The Kama Conference Centre in Labone, Accra will be illuminated with ideas and inspiration tomorrow Saturday April 5, 2014 as the TEDxLabone 2014 kick starts at 9:00am. Below is the profiles of the various speakers.

 Uche Ofodile

Branding Specialist & Social Entrepreneur (Chief Marketing Officer, Vodafone Ghana)

Theme: “Woman to Woman: How successful women can replicate their success through mentoring”

Uche Ofodile is the Chief Marketing Officer of Vodafone Ghana. Before assuming her current role, Uche was the Head of Strategy, Brand and Communications. Prior to joining Vodafone Ghana, Uche spent over six years in Nigeria working in various senior leadership roles in the telecommunications industry where she worked for Econet Wireless (now Airtel) and MTS First Wireless.

She was Marketing Director for Nutricima Ltd where she led product innovation and marketing communication. Since joining Vodafone Ghana, Uche has driven the organisation to the number two position in Ghana, in both customer numbers and revenue market share.

The brand transformation Uche has driven, led to numerous awards including ‘Telecoms Company of the Year’ from the CIMG and ‘Best Mobile Brand’ for two consecutive years at the Mobile World Awards. Her unique combination of innovation, value and empowerment, has led to several ‘firsts’ in the Ghanaian market including the introduction of Ghana’s lowest call-rate across networks, the pioneering ICONS and HealthLine television shows and a strategic approach towards music through the creation of ‘020 Live’ and sponsorship of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards. Uche has a B.A. in Political Science and a Diploma in Strategic Marketing from Columbia Business School.

She has over 15 years of International Marketing experience in global organizations such as, KPMG, Zain and PZ Cussons and is a member of the American Marketing Association. Uche is passionate about sharing the wealth of her experience and her interests include mentoring, public speaking and spending time with her family.

 Mrs. Hanna Tetteh

 Lawyer and Politician

Theme: " Women in Leadership & Governance - Why it matters and personal reflections"

Hanna Tetteh was born in Szeged, Hungary. Her secondary education was at the Wesley Girls High School at Cape Coast in the Central Region of Ghana from 1978 to 1985.

Between 1986 and 1989, she studied law at the University of Ghana where she obtained the Bachelor of Law (LL.B) degree. She then attended the Ghana Law School, becoming a Barrister-at-Law in 1992.

Hanna Tetteh worked as a Legal Officer with the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) from 1992 to 1993. Over the next year, she worked in private legal practice at the Ansa-Asare and Company Hencil Chambers in Accra, Ghana. In 1995, she served as a legal officer with the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice in Ghana. Later that same year, she joined the Ghana Agro Food Company, a company involved in tuna canning, wheat milling, feed milling, and fishmeal production and veterinary drugs at Tema in the Greater Accra Region where she held several positions until she went into politics in 2000. She returned to the same company in 2005 where she worked until 2009.

Hanna Tetteh won the Awutu Senya constituency seat in the December 2000 parliamentary election and served for one term as National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament on the opposition benches. She did not contest her seat in the next election. In 2008, she returned to politics, becoming the communications director of John Atta Mills' campaign during the December 2008 presidential elections. She got robbed at gun point during the campaign.

In February 2009, following his election as the new President of Ghana, John Atta Mills appointed her Minister of Trade and Industry. She returned to parliament in 2013 after winning the Awutu Senya West constituency seat in the Ghanaian general election in December 2012. She was nominated by President Mahama as Minister for Foreign Affairs and appointed as such in January 2013 after parliamentary approval.

Abla M. Masoperh

Legal and Strategic Adviser

Theme:  “Domestic violence: the enemy within”

Abla Mawulolo Masoperh, is a Senior Counsel at N.Dowuona & Company. During her legal career, which has spanned 18 years, she has had the privilege of advising several local and international companies on mergers and acquisitions, securities, corporate finance, labour and other areas of company and commercial law practice in Ghana.

