history

IIHFD

Brief History

Many events led to the founding of the International Institute for Human Factor Development (IIHFD) in 1992. One of the most primary factors that facilitated the establishment of the IIHFD is the ongoing failures being experienced in most countries in terms of development programming. This failure continues to worsen the existing social, economic/business, political, educational (SEPE), and technological problems in the developing as well as the advanced nations. The belief that these problems can be minimized and that every person can make a difference by becoming a little better in his or her human factor quality is what led to the founding and vision/mission of the IIHFD. Since its foundation in 1992, the primary objective of the IIHFD has been fourfold. These are to:

1.Create an academic journal, Review of Human Factor Studies, to serve as the main vehicle for publishing and promoting research on the human factor.

2. Establish a human factor-based leadership education program, the Human Factor Leadership Academy (HFLA), aimed at producing honest and compassionate leaders using our new concept of Transformational Development Education.

3. Form Local Chapters to create appropriate venues for interested people to meet and discuss the impact and implications of the quality of the human factor for community as well as national and international development.

4. Engage in International as well as National Conferences for academicians and international development practitioners to congregate to present, discuss, and analyze the significance of the human factor to international development and the quality of life of citizens.

The genesis of the founding and establishment of the IIHFD and its international development program of activities is as follows:

1984: I wrote an academic term paper on the role of the human factor in development for a graduate course in economic development at the Economics Department at Simon Fraser University for Professor Don Devoretz. His response to the contents of my paper was: “I like your paper but I don’t agree with everything in it.” My personal response back to him was: “Had you agreed with everything in my paper, I would have considered myself a failure in having written this paper. My primary objective for writing the paper was to inform you that most people interested in assisting African as well as other developing countries do not have any clue about the true root cause of the problems of underdevelopment in these nations.” The writing of this paper and the professor’s comments placed me on a path of a man with a vision and mission. Though I realized that it would not be easy to convince many, I was committed to the vision to spread the concept of the human factor as the most primary of all factors of production and development.

1991: I was invited by the President of the African Students’ Association, Mr. Joseph Atta-Mensah, to give a lecture to the members of the African Students' Association at Simon Fraser University. Since he gave me no topic, I decided to speak to the students on my views regarding the significance of the human factor in Africa’s development on March 15, 1991. This lecture did not only generate excellent debates and discussions. It also revealed to me that the role of the human factor in development is a very powerful one and I needed to give the chance to many more people to hear about it.

1992: To make good on this desire, I founded and registered the IIHFD as an international nonprofit development research organization in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. After having registered the IIHFD, I called the very first group meeting to share with others the human factor concept and its significance to development in the developing countries. I also wrote and had copies printed of the Human Factor Manifesto.

1993: I called the First International Conference on the Human Factor and Development. The conference took place at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, on July 7-9, 1993. I also had my seminal paper on the human factor and development published. This paper is entitled: “The Human Factor in Development.” The Scandinavian Journal of Development Alternatives, XII (4): 139-149.

1994: Personal reflections on why this conference was poorly attended.

1995: I had two books published on the human factor and development. The first book, entitled, The Significance of the Human Factor in African Economic Development, was published by Praeger. The second book, entitled: The Human Factor in Developing Africa. It was also published by Praeger. The publication of these two books consolidated my own belief in the human factor concept and its significance to underdevelopment and development. The first volume of the IIHFD’s academic journal, Review of Human Factor Studies, was published in 1995. I also started the IIHFD’s Newsletter entitled, Dunenyo. Mr. Salomon Agbenya created the typesetting and also managed this Newsletter for many years.

1996: We held the IIHFD’s Second International Conference on the Human Factor and Development at the University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe, on September 20-22, 1996. It was at this conference that I shared the vision for the establishment of the Human Factor Leadership Academy (HFLA) with the conference participants. The Academy was to start as a Global Human Factor Research Center on the role of the human factor in development. It was to be established in any selected town in rural Zimbabwe.

1997: Further reflections on the establishment and functions of the HFLA in Zimbabwe.

1998: The Third International Conference on the Human Factor and Development was held at the Illinois Institute of Art, Chicago, USA on July 9-11, 1998. At this conference, I made further presentations to the attendees as to the urgency and significance of the establishment of the HFLA. At this conference, it became obvious to me that the HFLA may not begin its life in Zimbabwe. I began to rethink the location and the establishment of the HFLA. Other places I considered to be possible locations included Pietermaritzburg in South Africa, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Kenya. None of these areas panned out as an appropriate location for the HFLA.

1999: An international development research project Dr. Joseph Mensah and I designed took me to Techiman in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. This practical international development research project on the environment and public health was financed by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) with a ten thousand dollar research grant. The strategic nature of Techiman got me convinced that Techiman could be the best location for the HFLA. Upon further discussions with Dr. Joseph Mensah, he shared the vision with his father. Joseph’s father was so excited about the concept and its relevance to Africa’s future that he donated a fifteen acre plot of land to the HFLA’s education project. We began to make plans for the establishment of the HFLA in Techiman immediately.

2000: The Fourth International Conference on the Human Factor and Development took place at the University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe, on July 16-18. At this conference, not much was said and discussed about the establishment of the HFLA in Zimbabwe.

