Carol Bebelle (a.k.a. Akua Wambui) is a native New Orleanian and the Executive Director and Co-founder of Ash Cultural Arts Center in New Orleans. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola University in Sociology and a Master's of Education degree from Tulane University in Education Administration. She spent nearly 20 years in the public sector as an administrator and planner of education, social, and health programs.
In 1990, Carol embarked on her path of independence, which started with establishing Master Plan Development Associates (MPDA), a private consulting firm that offered planning, development, and grant writing services to human service programs and initiatives. Her clients were non-profit health, social, education, arts, cultural, and religious programs and entrepreneurs and artists. Carol is a published poet whose work has appeared in several anthologies and journals over the years.