Abla is a graduate of the University of Pretoria, where she received an LLM, University of Ghana where she received an LLB, the Ghana School of Law and is admitted to the Ghana Bar. She is also a product of Wesley Girls High School.

Prior to joining N.Dowuona & Co, she was the Head, Corporate Counsel and Company Secretary of Access Bank (Ghana) Limited, the Legal Manager for Meridian Port Services Ltd, a Senior Associate at JLD & MB Legal Consultancy and an Associate with Fugar & Company respectively.

Why you should listen to her:

Abla is passionate about social issues and the development of Ghana. She is a great believer in the fact that Ghana has all that it takes to truly lead the way in Africa. At this year’s event, she will be speaking on the “Domestic violence;the enemy within.” The goal of this discourse will be to inform the ordinary person about what the issues are, and hopefully empower listeners to be able to make intelligent contributions on the ongoing debate on the situation in Ghana.

 Toni Manieson

Jazz Musician and Entrepreneur

Theme: "Reaching My Destiny, Living My Dream - Music through Gratitude"

Anyone Can!

TONI "JAZZ TONE" MANIESON

Had & has a dream to one day entertain & sing Jazz around the world & make a difference in other people's lives because of her discovery of how through Gratitude one person's passion for something can get one to their destiny.

Toni was born in Los Angeles, California and works toward her destiny everyday. Her experiences have taken her from the West Coast of America to the Southern & Northern part of the U.S.; various parts of Asia & finally on the continent of the West Coast of Africa where she has been labeled as the pioneer of " Keeping Jazz Alive " for the last 16 years in Ghana, while living a musical dream that has taken her on a Journey, half way around the world.

She knows her experiences have taken her wherever she wanted to go because of an Attitude of Gratefulness & will share with you, how anyone can accomplish any dream and reach their destiny if they make a habit of being grateful.

Along this Creative Musical Journey, Toni "Jazz Tone" has put herself through & completed several levels of Education; owned a Sheet Music Store with Musical Instruction & Instruments before she was 29 years old; owned a "Light Moving Anytime" Moving Business specializing in small moves & Pianos; founded & owned Jazz Tone- Ghana's #1 Jazz Club & Restaurant for 7 years; has performed in New York, California, Georgia, Japan, Togo, Sierra Leone, Nigeria & Ghana; had many opportunities to perform in front & for Presidents, Ambassadors, a King, Political leaders, Doctors, Lawyers, Ministers, festivals, large & small events, schools, Hotel, NGO's and many situations too numerous to mention. She currently performs regularly around Ghana with herself taught Ghanaian Jazz Pianist

Her Motto: Living my Dream, Reaching my Destiny; Music through Gratitude! Anyone Can do it

Hayford Siaw

Social Entrepreneur & a Change Leader of the Reach

Theme: "Do good, doing it well"

At 22, Hayford founded a social enterprise that has grown to be a leading indigenous internship and volunteer placement organisation in West Africa.

Founded in 2007, the Volunteer Partnerships for West Africa is already charting a new course in volunteering and internship in Africa, with its unique approach to development issues, innovative programs and emphasis on sustainability.

With vast investment in varied social causes, Hayford leads consortiums on varied development projects and is frequently sought for consultation by governments and development organisations within and outside the continent.

Hayford Siaw is a Change Leader of the Reach for Change incubation program and a Goodwill Ambassador of the World NGO Day.

Why you should listen to him:

Cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead said: "Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that has." To this end, bilateral and multilateral donors to grassroots charities – have set up volunteering programmes. Indeed some NGOs have volunteerism at the centre of their strategy to fight poverty.

