
Michael received an MBA from the University of Washington and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Central Washington University. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Michael worked in the private sector at Hewlett Packard and Microsoft.
Mr. Gbovadeh Gbilia
A patriotic Liberian, with experience working in the USA, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, Mr. Gbovadeh “GG” Gbilia is an experienced
education, training, and capacity-building
professional. He is currently the Chairman of the
Education Commission and a Member of the
High-Level Steering Committee on SDG4,
Education 2030 at UNESCO. He also serves as
Managing Director of Bridge Liberia, Inc. the
largest implementing partner in the Liberia
Education Advancement Program, where Bridge
supports 300 public schools servicing ~85,000
pupils nationwide.
In 2016, Mr. Gbilia was appointed by Nobel
Laurate President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as the
Deputy Minister for Planning, Research, and
Development in the Ministry of Education. He is
also an alumnus of the maiden cohort of the
Obama Foundation Leaders of Africa Fellowship
Program, 2018-2019. He obtained an MBA in
International Business from Howard University
School of Business in Washington, D.C. GG is the
father of an incoming Pre-K child and a graduating senior at AISM this academic year.
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Dr. Dieula Tchoualeu
Dr. Dieula Delissaint Tchoualeu, from Atlanta, Georgia, is the US CDC Liberia Acting Country Director overseeing US CDC global health security portfolio. She has over a decade of experience in global health, leading public health programs, multi-site operational research, program monitoring and evaluation, strengthening health systems, and responding to public health emergencies in developed and developing countries. Prior to her current role in Liberia, Dr. Tchoualeu was an epidemiologist with US CDC’s Global Immunization Division, where she led immunization workforce development projects, supported developing countries with immunization campaigns including rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. Dr. Tchoualeu was deployed to the US CDC Emergency Operations Center numerous times in different capacities, supporting COVID-19 pandemic and the 2018 Ebola outbreak in DRC.
Dr. Tchoualeu is a wife and mother of three children enrolled in AISM. She likes to travel and spends her spare time with friends and family. Dr. Tchoualeu is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.