The Director of Social Bridge, Nana Adjoa Adobea Asante, says she had the dream of becoming a lobbyist and, at a point, an economist, but that changed after a sit down with her late grandfather.

“I wanted to be a lobbyist, and it was then that I was told Ghana has no lobbyist or lobbying firms. In the US and the likes, we have people trained to speak on behalf of big corporations to change policy direction through lobbying. Example farmers can lobby to have corn included in the statutory food requirement for schools,” the former boss of the Director of the National Folklore Board said.

She said the closest to a lobbyist in the Ghanaian context will be politicians and lawyers. Not just any lawyer but “a lawyer who works with government to change policy,” she told Rev Erskine on the YLeaderboard Series on YFM's Myd Morning Radio Show.

Nana Adjoa said she was dying to become someone fighting to change policy and contribute to social development, but it dawned on her after high school that she could not be a lobbyist.

Although she considered venturing into economics next, she was handicapped as she was weak in mathematics. Here again, she was advised against the idea by her grandad.

“I decided to pursue economics because I had taken it seriously in school because my mother also pursued that in school. But, on the other hand, I hate mathematics and really put in a lot of effort before scoring a C grade in my final exam in High School.”

According to Nana Adjoa, her grandad, who knew she would face some difficulty pursuing economics, pulled her aside and advised her into pursuing a law degree instead.

“He told me he knew I didn’t like mathematics, and because of that, I couldn’t pursue economics. However, he said he liked lawyers and asked me to consider pursuing law. I didn’t know I would love law so much until I entered the classroom,” she revealed.

Glad to have followed her grandad’s advice, she describes the law as a discipline that cuts across many fields, and “I am glad I chose law.”

Sharing values that influenced her growing up, she advised the youth not to take what does not belong to them.

“My mum drummed that into us, and it has guided us. It means you should be principled and not downplay someone’s efforts for you to advance in your work. So be principled and don’t compromise on your values.”

Nana Adjoa studied law at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and obtained her professional law degree at the Ghana School of Law.

She has certificates in Sustainable Dispute Resolution and International Anti-corruption from the University of Milan.

She is a lawyer with expertise in commercial litigation, corporate governance and intellectual property and has worked with laws firms both in Ghana and abroad, including Scarlet Macaw Legal Practitioners, JLD & MB Legal Consultancy, and secondment to Fresh Fields Bruckhaus Derringer and NCTM Milan.