Ghana
Ghana is more than a place…it’s a home. It is a place that wraps you in the warm embrace of community, culture, and heritage. I discovered this connection during my first trip in 2015. As a researcher and scholar, I traveled to Ghana to study the role of African women leaders in building and sustaining social change. I soon discovered much more.
Identity
Purpose
Community
“I am not African because I was born in Africa but because Africa was born in me.”
– Kwame Nkrumah
Sankofa Trips
I wish I could bring everyone back to Ghana with me. Returning to Africa is a Sankofa moment. Sankofa reflects the philosophy of “go back and fetch it.” It also means “we must return to the source.” With each visit, I recapture my cultural heritage and pride. I see a reflection of my ancestors who paved the way for my very existence through their hard work, fierce determination, and unwavering faith.
I return to the source of my history and find renewed strength. I share this gift with others. I travel to Africa with community members, educators, and business leaders. I hope that they too will experience Sankofa by discovering our shared humanity and common destiny.
Watch our documentary
2019 Year of Return
Books
My books take you on a learning journey of discovery and engagement.
Planting People Growing Justice Leadership Institute
I am the proud founder of the nonprofit, Planting People Growing Justice Leadership Institute. Our mission is to plant seeds of social change through education, training, and community outreach.
Youth Leadership Summit
PPGJLI hosts an annual leadership summit at the Senchi Ferry Library. Our team uses our R.I.S.E. leadership framework to support youth as they learn, grow, and lead. We provide practical leadership development training, career coaching, and mentorship.
STEAM Academy
We are building a STEAM Academy in Ghana (Volta Region). Our goal is to train and equip students for careers in the fasting growing fields. STEM careers are growing at a rate of 2-3x that of all careers combined (Bureau of Labor Statistics). STEAM combines science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math to support the leadership development of our youth. Students gain valuable critical thinking, innovation, and analytical skills.
Leaders are Readers
We are committed to creating new pipelines to success by improving literacy rates and inspiring the next generation of Ghanaian leaders through the Leaders are Readers program.
This program offers youth positive messaging and relatable characters both of which have been shown to increase literacy and address the systemic inequities associated with illiteracy.