2001: I was on a Visiting Professorship Program to Tokyo Denki University from April through to December 2001. After having discussed the HFLA’s vision with Mr. Chris Whitney, he took it upon himself to go to Techiman to have the donated land surveyed and registered in the IIHFD’s name. Mr. Whitney came back from Ghana with great news and excitement about the excellent potential Techiman has for the establishment of the HFLA. We had our first official fund raising program in Chiba New Town in Japan. The goal was to raise funds toward the establishment of the HFLA Academy in Techiman. This fund raiser program was spearheaded by Mr. Chris Whitney through a musical concert. We were not all that successful with this program. But we were not discouraged at all.

2002: I had the bad news related to me by Dr. Joseph Mensah about the loss of the fifteen acres of land his father had donated to the IIHFD for the HFLA’s Education Program. He made me know that the Techiman District Assembly had usurped the land his father had donated to the IIHFD. The plans we made for the establishment of the HFLA in Techiman failed.

2003: Since I believed in and was convinced about the human factor vision and mission, I neither lost heart nor direction. I continued to search for a more viable and appropriate home for the HFLA. I began to share the idea with Mr. Seth Aglagoh regarding the search for a location for the establishment of the HFLA. It took quite a while to convince Mr. Aglagoh that the establishment of the HFLA will be of great significance to Ghana as well as other African countries. My eyes were focused on Akatsi, an excellent market center in the Volta Region of Ghana.

2004: Mr. Aglagoh finally agreed that Akatsi in the Volta Region of Ghana could serve as an excellent location for the HFLA. I, therefore, requested that he looked for either a property to purchase or a building to rent for the purpose. Initially, Mr. Aglagoh had a four-acre plot of land he owned and was willing to donate it to the HFLA’ Education Program. We were now poised to get started. The only limitation we had then was the lack of adequate financial resources with which to get started. While Mr. Seth Aglagoh continued to search for other landed property to purchase, I continued to think about and reflect on how to find the funding with which to move forward.

2005: Thank God for a powerfully break we had in August 2005! The publication of my book: The Human Factor in Leadership Effectiveness turned things around significantly. After having heard about the book and read through it, Mr. Jason Jenkins, a former student of mine from the MBA program of the Fermanian School of Business, Point Loma Nazarene University, called and requested for a lunch meeting with me. While at lunch with Mr. Jason Jenkins, he wanted to know more about the human factor concept and the vision I had for it. Our first meeting over lunch lasted for over four hours! I shared the whole vision for and mission of the HFLA with Mr. Jason Jenkins. On the following day, we continued on with our discussions at the Mission Valley Starbuck’s coffee outlet located at the Fenton Marketplace. After having spent a great deal of time together on this day dialoguing and strategizing, Mr. Jason Jenkins made me know that he was committed to assisting me to get the HFLA established. When he asked me about my next set of moves, I made him know that I wanted to start with a HFLA’s Community Library. By this time, I have had about ten thousand books in my house waiting to be shipped to Akatsi on the next day. Jason gave me a check for three thousand dollars toward the shipping costs. Mr. and Mrs. Randy Ataide contributed one thousand five hundred toward the shipping costs. Members of the IIHFD and other interested individuals made donations toward this vision.

2006: My wife, Sabina, and our two daughters, Selassie and Selorm left for Ghana in the summer of 2006 to get the HFLA’s community library launched. The total airfare alone for all four of us was approximately nine thousand dollars. We put it all on our credit card! A Point Loma Nazarene University Student, Mr. Brad Lewis joined us later in Ghana for the inauguration of the HFLA’s Community Library. On July 17th, 2006, we inaugurated the HFLA’s community library at Akatsi in a rental facility that Mr. Seth Aglagoh found and rented. Mr. Seth Aglagoh, his wife, Eleanor, and their son, Xorla were all present at the inauguration ceremony in Akatsi. In November of 2006 we shipped approximately thirty thousand books to Ghana.

2007: We shipped one hundred computers and over fifteen thousand books to the library. We also carried out our second official fund raising program on October 27th, 2007. We received books from many individuals, including the Bookman in San Diego. Mr. and Mrs. Randy and Ruth Ataide, Jason Jenkins, and several others contributed generously again toward the cost of this second shipment of books and computers. We began plans for the HFLA’s Education Program. The goal was to get started in 2008. We bargained to purchase a hundred acre plot of land. Mr. Jason and Jennifer Jenkins donated fifteen thousand dollars toward the down payment for the land. Mr. Jason Jenkins came to visit the HFLA’s Community Library Project in June 2007. Mr. Vaughn and Terri Woods donated two thousand five hundred dollars toward the redesign of the IIHFD’s website.

2008: We did not have sufficient funds to get started. We, therefore, shifted the program to the fall of 2009. But we rented an approximately a fourteen thousand square foot facility to be renovated for the HFLA’s education program. Jason Jenkins came back to Ghana to see for himself the significant progress we have made to date. In the middle of November 2008, Mr. and Mrs. Nate and Sarah Knecht donated twenty thousand nine hundred dollars toward the building renovation program. This donation significantly boosted our renovation efforts. The year 2008 goes into our history as the year of renovations!

2009: In the fall of 2009, we will inaugurate the HFLA’s education program at Akatsi in the Volta Region of Ghana.