The field of volunteering and doing good is diverse: Because of this diversity, volunteering is often seen by many development workers as a bad thing, an activity which promotes notions of an ‘outside saviour' helping people incapable of helping themselves. In this talk, Hayford will inform, empower and educate audience on this development activity and how to maximize the most impact to contribute to sustainable change

Papa Arkhurst

 Entrepreneur and Public/Motivational Speaker

Theme: "Functional  Citizenship"

I am currently the Director for IT for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and my role includes overseeing all technology related assets and activities under the ministry and sub agencies, and a founder of the African Entrepreneurship Community(AEC) which was spawned in an effort to create an avenue for entrepreneurs and investors to have easy access to each other and for entrepreneurs to get easy access to the needed services  that will get them investment ready.

I have also done a number of training seminars in communication, team building and mentor- mentee relations etc and I am a Distinguished Toastmaster (The highest award bestowed on a member of Toastmasters, when he has gone through the full communication and leadership track ). My background is in Entrepreneurship, Technology and Communication.

Why you should listen to him:

A lot of times we tend to focus on Citizenship from the perspective of what our rights are and what we expect of our governments and societies and what freedoms should be accorded us. This talk is focusing on the importance of looking at the other side of citizenship, what is required of us and what should be expected of us. The importance of building ourselves to become Citizens of country, continent and the world and the support and respect we need to give other citizens much like ourselves.

Benjamin Gregory Aggrey

Social Entrepreneur & Brands Specialist

Theme:  "Winning Together, Intentionally"

As an Entrepreneur Benjamin Gregory Aggrey is the CEO of Effusion Africa, transformational firm committed to creating sustainable enterprises and empowering a new generation of entrepreneurs and change agents across Africa. He has a gift of carving a vision, cracking a code for it and organizing people to realize the vision.

He is also the founder of the award winning WOMAN 2.1. Summit. Raised in rural Ghana and educated singularly by a struggling mother, Benjamin knows firsthand the enabling power of a strong-minded person. His mother’s unyielding faith in God and tough character helped shape him into a visionary leader with an incredible spirit. Inspired by his mother’s example, he founded WOMAN 2.1 Summit to develop and empower a new generation of women leaders to improve the state of Africa and inspire the next generation.

He received a United States Congressional Recognition award in 2010 and a nomination in the 10th Annual Global Professional Achievers awards in 2011.

Growing up, Benjamin learnt one truth: the power of coming together. He learnt that when people come together in an inspiring environment, they find answers, they cross-pollinate ideas, they shape talents, they transfer skills, and they develop winning strategies to tackle some of the world's debilitating problems.

This truth challenged him to take a giant leap to start Effusion Africa in 2009 whilst a second year student in the university. Effusion Africa, through its programs and products has empowered thousands of people across Africa and inspired numerous globally.

With abiding passion, infectious energy and God’s favour, his company’s signature and groundbreaking initiative, WOMAN 2.1 Summit has grown from a gathering of change agents to a global movement of influential voices, authentic hearts and great minds.

He believes that Africa’s emerging transformation demands wisely nurtured God fearing leaders all across the continent to embrace the challenge of making Africa a giant economic force in the twenty first century. His long term goals include developing his company to be a centre of intelligence for entrepreneurs worldwide.

He is indebted to God for His mercies, his formidable team and numerous mentors and advisors globally for their sacrifice and support.

A regular speaker at conferences and workshops, Benjamin has appeared in several national and international media including CNN NewsWire, GTV, Houston Style Magazine, Viasat One, Daily Guide and Business and Financial Times.

Why you should listen to him:

As a young African man who is passionate about the prosperity of the continent and its people, I will share the key learnings I have gathered from committing myself to the development of African women for transformational change through WOMAN 2.1 Summit since 2009.

Kojo Oppong Nkrumah

Entrepreneur and Broadcaster

Theme:  "Dream, imagine, explore; Challenging today's African to conquer tomorrow"

Joy FMs award-winning host of the Super Morning Show, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah

A radio personality who has an unquenchable passion for soccer in general and child development in particular. For many years the sleek distinct voice of this gentleman has been waking us up in Ghana and practically keeps us connected with the rest of the country with his witty chit chats and critical analysis of events happening around us. He hosted arguably the number One Morning show in the country and he is also a Business Development Specialist.

