American Friends of Guinea Teams With Hyperdynamics to Recruit New Executive Director, Michael P. Carson

AFG publishes its new website at: www.AFGuinea.org

HOUSTON, Nov. 22, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- American Friends of Guinea ("AFG"), a tax exempt non-profit targeting medical relief and disease prevention in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa, announced that effective today Michael P. Carson has become its new Executive Director. He was selected by AFG's board after interviewing a formidable group of candidates derived from an intense executive search performed by Heidrick & Struggles. He accepted the position as AFG's new top executive after a collaborative recruiting effort between AFG's board of directors and the generously donated assistance of Ray Leonard, the Chief Executive Officer for Hyperdynamics Corporation (NYSE Amex : HDY), an internationally active oil company exploring for oil and gas offshore Guinea.

When asked to comment, Michael Carson said, "I am honored for the opportunity to lead AFG and build AFG's board and institutional capacity to serve the people of Guinea. It is exciting to collaborate with the government of Guinea and Hyperdynamics to help catalyze the enormous potential of Guinea."

Kent Watts, Chairman for AFG commented, "Michael Carson brings us tremendous experience and capability to build and expand our humanitarian efforts for the people of Guinea. It will be a privilege to work with him."

About Michael P. Carson

Michael P. Carson, an American national, has seventeen years experience in international development. He joined the American Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Axios Foundation in April 2010 as the organization's first Director of Business Development. He has been responsible for leading Axios' business development efforts with U.S. government and foundation donors, spearheading partnerships with health consulting firms and NGOs and exploring new areas within the health sector to pursue like Malaria, Maternal and Child Health and Reproductive Health.  

His background includes 9 years of experience as country director for a major NGO in East and West Africa. There he led global program operations in agriculture, health, and business development. He increased country presence from four to seven and raised approximately thirty six million dollars ($36,000,000) for new agriculture and food security programs.

Mr. Carson's education and training includes a Master's degree in Public Administration from Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government, June 2004; a Masters degree in Business Administration, Finance concentration, May 1989 from Clark-Atlanta University; and a Bachelor of Arts degree, Political Science, with a minor in Philosophy, March 1985 from the University of Denver.  In addition to English, he is fluent in the French language.  More about Michael P. Carson can be found on AFG's website.  

About American Friends of Guinea

American Friends of Guinea (AFG) is a non-profit organization initiated in 2006 under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c )(3).  AFG was established to raise funds from people living in the United States of America to be used for medical aid and grants for improving the quality of medical care for citizens in the country of the Republic of Guinea, located in West Africa. More about AFG can be found at the website: www.AFGuinea.org  

SOURCE American Friends of Guinea