February 18, 2016
10 Young Changemakers That Made Ghana Better in 2015
There has been tremendous contribution by young people to the development of Ghana in 2015 which is worth profiling. This is an indication that young people are very interested to see the country through their own works other than the traditional means – government. I have put together my list of the 10 top young people in Ghana who created impact in their personal life, workplace or community that had an impact on their community and the country at large. This is list is not based on how many employers they have or how much wealth they have been accumulated, but basically dependent on their selfless effort to making Ghana better than what they came to meet it.
Meet the 10 Young Changemakers That Made Ghana Better in the year 2015.
Bernard Koku Avle, Director of News Programming at Citi FM.
Bernard Alve
Bernard Koku Avle is the Director of News Programming at Citi FM, he oversees a team of young hardworking news professionals producing and covering news for Ghanaian radio and online audiences. He combines this role with hosting the Citi Breakfast Show, an exciting and most talked about daily talk show that addresses socio-economic issues in Ghana. He has been in broadcasting for close to 15 years and started as a volunteer broadcast journalist at the University of Ghana’s Radio Univers in the year 2000. His show was adjudged the Interactive/Talk Show of the year at the BBC’s Africa Radio Awards in 2007, in Nairobi Kenya and Radio Program of the year 2013 by the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG).
Basharat Saeed, Founder of XBash Fashion.
Basharat Saeed is a 20 year old Home Economics student at the University of Cape Coast. Basharat strongly persuaded her parents from studying science at Wesley Girls High School, Cape Coast, in order to study her passion – fashion. At Wesley Girls High School, she won the best dress designer and best clothing and textile student. In her four years of following her passion, some of her clients include her lecturers and some prominent people in Ghana. Her company, XBash sows and sell clothing and accessories for both sexes and seeks to bring an exclusively and exquisite touch to the fashion industry in the world by fuding old trends with existing ones.
Prince Boadu, CEO and Co-founder of MapTech Logistics Limited.
Prince Boadu
Prince is the CEO and Co-founder of MapTech Logistics Limited. His company leverages the power of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to solve business problems by developing and deploying GIS-based applications to solve business problems relating to logistics and supply chain management. Prior to founding MapTech Logistics, he co-founded EVOLV.Africa; a non-profit that empowers the youth with entrepreneurship and leadership skills. To date, his NGO has reached close to 1,000 youth through seminars, conferences and workshops. He has worked as Logistics and Supply Chain Analyst for Clean Team Ghana. He is the founding curator of TEDxKNUST, a World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Shaper (Kumasi Hub), and recently named Future of Ghana Magazine 30 under 30 emerging Ghanaians to watch. Prince is a Ye! Fellow and was selected as 1 of 10 entrepreneurs from Ghana to pitch their businesses to investors at The Dutch Central Bank in Amsterdam. Prince also served as a speaker at the just-ended Atlantic Dialogues in Morocco as one of 40 named Emerging Leaders from four continents across the Atlantic Basin —an initiative of the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the OCP Policy Center of Morocco. He is an active member of the GhanaThink Foundation as well as the Association of African Entrepreneurs.
Nana Ama Agyeman Asante, Citi Break Show
Nana Ama Agyeman Asante is the the only female in Ghana who is on a morning radio show radio in Ghana and the only female who is part of the top morning shows in Ghana – Citi Breakfast Show. She describes herself as the lady with the annoying opinions on the show. She’s passionate about all issues affecting women, children and the underprivileged. It is this passion that drove her to the media to give voice to the voiceless. Since joining the Citi Breakfast Show crew in 2013, Nana Ama has added a much-needed feminine perspective to some of the most pressing issues confronting the country – issues ranging from governance and corruption to pension reform and sexual violence. In all her work on radio and on her blog, Nana is smart, witty and, above all else, an unwavering in her optimism Ghana and Africa will one day rise to glory. She was recently recognised as the Media Personality of the Year 2015 by Daily Graphic written Francis Doku.
Louis Appiah is the Founder of Louicage Studios and Creator of Tales of Nazir.
Louis founded Louicage Studios in 2010 and he is the major designer for many materials for the West African movie industry. His company’s current project, ‘Tales of Nazir ‘ has now become a household name in Ghana and beyond. It has received a lot of international movie nominations. A few of these nominations are the ‘Klik Film Festival Awards’ in Amsterdam for emerging African animator. Zafaa Glbal Award for best animated feature. AWA African movie awards for best short film. It also won an award for best short film at the Accra francophone Film Festival awards early 2015. His company has a fanbase of over 39,000 collectively on facebook, over 500,000 views collectively on YouTube only, just after a year. He is an illustrator and animator. He has been illustrating for the past 19 years and just began animating in 2014. Offered visual arts in Aggrey Memorial senior high school and graphic design at the University of South Africa.
Abigail Larbi is the Programme Officer, Media Foundation for West Africa. 
Abigail is passionate about using media (new and traditional) for improved citizens/public participation in governance processes especially in Ghana, women’s rights reporting in Ghana. On the regional level (West Africa), she has her eyes on advocacy for the passage and proper implementation of access to information legislation; increasing citizens’ awareness of ECOWAS protocols and compliance of ECOWAS Court judgements by member states. Abigail is known for her advocacy work on free press in Ghana and as result has spoken at many international forums and has also managed some very significant projects for reputable organisations such as USAID, IBIS-Ghana, Canadian High Commission, US Embassy of Ghana, etc. She was also an Adjunct lecturer in Business Communication at the Greenhill College of the Ghana Management and Public Administration.