His four hour radio show draws the largest middle and upper class audience each day, discussing Politics, Business, Sports, Current Affairs and other social issues.

Once a project coordinator for Students In Free Enterprise at the University of Cape Coast, this gentleman has a keen interest in embarking on activities that focus on creating opportunities and transforming lives in communities across the country.

In May 2012, he caused to be opened one of fifteen Public Libraries his Read 100 project has envisioned to build countrywide aimed at encouraging Ghanaian pupils in Primary and Junior High Schools not only to inculcate the habit of reading but also to gain easy access to books to read in a serene and comfortable atmosphere.

From very humble beginnings, this gentleman has managed to push his way to the top and the ease with which he has managed to surmount the many obstacles that came his way to get to his current level in the media landscape is what we at Mandela Soccer could simply not ignore.

Many continue to marvel at his sleek and silky voice over the airwaves. But what many do do not know is the fact that this gentleman had to battle a bad case of speech impairment when he was growing up. Today, his determination to excel and the zeal to make an impact in our society have propelled him to become one of the most influential gentlemen in Ghana.

Eva Lokko

Gender Activist, Public/Motivational Speaker , CEO Totally Youth & Politician

Theme: "The Third Pillar For Job Creation"

Ms. Eva Lokko is a product of Wesley Girls’ High School, Cape Coast. She holds two Masters Degrees - MSc. (Honours) Satellite Communications Engineering from Russia (awarded practical value) and MSc. Intelligent Management Systems from Britain. Eva is fluent in Ga, Twi, Fanti, English and Russian and has a good working knowledge of French and introductory level Spanish. She has travelled to over 44 countries in Africa, Asia (including Europe) and the Americas (USA/Latin America/the Caribbean).

Ms. Lokko is the first Satellite Communications Engineer in Ghana, the first woman Engineer in the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) and one of the Engineers who installed Ghana’s first colour television infrastructure. She is the only female Director-General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation – GBC, since its inception in 1935 and managed GBC’s transition to digital radio and television production and to satellite transmission and digital-ready broadcasting, nationwide.

Eva worked with the UN system for 13 years. She was an Information Specialist serving all UNDP’s 144 Country Offices worldwide and supervising 18 Sub-Regional Information Managers. She was the Regional Programme Coordinator of UNDP’s first government cost-shared ICT programme – the Internet Initiative for Africa, contracting and deploying ICT infrastructure and systems and developing ICT policies for 10 African countries. She initiated and managed UNDP’s first private sector cost-shared ICT partnerships.

She initiated, designed and implemented UNDP’s first Mobile Tele-centre To-Go project. She organised the first Sponsored ICT Walk in Ghana, to provide laptops and printers to deprived schools. She was a member of Ghana’s first ICT policy drafting team.

She received awards including TV-Africa’s Ɔbaa Mbo Award for her Unique Contribution to Communications Technology; Two Women in Leadership from Wesley Girls High School and GAWE; Personality of the Month on GhanaClassifieds; and UNDP Award for Excellent Human Resource Management. She received citations for Youth Activism from: Accra Polytechnic, KNUST, the internationally acclaimed Curious Minds and the Accra Methodist Cathedral Youth. She was a nominee for Personality of the Year in the Millennium Excellence Awards; Juror for the World Bank’s Ghana Development Marketplace; and Judge in the SIFE Ghana National Competition.

