Dr. Tometi Gbedema currently serves as a Lecturer in the African American & African Studies (AAS) Department at the University of California, Davis. “Tim” as he is popularly known in the Davis, California, soccer community, volunteers as the president-director of The Otwetiri Project (www.otwetiri.org), a nonprofit organization with a mission to improve the educational environments for poor and rural children and students in poor and developing nations, including but not limited to the countries of Ghana and Togo. He launched this nonprofit organization in 2007 with a holistic support of the Davis soccer community, and soccer moms whose kids he coached.
He received a PhD degree in Geography and an MS degree in Community Development from the University of California, UC Davis. He was honored in 2005, with a UC Davis Community Service Award due to his commitment to community services involvement in undergraduate and graduate student mentoring, advising and services and his roles in student recruitment on the campus.
Dr. Gbedema’s Ph.D. dissertation research focuses on tourism development. It is drawn upon his experience living and studying in the United States of America as a recent African immigrant and international graduate student at UC Davis. This work is based on an extensive fieldwork he undertook at the world heritage sites of Elmina and Cape Coast Castles, and at Fort Prinzenstein at Keta, three “must see” slave forts among many that were built by European trading companies along the Ghanaian coastline in the 17th and 18th centuries. This study examines the connection between Africa and the global world. It uses the special dynamics of interactions between African American “roots” tourists and their local Ghanaian hosts at these world heritage sites.
For his MS degree thesis in Community Development, he researched in a small Californian city, Rio Vista, examining natural resource development impacts on local communities. This work has been published into a book titled “NIMBY: Natural Resources Development Issues – Tensions Behind Energy Resource Development, Growth and Preservation of Small-Town Values”. Gbedema has presented papers on his Ph.D. dissertation work at AAG Annual Conferences in the US and in Europe. He was invited to present a paper on this research work at a Peace tourism conference in Wageningen Research University and at Saxion University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands in 2013. He has also published some papers on this work.
Dr. Gbedema was employed as a Community & Regional Development (CRD) lecturer on part-time basis at UC Davis from April 2012 to December 2017 after serving as an associate instructor with the African American & African Studies (AAS) Program teaching AAS classes and at Department of Anthropology. He worked as an adjunct faculty teaching world regional Geography, human and physical Geography courses at Sonoma State University (SSU) in Rohnert Park (2016), California State University (CSU) Stanislaus in Turlock and Stockton (2017 and 2019), and at Contra Costa Community College (CCC) in San Pablo, California (2016).
In summer 2017, he led a group of seven (7) SSU students on a Study Abroad Program to Ghana, West Africa. He developed using his Ph.D. Dissertation findings. He spent two weeks with the students in the country touring the “must-see” slave forts or world heritage sites, national forests, monkey sanctuary, beautiful waterfalls, Accra Art Center, Dr. WEB Du Bois’ Museum, Deaf and Dumb school, etc. He also allowed the students to take part in several cultural events when they visited rural poor and needy village for his students to appreciate what they have in America
Before moving to the US in 2000, he earned a BA degree in English and an MA in Translation with French and English as my working languages degrees from Université du Bénin (UB), now Université de Lomé, in Lomé, Togo, West Africa. He tutored students in English, Mathematics, Biology and Geography in their homes, and English at private elementary schools and colleges, and at Lycée de Baguida, a public high school in Baguida, near Lomé, after receiving his MA degree in Translation with French and English as his working languages. Gbedema worked as a translator-interpreter and assistant manager at the EGK Bruce Translation Center in Lomé. In this position he provided expert translation and interpreting services to the center’s customers and for international development agencies, local and regional businesses at international conferences and meetings within the country and in the sub region.
At the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), Dr. Gbedema has taught CRD classes focusing on American societies, ethnicities and communities, community building, regional and economic development, globalization, and diversity, politics and community development, organization of economic space, etc. He taught summer a class in Anthropology. He served as the statewide program analyst under Hector Cuevas, the director of the UC LEADS (University of California Leadership Excellence Through Advanced Degrees) Program at UC Davis Office of Graduate Studies from April 2010 to March 2014. He coordinated activities and worked collaboratively with the program coordinators on the ten (10) UC campuses. He reviewed and managed the program database and website, and provided highly complex data analyses and reports for addressing institutional and program-level needs for student success and learning outcomes, UC System policies and requirements. He provided expert research, analysis, advice and recommendations to inform decision-making for program success, set goals and objectives achievement.
As a project/policy analyst at the Office of Campus Community Relations (OCCR) from May 2017 to August 2018, he served under the Associate Executive Vice Chancellor (AEVC), Dr. Rahim Reed. His duties and responsibilities involved providing expert analysis, reports, recommendations and research to the OCCR in its efforts to increasing the participation of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), with an agricultural focus, in the UC-HBCU Initiative. He attended STEM diversification and education conferences and meetings to learned about developments going on the STEM teaching and education fields, and to write technical reports on his findings and make recommendations to the OCCR. He advised on STEM diversification programs decision-making at the center. He worked with faculty and representatives from other universities on projects and programs relating to STEM and served as facilitator and liaison between them and the OCCR. He has served as peer collaborator and advisor to the Mandela Washington Fellows (MWFs) from Africa who arrived at UC Davis during the summer to undergo training in sustainable energy development programs. The Mandela Washington Fellowship (MWFs) Program is a flagship program of President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). He mentored and advised these fellows about life in the US and served as their liaison to the institution after they returned to their individual nations in Africa.
Dr. Gbedema has served in numerous roles on the UC Davis campus. He’s taught, advised and supervised students. He served as a graduate student mentor for the UC Davis Cross-Cultural Center’s Graduate Students of Color (GSoC) Mentor Program. He volunteered as a peer adviser and mentor to International Graduate Students, Humphrey Fellows, and Fulbright Scholars, particularly from Africa who arrived at UC Davis to pursue their studies. He advised Alexander Pell, one of his CRD students, on a green energy assessment project grant Alex obtained through the Blum Center Grant Project for a rural village in Madagascar in the summer of 2016. He has mentored students of color in STEM programs at UC Davis. On January 23rd, 2017, he volunteered as a moderator during UC Davis Global Affairs Office’s UN Sustainable Development Goals Conference titled “Research to Action on the African Continent” held at the Mondavi Center. Dr. Gbedema is a soccer player, coach and referee. He served as an assistant head coach for the Davis Senior High School JV Girls soccer team from 2001 to 2015, and worked as a youth soccer coach for youth teams with the Davis Legacy Soccer Club for more than 10 years.