Emmanuel T. Dolo is currently Director of Educational Equity and Integration at South Washington County Schools in Cottage Grove, Minnesota. He has taught at the University of Minnesota, Augsburg, Montreat, and Catawba Colleges.

Dr. Dolo earned his bachelor’s degree in economics and mass communications from the University of Liberia in 1984. In 1990 he was awarded a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree from Erskine Theological Seminary, located in Due West, South Carolina. Continuing his graduate studies, he earned a Master of Science (M.Sc.) degree from Eastern College in St. Davids, Pennsylvania with specialties in economic development and non-profit management in 1994. He earned a doctorate degree (Ph.D.) in social work from the University of Minnesota in 2003, where he specialized in applied research, refugee mental health, and youth policy.

Early in his career, Dr. Dolo served as a pastor of churches in Abbeville and Simpsonville, South Carolina. Before pursuing a career in Child Welfare and Mental Health, he later worked as Assistant Pastor and Social Ministries Director for a church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In addition to his employment in academia and the ministry, Dr. Dolo has held a variety of senior management positions in healthcare and social welfare organizations. He served as Regional Program Director for Lifeline Healthcare in Largo, Florida; Coordinator of Independent Living Programs at Rowan County Department of Social Services in Salisbury, North Carolina and Program Director at Innovative Family Partnerships in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Before assuming his current position, he was the principal investigator for Minority Mental Health Research Projects and also administered Children Mental Health Services for Human Services, Incorporated in Oakdale, Minnesota.

Prior to coming to the United States, Emmanuel Dolo was a journalist and political activist in his native Liberia. As part of student movement’s leadership, he challenged human rights violations by the dictatorial government of Samuel K. Doe, which caused him several imprisonments and threats to his life. He sought exile in the United States and joined movements advocating for an end to the despotic rule of Charles Taylor’s regime. His political commentaries continue to advocate for the consolidation of democratic rule in Liberia.

Emmanuel Dolo is the author of Democracy Versus Dictatorship: Crisis in Africa’s Oldest Republic (1996), published by University Press of America. He has written numerous articles, some for academic journals including Anthropological Quarterly and the Journal for Social Work Research and Evaluation. A prolific contributing writer covering a vast array of topics, he has published articles in many web journals, including The Perspective, Front Page Africa, and the Daily Observer. He has also published several research reports covering a variety of topics: the mental health help-seeking and receiving behaviors of new immigrants and refugees; barriers to mental health services by new immigrants and refugees; the cultural adaptations of new immigrants and refugees in the areas of child welfare and elder care; racism encountered by new immigrants and refugees; housing challenges faced by newer minorities; and behavioral service delivery to hard-to-reach youth populations.

In addition to teaching, research, writing, and speaking at different conferences, Dr. Dolo is also President and Chief Executive Officer of Lifeworks International, a consulting firm that specializes in strategic management, applied research, evaluation, behavioral healthcare, and facilitating professional development opportunities for a broad spectrum of institutional clients. In the course of his consulting responsibilities, he has worked the City of Brooklyn Park in Minnesota, the Professional Association of Treatment Homes (PATH) in St. Paul, Minnesota, grantees of the Minnesota Department of Health, including Project Lifeline, and the Intermediate School District in Plymouth, Minnesota.

The increasing cultural diversity of the global landscape, particularly the massive migration of immigrants and refugees from non-western to western nations have made the integration of these newcomers into the social fabric of their host nations critical. Dr. Dolo’s consulting practice has centered on helping K-12 schools, higher education institutions, municipal governments, and private employers to evolve strategies for building and sustaining inclusive climates.

Dr. Dolo, his wife, Aba, and their two children, Phil, 12 and Yeliah Bijoux, 2, live in Coon Rapids, Minnesota.

If you would like to contact Dr. Dolo, please send him an e-mail at edolo@sowashco.k12.mn.us.

© Africana Homestead Legacy Publishers July 2006. All rights reserved.
100 Springdale Rd A3-206, Cherry Hill, New Jersey 08003 USA

For permission to use or reprint this contact editors@ahlpub.com or publisher@ahlpub.com.