Eva has written presentations for and been chairperson, speaker, presenter, rapporteur and/or participant at various national and international conferences, seminars and workshops including the Yale Conference on Women and Development, FICSA, INET, NEPAD, UNDP-HDR, ICANN, ADF, the UNDP Resident Representatives Meeting/Rye and UNEP’s Development Watch. She has drafted and/or contributed to speeches for UN Secretary Generals, including Mr. Kofi Annan, UNDP Administrators and Assistant Administrators including Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson – now President of Libberia. She wrote and/or edited articles for UNDP News and UNDP Logon (UNDP’s ICT Journal). Eva planted the UN tree of peace with the former UN Secretary-General - Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

Ms. Lokko was President of the UN Federation of International Civil Servants Association (FICSA) and Chairperson of the UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Staff Council; a member of the UNDP News Advisory Board, UNDP’s Staff Management Working Group and Chairperson/member of several UNDP Restructuring and Strategic Planning Committees and Task Forces. She was a member of the Board of PSI-Distance Learning. Eva was the national ICT Consultant of the Methodist Church Ghana, a member of the MTN Customer Panel and the Chairperson of the National Committee on Girls in ICT.

Eva is the Founder/CEO of Totally Youth, a not-for-profit NGO, supporting unemployed graduates into careers and businesses.  She has been married since 1982 and has a son and daughter. Her hobbies include dancing, fashion design, hairdressing, cooking, traveling and DIY.

Ken Fiifi Amoah

 Writer and Financial Tax Auditor

Theme: "Pursuit of Excellence"

Ken Amoah is a summa cum laude Bachelors of Science in Finance graduate from Florida Memorial University. While in school, he was awarded the most promising student of the year in 2009. He was further recognised by the National Collegiate Scholars Association as the national scholar of the week of January 10, 2010.

Ken has spoken on a number of international platforms such as the National Association of African American Honors Program held in Miami, induction ceremonies such as the Financial Management Association and youth events both in the USA and in Ghana.

Currently, he works in the tax department of  Ernst & Young. Ken has a passion for inspiring people and mostly speaks in the area of excellence. He has a passion for business and an inspiration to see young people aspire to greatness. He attributes all his success and achievements to God.

Why you should listen to him:

The title of my lecture is Pursuit of Excellence.

The lecture would educate listeners on the need to distinguish themselves with their innate ability and acquired knowledge. I would also share the principles of excellence and what sets the top companies as well as the top achievers from the rest.

Patricia Obo-Nai

Chief Technical Officer, Vodafone Ghana

Theme:  “Age of the Girl-Geek: Women leading Ghana’s technological catch-up in the next decade”

Patricia Obo-Nai joined Vodafone Ghana as the Chief Technology Officer in January 2011. Patricia joined from TIGO where she gained 14 years’ experience in Technology and IT.

Since graduating as an electrical engineer from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and also completing an EMBA programme in Project Management, Patricia has gained extensive technical experience in network planning and strategy as well as varied management and leadership experience.

She progressed to become the only female CTO in the telecommunications industry in Ghana and the first female CTO across the Millicom Group operating in 16 countries.

Her achievements include successfully handling the technical part of a major transaction of monetising Millicom’s passive infrastructure valued at millions of dollars; delivering the biggest fibre project in Millicom’s Africa operations of over 950km of fibre and; expansion of the company’s network from an average of 300 base station to over 1000 in 3 years despite the challenges with network deployment in Ghana.

Patricia enjoys watching movies, actively involved with church activities and relaxing at home with her family.

 Nathaniel Padi

Student and Mobile App Developer

Theme:  "Technology in schools- How I build a homework app for students"

Nathaniel Padi, Mobile Web Ghana’s youngest entrepreneur. A 14 year Mobile Entrepreneur in Ghana shares his Idea on TEDxLabone2014.

I was born on 24th May 1998, and got to know about programming at the age of 13 years, first got to know about C++ and Br.sam who show me the way to programming, helped me on the SPACENET App. Then I wanted this app to be a mobile app.

So one day, I saw a place called Mobile Web Ghana and they interviewed me and put on youtube, then I went for a day in tech, organized by Mr. Kani Mani, and I met a lot of people there and Br.paul sent me to MELTWATER School Of Technology to meet Mr.Eyram, C.E.O of leti Games.

Then from there I got to know about HTML, CSS and PHP.

