24/07/2025
Get ready! Ali Kamanda will be speaking at the 2025 SLDIC 🎉
Ali Biko Sulaiman Kamanda is an award-winning filmmaker, author, and social entrepreneur. He was born and raised in Sierra Leone, West Africa, until the age of 13 when his family moved to the United States. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in Communications, moved to Los Angeles, and started his career in film under BIKO Studios, a cross-cultural media and film production company.
Several years later, combining his passion for the arts and culture with a deep commitment to his heritage, he teamed up with his partner to launch Salone Rising. The not-for-profit organization has two independent missions: wealth creation and a children’s village. To achieve the first objective, as Co-founder and Director of the organization, Ali has spearheaded micro-financing and mentoring resources to small business owners in rural Sierra Leone. Over the past 10 years, the program has helped over 350 grantees, many of whom are already positively impacting their community.
To achieve the second objective, they started MamaLand, a nurturing home that provides a launching pad for empowered citizens of tomorrow. Now in its 8th year, MamaLand continues to support and guide 20 young girls and is looking to expand to include boys. In recent years, Ali has co-authored 2 children’s books – Black Boy Black Boy and its companion book Black Girl Black Girl to inspire young children to reach for the stars.
He is working on his next book, a novel for teens. When he is not in Sierra Leone, Ali and his family reside in Lancaster, PA.
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