Cherno Njie is an Austin-based real estate developer, investor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He was born in Banjul, The Gambia when the city was still called Bathurst. After growing up and working in The Gambia, he moved to Texas for his university education and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1987. Afterward, he began his now twenty-five-year career both as a state official at the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs and in the private sector as President of Songhai Development Company. In 2014 he was involved in the failed attempt to depose then Gambian President Yahya Jammeh. Upon his return to the United States, he was arrested and convicted of violating the Neutrality Act of 1794. He now lives freely in Austin with his wife and children.