Kate Atabong has been appointed as commissioner for African Affairs for the State of Maryland, USA.

Cameroonian born, Kate Atabong, has been appointed as Commissioner for African Affairs for the State of Maryland, USA. The appointment came on February 11, 2014 when she received a call from the Governor's Office of Maryland State at about 10:00 a.m. during which the person at the end of the line stated: "I am calling on behalf of the Governor of the State of Maryland, Governor Martin O'malley, to inform Ms Atabong that she had been appointed as commissioner for African Affairs for the State of Maryland effective today"!

Observers say it is a well-merited appointment given the amount of community service and tireless work Lady Kate, as she is fondly called by friends, has put in over the years to better the lives of her fellow Africans, with a particular focus on young African Girls. Kate Atabong has done tremendous work via her annual Pageant, Miss Africa USA, which has given its participants limitless opportunities to better themselves which they ordinarily would not have had.

In the role Lady Kate has just been appointed in, she will work with the Governor, the Government, Private Institutions and other leaders, to address needs specific to the African Diaspora community in the state of Maryland. She will also work to strengthen relations between the state of Maryland and African Institutions, Diplomatic Missions, Communities and other Organisations both in the United States and in Africa.

Kate Atabong was born and raised in the seaside town of Limbe in the South West Region. She graduated from Saker Baptist College, Limbe in 1987 and later moved on to Baptist High School Buea, where she graduated with the Class of 1989. Thereafter, she went to the United Kingdom for further studies and undertook a Bachelor in Economics and Social Sciences at the Victoria University of Manchester. She later became a Registered Nurse and worked for a few years in England before immigrating to the United States. The mother of two currently resides in the State of Maryland with her family. She is the CEO and Founder of the Miss Africa USA Scholarship Pageant which she started in 2005 in Atlanta, GA, as a way of bringing the African Community together to celebrate its culture and at the same time empower young women to embrace their beauty and use that as a platform to serve humanity.