Meet the Team
Meet the Team
Dr. Ekua Agha
Lead Researcher & Executive Producer
Sarah Kornfeld
Executive Producer
Ambriel Pouncey
Chief Marketing Officer
Olufemi Vaughn, PhD
Senior Advisor and Researcher
Zachary Oladimeji
© 2026 Aguda Returns. All rights Reserved
London-based cinematographer and creative director; founder of ZUBBO Films; trained at the London Film Academy, with production credits across Surreal, Picante, Protcl, and projects with photographer Seb Xavier
Olufemi O. Vaughan was born and raised in Ibadan, Nigeria, before moving to the United States. He obtained his B. A. in 1980 and M. A. in 1983 in Government from St. John's University. Vaughan received his PhD in Politics from Oxford University in 1989, where his research was influenced by three distinguished Africanists: Anthony Kirk-Greene, Terence Ranger, and Gavin Williams. He was Professor of Africana Studies and History at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, where he also directed the International Studies Program, the College for Global Studies, and was associate dean and associate provost from 1990 to 2008. Vaughan was Geoffrey Canada Professor of Africana Studies and History at Bowdoin College, Maine, from 2008 to 2017. At Bowdoin, he also directed the establishment of an Africana Studies Program. Olufemi Vaughan was appointed Alfred Sargent Lee '41 and Mary Ames Lee Professor of African Studies at Amherst College in 2017. He is the author of over 10 books, and a two time recipient of Ford Foundation Grants. He is considered one of the world’s leading scholars on Africa.
Ambriel Pouncy is a social innovation leader with over a decade of experience at the intersection of technology, fashion, and culture. As founder of the Fusion Fashion Tech Society, a nonprofit and member of the United Nations Fashion and Lifestyle Network, she champions sustainability, inclusion, and emerging technologies like AI and blockchain. A Spelman alumna with studies at Yale, Goldsmiths, and the London College of Fashion, Ambriel has spoken at the United Nations Science Summit, lectured at Columbia University, and presented at Harvard on polycentric governance. She is a recognized advocate for decentralized systems and cultural heritage, using her platform to empower creators and promote equity in emerging markets. Serving on multiple advisory boards, she leverages her expertise to amplify underrepresented voices and drive global collaboration, building a more sustainable, inclusive future. As a global citizen, Ambriel travels extensively to conduct research, advance social advocacy, and inspire transformative solutions for a more equitable and sustainable future.
Kornfeld is a multidisciplinary cultural executive born and raised in the New York Avant Garde theater movement. She has domain expertise in site specific installation and performance, as well as Art and Technology, working with such organizations as The Kitchen, California Academy of Science, Blue Mind Summits, The Magnus Center for Jewish Art and Life, UC Irvine’s Beall Center for Art and Technology, Zaccho Dance Theatre and Institute for The Future. She is an internationally published author of two books and has written for the Los Angeles Review of Books on policy and the arts. She has additional expertise in technology marketing having worked for Netflix, Google Earth and the NEAR blockchain protocol. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College she also trained as a producer at The Royal Court Theater. She drives the project's overall programmatic architecture, Technology, and Immersive programming.
A dedicated scholar whose research on the Aguda, Dr. Agha has helped shape the direction of the project. She is a member of the original Nigerian-Brazilian History Project. Dr Agha collaborates with researchers, academics, writers and artists in Africa, Europe, Asia, South and North America and is a Senior Research Fellow at the French Institute for Research in Africa – IFRA, University of Ibadan, Nigeria and she is also an Associate Member of ACT- Africa Centre for Transregional Research, Albert-Ludwigs- Universität Freiburg (University of Freiburg, Germany). She is a Nigerian academic, and obtained her PhD in Francophone and Anglophone postcolonial studies from the Department of English, Theatre and Creative Writing at University of London’s Birkbeck College. Prior to that, she gained a Master’s degree in French and Francophone Studies from University of Westminster, London. She resides in London, and as scholar on Francophone African Cinema, Dr Agha has contributed to the London Film School ( LFS) Screen Studies programme leading sessions in the Culture and Politics strand on Xala dir . Ousmane Sembene (1975) and Directing Strategies strand on Moolade dir. Ousmane Semebene (2004). She is a certified trauma informed practitioner and integrates her work in social justice and the arts in programs , research and lectures globally.