 Paul Anomah-Kordieh

Visually impaired newscaster & a motivational speaker

Theme: "Disability and employment struggle—Personal Lessons"

Paul Anomah- Kordieh was born in 1979, he became blind at the age of five. He attended School for the Blind Akropong where he learnt how to read and write Braille. He proceeded to Okuapemman Secondary School after graduating from School for the Blind Akropong in 2001.  

He has a passion for journalism as a service to society and believes in the right dissemination of information.

He was thus always looking for an opportunity to serve his community. After several attempts, a door was opened for him in 2007 on a campus based radio station, Radio VALCO in University of Cape Coast.  That was where he did his first news broadcast. Paul is a true fun of country music so he also got the opportunity to present a two hour weekly Country Music programme at Radio VALCO.

Paul used the experience gained to become the Central Regional correspondent for Choice FM in Accra and also read news in the station’s main studio during vacations. Few months before he completed school, he also got an opportunity to present news weekly on a Cape Coast based television station called Coastal TV.

In 2009, Paul’s full time journalistic work began as a National Service Person with Happy 98.9 FM, a sister station of ETV Ghana, both subsidiaries of Global Media Alliance. He presented a sports segment on a news packaged programme called World at Five and read news reports in Ghanaian local language, Twi. After National Service the company Global Media Alliance employed him at ETV as a reporter. Realizing his skills in news presentation E-News

Highlights was created for Paul to highlight the station’s Prime Time News. It was a dream come true for Paul when he presented his first E-News Highlight on the 15th November 2010 at 4.30 PM.

Due to the overwhelming response from viewers another slot was added six months later to be aired at 11am.  A year later, Paul was asked to present News Extra on Fridays which is a thirty minutes bulletin. Currently Paul goes on air twice from Monday to Thursday and thrice on Fridays.

He has been awarded by the University of Ghana’s Students Representative Council for inspiring many with his captivating presentations.

Paul believes everyone is created for a purpose and thus no one is useless. Also, as a person with disability, he believes persons with disabilities are capable of realizing their dreams when given the right assistance.  With these views and more, he gets invitations to schools and other public events to share his life experience and to encourage others that they can make it if he has been able to read without sight.

Paul Anomah-Kordieh intends to pursue journalism to its highest and hopes to inspire the entire world with his fingers someday.

Why you should listen to him:

Unemployment is a global issue and many people are struggling for gainful employment.  So how is the person who has some form of disability able to survive in this struggle? 

As a person who has lived most of his life as a person with disability and the only visually impaired TV news anchor in the whole of Africa,   Paul tells his  story as a visually impaired person, his journey to journalism and how employers can unearth talents from persons with disabilities.  

Regina Agyare

Software Developer & Social Entrepreneur

Theme:  "Changing Africa’s single story with science and Technology"

Regina is software developer and social entrepreneur with a passion for using technology to cause a social change. She started a social enterprise called Soronko Solutions that are experts in using basic mass technology to drive human potential. She is also working on how the disabled in Ghana can use technology to integrate better in their communities.

Regina has been in the technology industry for 8 years and has worked in varying positions as Product Manager for Internet Applications at Rancard Solutions, Product Manager for Ebusiness Applications at Zenith Bank and Management and Information Systems Supervisor at Fidelity Bank.

Regina represented Ghana on the Apprentice Africa program, was interviewed by Microsoft in Seattle ,her story was featured in the Lean In page by Sheryl Sandberg COO of Facebook, Impatient Optimist by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and is an Aspen Institute New Voices Fellow, GOOD Fellow and a Global Shaper of the Accra hub of the World Economic Forum and a Change Leader with Tigo Reach For Change.

Regina is passionate about getting more women to find their voice and pursue their dreams and create technology. That is why she founded Tech Needs Girls Ghana a movement to get girls to code and create technology. She also believes in young people who have brilliant ideas, passion and drive. She loves to mentor and has been invited to speak and mentor at barcamps, Startup weekend Accra ,technology fairs, Ashesi Events and is an online mentor with the Women's Tech Connect Global Mentoring program.

