These 10 Ghanaian women are changemakers in early childhood development, inclusion, reading and literacy, communications, STEM, and distance learning.
Accra, Ghana - After a rigorous selection process, the Empowered to Educate team has selected the first class of Fellows. The group is composed of passionate, innovative female educators who lead projects that benefit their communities. Throughout their two-year fellowships, these young women will receive leadership training, mentoring, global recognition, and micro-grants to support their projects.
Empowered to Educate is a program of United Planet Corp, based in Boston, MA. The program is now launching with its first class of Fellows in Ghana. The leadership is experienced in international development, education, women’s empowerment, and nonprofit operations.
The complete list of the 2020 Fellows is here:
Agnes Ayariga Atanga
Fatimah Hallu Alhassan
Grace Amponsah
Jennifer De-Graft Ninson
Nimatu Siisu
Rose Aba Dodd
Saraswati Efua Arthur
Saudatu Mohammed
Shine Dewovo
Vida Konadu Agyeman
While each Fellow’s story is unique, all of them are passionate about giving back to their communities, particularly empowering girls who lack access to education. Several of the Fellows lead or work with organizations that offer skills, emotional support, educational opportunities, and financial resources to vulnerable and marginalized women. Promoting literacy and illuminating girls’ potential is a common goal of the Fellows; collectively, they have impacted thousands of women across Ghana through various programs.
Believing in the power of educated women to change the world, the Empowered to Educate Fellowships offer leadership training, mentorship, global recognition, peer support and networking, and small program stipends. Mentoring was identified as the most important program aspect by the Fellows. To that end, Empowered to Educate has selected a group of Mentors who have made major accomplishments in their professional lives and who will be role models and for the Fellows, offering them guidance, support, insights, and inspiration as they advance their careers.
The Fellowships are commencing at an unprecedented time as COVID-19 continues to threaten public health in Ghana and around the world. The crisis required a shift in Empowered to Educate’s programming from in-person sessions to virtual workshops and discussions. Thanks to technology and the hard work of Ghana Country Advisor Tawiak Agyarko-Kwarteng, they recently hosted a successful virtual launch featuring guest speaker Dr. Rana Dajani. Other events, such as Fellow introductions and Mentor Orientation have also been hosted via Zoom. While the lack of face-to-face interactions is disappointing, Empowered to Educate is confident that their Fellows will receive the same quality of programming as envisioned at the outset. Given that the Fellows are such innovative and inspired women, they are certain that the Fellows and their Mentors will adapt to the current challenges.
Empowered to Educate plans to update its community, via email and social media, on the accomplishments of the Fellows in the years to come. They are eager to share the positive changes each Fellow initiates and hope to foster lasting connections between Fellows with shared goals. The next step for Empowered to Educate is continuing fundraising via Global Giving so that it can keep providing resources to the Fellows. They will also continue planning and executing programs for Fellows and mentors in the coming months. They would like to thank their donors, friends, and community members for their support throughout this journey.
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