Papa Oppong Bediako, Fashion Designer/Illustrator/Artist
Papa Oppong Bediako, the 23 year old guy has already started printing his name in the African fashion industry. He discovered his love for fashion at a very early age in life and pursued his passion to become one of the young renowned fashion designers he is today. In 2013, Papa began work on his very first collection which he named: “A Celebration of Darkness”. In the same year, in 2013, Papa was selected to intern at Studio 189; a fashion brand owned by fashion guru Abrimah Erwiah and Hollywood actress Rosario Dawson. In 2014, Papa Oppong also interned with the UN’s Ethical Fashion Initiative which provided locals with skills and training in fashion and garment production. Although very young, Papa Oppong has firmly planted his feet into the African fashion industry. He has been featured in a number of both local and international publications including the UK’s fashion illustration magazine: DASH Magazine (2012) and Ghana’s fashion and lifestyle magazine: Dream Magazine (2014). Legit retail, a fashion retailer in South Africa, also highlighted the young designer in their end-of-year catalogue (2014). Papa’s illustrations have also gained him international attention from celebrities such as singer: Kelly Rowland, singer: Rihanna, model Amber Rose and international celebrity stylist: Ty Hunter, who all follow his social media accounts. In 2015, Papa Oppong was contacted by global cosmetics brand: M.A.C to be an illustrator for their official launch in Ghana. The event saw Papa Oppong create lip illustrations of invited guests live. 2015 also saw one of the biggest moments in the young designer’s life when he was featured on CNN’s “African Voices” program which highlighted the young designer’s life and journey in fashion through a short documentary.Perfectual Labik, Founder and Project Director of Northern Education Support Initiative
The 24 year old lady hails from Nakpanduri in the Northern Region and is the founder and project director of NORTHERN EDUCATION SUPPORT INITIATIVE, which is geared at supporting the cause of quality basic education in the three Northern Regions of Ghana. She is also the founder of RootsbyLinnan, a fashion brand that seeks to infuse current fashion trends with traditional Ghanaian northern trends by using native northern smock fabrics to create clothes for the modern individual, without comprising the ingenuity of the traditional smocks. She also has the Lin Model Management, which is to unearth and train virgin model talents in the Northern sector of Ghana. Perfectual is passionate about voluteerism and charity. Women supporting women is the newest of her undertakings in her quest to make women more appreciative and supportive of each other. It is a network seeking to bring women from all walks of life together to create a support system for business, growth, partnership and education.
Kofi Tonto, Executive Director of African Youth Excellence
Kofi Tonto is a man of many hats. He is an entrepreneur and an avid supporter of the Pan African movement. He currently serves as the Executive Director of a U.S. based organization called African Youth Excellence, Inc. African Youth Excellence (AYE) is a non-profit organization with a deep seated interest in promoting excellence. Its mission is centered on nurturing and developing the skills and talents of young Africans Abroad. Aside from AYE, Kofi also works as a Senior Data Analyst at the Hanover Insurance Group. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a degree in Economics, and a minor in Political Science. Kofi also served as a Board of Director for Center for Family Progress, a nonprofit organization with a mission to assist new immigrants and underprivileged individuals and families to become members of the American society.Gifty Bingley, Director of Corporate Communications & Responsibility at Tigo Ghana
Gifty incorporated Tigo’s Corporate Communications and Responsibility department and with her team has built a great brand for the company. One of Gifty’s top initiatives include, Shelter 4 Education which involved the construction of four brand new schools and the renovation of two others in rural Ghana and other innovative projects which led her company to win the “Best CSR Company of the Year Award” at the 2015 Ghana Telecom Awards and “CSR Telecom Company of the Year” at the Ghana CSR Excellence Awards 2015. She was also the first Communications Manager and official Spokesperson for the British High Commission, Ghana, I developed the UK in Ghana’s Public Engagement Strategy and managed public diplomacy on a wide range of policy issues. She was named the 2014 PR Discovery of the Year at the prestigious Institute of Public Relations Awards 2015.Special Recognition – Reuben Griffths Bekoe, First Person To Solo Ride Across Ghana
I would like to commend the great work of Reuben, a 21 year old senior high school graduate from Shama Senior High school who took the risk to solo ride across the ten regions of Ghana in fundraising for the Ghana Cleft foundation. He is the first person in Ghana to do a solo ride in Ghana and as a means to raise funds for a social good. Beuben took 90 days to ride across the country to raise GHC2,500 so far plus other monies which were paid directly into the accounts of the Ghana Cleft foundation.
The Award, comes after Rex’s successive commitment to gathering African Entrepreneurs and Change Makers at the annual African Achievers Awards to honour and celebrate their works relating to the development and sustainability of the African Continent.
January 16, 2017
Call for Application: Ghana Youth Social Entrepreneurship Competition 2017
Introduction:
Are you a young person looking to creating change in your community and want to make a difference across Ghana? Do you want to make a impactful and sustainable change?
The Competition:
Digital Opportunity Trust (DOT), in partnership with GhanaThink Foundation, is pleased to announce the Ghana Youth Social Entrepreneurship Competition. We are calling out to youth as partners for the implementation of their ideas which are geared towards achieving the SDGs.
DOT is an international non-profit organization that believes in the power of youth-led innovation, that communities can be shaped by empowering youth to create sustainable initiatives inspired by community needs, and that social innovation is accelerated when supported by digital technology.
Target Group:
This challenge is seeking youth as agents of community development through social enterprises. As an applicant, you must be passionate about social entrepreneurship and social innovation and be willing to create social change.
Benefits:
Guidelines and Requirements:
Timeframe: Applications are due by January 23, 2017 at 11:59 GMT
Reporting Requirements: Selected applicants will be expected to pitch their idea for support.
How to Apply
N.B:
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