Why you should listen to her:

I will talk about Changing Africa’s single story with science and Technology. The story of rural Ghanaian girl, Fremah and the model village.

D.K Osei   

Writer, rapper, actor, musical and recording artist

Theme:  "Baasa Kro meaning 3-in-1 in Twi"

DK Osei-Yaw is a poet, writer, rapper, actor, musical and recording artist who popularized Spoken-Word (Slam) Poetry in Ghana during his days on the University of Ghana Legon campus as an undergraduate student of Psychology, while also performing Spoken-Word Poetry for a living. During this period, he recorded poetry and rap music and was written to by the A&R of Young Money Records in the US.

The collection of ‘Poetry Installations’ from DK Osei-Yaw’s 2013 ‘AFRICAN IMAGE – BAASA KRO’ exhibition sponsored by the German Goethe Institute in Accra, combines both the internal and external qualities of texts to express and address a globalized African identity. DK does a lot of work with children between the ages of 3 and 12. His poem, ‘Plenty People Chasing One Ball’ appeared in the north American anthology, ‘And The Crowd Goes Wild’ published by Friesen Press in 2011. He represented Ghana in Zimbabwe on the Moving Africa project. He has played and toured as a Spoken-Word poet and rapper with the French Band Archimusic, and scouted for the Badilisha Poetry Podcast Project based in South Africa. DK leads Gaari-F×›T×› Ventures, the production team for his Baasa Kro exhibitions formed from a Pan African and global network of partners.

Why You Should Listen To Him:

I want to talk about the term Baasa Kro meaning 3-in-1 in Twi. How multiplicity functions as one. Being a multidisciplinary artist, this is where I found inspiration for my ground breaking poetry installations where texts are transformed into a material vision, from poetry to visual art, and the implications of this for a successful career in art.

Anthonia Senam Fesu

 Broadcaster and Creator of Art

Theme:  "What you need to know about Parental Guidance"

Recognized in the maiden edition of the Ghana Fashion Awards, Anthonia’s passion for art turns into an unusual exploration of herself and heritage after the university. Aided with these real time experiences, she is passionate about helping people appreciate and express themselves in order to make life meaningful and worth living whiles looking forward to pursue her dream career.

Why you should listen to her:

Anthonia’s passion for art turns into an unusual exploration of herself and heritage.

She sees that her country is highly resourced to a large extent yet maybe losing its identity.

As a citizen interested in nation building, she calls for the spirit of patriotism. The whole idea of import is getting boring and overrated. She says “It’s about time we made that decision to celebrate our own”. Think Home, Think Ghana, Think Africa

Prince Williams Oduro

Social Entrepreneur & Business Consultant

Theme:  "Living for others – the Greatest Legacy”

Prince Williams Oduro is a graduate from the University of Ghana, Legon with the Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work with relevant knowledge in Community Development, working with children, individuals and groups, human rights, counseling and child psychology. Mr. Oduro is also the Founder and President of Africa Policy Initiative for Sustainable Development in Oil and Mineral Producing Regions.

He is also the Leader of the Leadership and Productivity Executive Development Institute and Central Missions Account-Africa. Prince Williams Oduro is a Youth Leader, Life Couch, Human Development Advocate and a Writer. A teacher by profession, his message centres on purpose fulfillment, wealth creation, integrity, innovation, a sense of responsibility and selfless service to society.

In March, 2007 Prince Williams Oduro started a charity network, known as African Rights Initiative International with the mandate of promoting Human Dignity and Sustainable Livelihood. His vision is to build the world's largest African humanitarian network (with a strong local base) viable of providing result oriented services to the African people. Each year his organization provides support for hundreds of children whose lives are affected by extreme poverty, low level of education and inadequate healthcare.

