MentorHer Ghana

100% of funding will go projects and resources. I am applying For the Elevate Prize to gain resources and funding to support programs, materials, and tools needed to ensure Ghanaian youth have a rich and fulling experience with our projects and programming. MentorHer Ghana is currently is transforming Kwahu, Ghana a community that has long been underserved and overlooked. Some of our 2021 efforts include: completing our first Digital Mentorship Program, turning the local community center into a library (as the closest one is 2 hours away,) curating a teen entrepreneurship program, introducing a coding program to our girls and starting the first book club that the region has ever had. This type of training and these kinds of resources have never been available in this area of Ghana until now. Our goal is to give our girls the tools to rewrite the narrative of the future of Ghana and Africa in general. 

Personally, I understand all too well the monumental impact that you can make by focusing training and resources to the youth. As a product of a "magnet school" I know the benefits of expecting greatness from, and pouring into, young brilliant minds. 

After being invited to be a speaker for the My Girl Pride program in Kwahu, Ghana I went back home… but a piece of my heart stayed with those girls that day. I was trying to work on projects and endeavors, but all I could think about were these girls, their sweet faces, eyes full of promise, and how I couldn’t wait to get back to them.

We started MentorHer Ghana because our vision is to give these girls support, resources, self-confidence, and self-reliant skills that they can use to build up themselves and their community. I also wanted to open up their eyes to ALL of the possibilities that await them in the world. Our ultimate goal is to build a bridge with girls programs in the diaspora to further cultural, academic, and economic progress both on the continent and abroad. My charge is to catch these young ladies at this pivotal age, empower them to be strategic critical thinkers, and help them to start building impactful global networks and relationships.

In rural Ghana teen girls face issues such as:

-Lack of education in sexual health, parental neglect, and poverty
-Low self-confidence and self-esteem and underdeveloped social skills
-Living in an impoverished community with a lack of resources for career and personal development 
-Lack of preparedness to take advantage of the growing socio-economic growth opportunities

-In Ghana 14 % of adolescents aged 15-19 have begun childbearing, 18% in rural areas (ghana.unfpa.org).

-From 2017 to 2019, Kwahu, Ghana alone recorded 600 teenage pregnancies between ages 13-19.

-Approximately 3-in-4 children (73.4%) in Ghana are identified as multi-dimensionally poor, facing at least three deprivations at the same time (unicef.org).

Since 2019 we have:

-Developed STEM programming by partnering w/ Emerging Ladies Academy to curate “SHE CODE Ghana” 

-Provided funding for the instillation and fees for high-speed internet in the Kwahu Community Center
-Installed modern A/V and tech equipment to the Kwahu Community Center
-Purchased sets of workbooks and accessories for the MHG Digital Mentorship Program 
-Gifted the MHG girls with journaling gift sets, positive affirmations cards, and individual letters of encouragement
-Provided MHG girls with sets of face masks to help in the fight against COVID-19
-Provided MHG high school girls w/books and supplies for 2021 school year

I started this organization by making a choice... When my friend told me how much the internet would cost to install for the town it just happened to be the exact amount I had in my pocket for a concert ticket (Burna Boy VIP!) I made the choice to put the money instead towards progress and the future of Africa. 

I've been running the program with the exact same passion for 2 years now. We are aggressively developing our girls to be informed, capable and confident. We start with self-esteem and personal development programming and then move onto tactical and creative workshops. All while making sure the girls keep a mentor and/or pen pal from other parts of the world to ensure that they know they are global citizens and the sky is the limit. Our goal is to turn our girls into young warrior women that use their super powers to uplift their community. Our girls are taught to teach the girls behind them. The essence of our organization is the motto "Each One Teach One"  With 60% of the population of Africa under the age of 25 it is critical that we begin developing changemakers now. 

Our goal is to change the narrative and be disruptors of the cycle of poverty that face African youth. The problem of being underdeveloped and underserved is an easy one to fix. We are focusing resources and training within communities that have been overlooked. Once we have our full program completed in Kwahu, Ghana our goal is to open a MentorHer Ghana chapter in all 16 regions of Ghana and continue to fund, guide, and develop leaders that will inevitable one day be responsible for shaping not only the country, but most importantly the continent of Africa. We are guiding the girls in our program to be kind, thoughtful, brave and dynamic. 

I am working with thought leaders, community developers, academics, and clinical professionals to ensure that this program is about 360 transformation and comprehensive development. Our programs are designed to build future leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, and change makers one girl at a time.