On 13th March, 2012, Prince's works was recognized with an AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE by Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE-GHANA) in recognition for his high standard of excellence for youth development in Ghana.

His NGO, the African Rights Initiative International has three strong branches in Ghana, China, and Unites States. It also has a growing Volunteer structure, where a lot of students are seeing the need to help their community.

He also, has a strong International Advisory Council  headed by Mr. Alex Asiedu, Chairman -Atlantic Trust Holdings  with Dr. Agyekum Addo of Kama Group, Mr. James Ntim Amponsah, Deputy Controller and Accountant General as active members.

In the near future, Prince Williams Oduro would love to have an international centre, where the African children’s brains are trained in our cultural setting to achieve their maximum potential.

Why you should listen to him:

At this gathering, Mr. Oduro is going to share the idea which got him into starting the African Rights Initiative International.

He would speak under the topic, “Living for others – the Greatest Legacy”.

Most of the time, people do not choose to be poor. They are either ignorant or that, they are mal-nutritioned. Poor nutrition during the first 8 years of a child, combined with the environment in which he grows and the social grooming he is taught makes his brain develop poorly thereby, he can’t seem to make “smart” moves.

It doesn’t take a lot to make a difference in the lives of such folks. GHÈ»1 a day, even, can make all the difference.

 Makafui Awuku

Social Entrepreneur

Theme: "The African and Ghanaian way of learning in our schools"

A young man who with a BSc Marketing Degree from UPSA. Goal oriented person and self motivated to develop and pursue goals that touches the lives of people.

Have an NGO called stuents Initiative Ghana that seeks to assist students rediscover their role in Nation development.

This I do by initiating series of events that seeks to empower young people and unlock their ability to engage their creative mind and also assist in creating a platform for them to be able to flourish.Works as project manager with an advertising company but uses my free time to visit schools to assist young people develop their capacity to engage their brain to the fullest

Why you should listen to him:

A story of how I discovered how that the African and Ghanaian way of learning in our schools inhibits the young men and women in African and particularly in Ghana to develop self confidence that supports their dreams and allows them to dare enough and be assured of their mind not failing them when they need to access information stored in their memory.

I have been using very practical and scientific approaches to learning and studies that the African and the Ghanaian young person can associate with and also helping young people to learn to use their creative side of their brain more.

This I have been doing after experiencing a young lady in my senior high school who spends a lot of time with studies but is never able to make the grades to continue with her education. Many in our societies have had superstitious believes behind this type of thing and we are developing into a continent in which young people are not able to train their brain enough to get the best out of it.

I have also benefited from an informal mentorship session throughout my life that has allowed me to stay focused on my goals and remain motivated to get things done. I saw the essence of every elderly person in our society taking up a young person under their supervision to provide some form of mentorship to groom the young generation to move our continent forward.

 Daniel Antwi

Business Consultant and Entrepreneur

Theme:  "The difference between winners and losers in this life"

Daniel Antwi is my name and am the CEO of GETMEFUND. Daniel is a 27yr old graduate from the University of Ghana and now a young Pubic Speaker, Social entrepreneur and Change Agent. Being an astute public speaker, I believe in inspiring you people to rising up to the occasion and knowing that OUR DESTINY LIES IN OUR HANDS. Daniel is the co-founder of Promobile GH and also led a team of great minds in the establishment of five other start ups. Prior to coming out to walk in his dreams as an entrepreneur, Daniel was an Account Manager, Enterprise & Mid-Markets (Ghana, Liberia & Sierra Leone) at Hewlett Packard.

Why you should listen to him:

I am of the view that we are in an era where young entrepreneurs need to take the next step of applying or putting into action what they KNOW to solve problems.

 That is identifying problems which exist in our society and coming out with solutions to these problems. Potential knowledge and applied knowledge are two different things in the book of an entrepreneur. “The difference between winners and losers in this life is COURAGE”. 

Having potential knowledge (education) alone does not take one to the top but rather the ability to take bold steps and take action.