Shows
Glocal CitizensEpisode 274: Navigating Creativity with Wana UdobangGreetings Glocal Citizens!
As we hit the halfway mark on 2025 our treat this week is a thought-provoking conversation with Wana Udobang, a multifaceted writer, poet, performer, curator, and storyteller based in Lagos, Nigeria. I met Wana last year during the Pa Gya! Literary Festival in Accra where she faciliated her own unique writing workshop - “Comfort Food” a storytelling and poetry workshop that uses food as a conduit to explore memories, history, joy, and healing which was born out of her culinary quality time during the pandemic. In this lively conversation we cover Wana's extensive body of work...
2025-06-0359 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 263: Diaspora-led Humanitarian Solutions with Elvina QuaisonGreetings Glocal Citizens!
Over the week/weekend just passed, the world recognized International Women’s Day as well as Ghana’s 68th Independence Day. Both happenings inspire thoughts, reflections, and movement in my heart and mind especially as I, we sit in constant review of the world we are making, remaking and re-imagining for our now. My conversation this week, in our continued March Herstories Month series is with British-Ghanaian, Elvina Quaison, is with a diasporan working intently with and within communities engaged in this re-imagining. She's now based back in the London after relocating to Brussels sinc...
2025-03-1152 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 262: Keeping the Human in the Loop with Stacy KirkGreetings Glocal Citizens!
As is our tradition, this month is all about herstories. Kicking it off is fellow Stanford Cardinal and return guest, Stacy Kirk. Stacy has over 15 years of experience helping organizations and entrepreneurs achieve their visions through technology and process optimization. She specializes in strategies that drive sustainable growth and scalability, with a passion for supporting diverse, small businesses. Stacy excels at turning visionary ideas into practical solutions, enabling success for her clients. Her dedication to innovation and inclusion continues to make a lasting impact in the business world. As the founder of QualityWorks, she...
2025-03-0439 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 261: Reflections on Movement, Intention and Freedom with Winston Benons, Jr.Greetings Glocal Citizens!
This week’s episode has been in the making since Episode 122 guest, Natasha Moore. I’m joined by interdisciplinary artist, choreographer, scholar and educator, specializing in dance forms of the African Diaspora, Winston Benons, Jr. He has extensive training in Afro-Cuban, Haitian, Afro-Brazilian, and Bomba dance, complemented by studies in Horton and Dunham modern dance techniques. He has curated and led intensive programs in culture and dance techniques in both New York City and Cuba. He is the Founder and Director of tRúe Culture & Arts, an organization dedicated to facilitating cultural exchanges, workshops, and a...
2025-02-1851 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 260: Bitcoin Solutions for African Challenges with Femi LongeGreetings Glocal Citizens!
As I head back to the Continent, I can’t help but to train my mind on what it takes to seed and sow solutions in Africa’s best interest. This week’s guest has been invested in these types of solutions for his entire career. A serial social entrepreneur, innovation consultant, service designer, learning scientist and startup coach, Femi Longe is passionate about helping individuals and organizations be and do their best to enable a better world. Born in the UK, raised in his Nigera and now based in Ireland, Femi currently works on the...
2025-02-1148 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 259: Creating New Paths to Plant Medicine with Akua Ofosuhene Part 2Greetings Glocal Citizens!
It’s the eve of the Lunar New Year - the year of the Wood Snake, which in combination represent growth, flexibility, tolerance, wisdom, intuition, mystery, and cunningness with hints of furtiveness. These themes are a fitting context for this two-part conversation with Ghanaian-Brit, Akua Ofosuhene. Akua is an active and vocal plant medicine advocate and a psychedelic guide specializing in Psyliosibin (magic mushrooms) and Ayahuasca. Advising on intentions and integration she helps her clients get the most out of the psychedelic experience by teaching them other supporting healing modalities furthering healing and growth. Sh...
2025-02-0446 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 258: Creating New Paths to Plant Medicine with Akua Ofosuhene Part 1Greetings Glocal Citizens!
It’s the eve of the Lunar New Year - the year of the Wood Snake, which in combination represent growth, flexibility, tolerance, wisdom, intuition, mystery, and cunningness with hints of furtiveness. These themes are a fitting context for this two-part conversation with Ghanaian-Brit, Akua Ofosuhene. Akua is an active and vocal plant medicine advocate and a psychedelic guide specializing in Psyliosibin (magic mushrooms) and Ayahuasca. Advising on intentions and integration she helps her clients get the most out of the psychedelic experience by teaching them other supporting healing modalities furthering healing and growth. Sh...
2025-01-2848 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 257: The Making of a LUXPreneur with Elizabeth SolaruGreetings Glocal Citizens!
I had the pleasure of hosting this conversation late last year and it’s now right on time as my guest, Elizabeth Solaru and her team hosted their 2025 Diversity in Luxury Awards last week in London. Born and raised between the UK And Nigeria, Elizabeth is an author, international keynote speaker and award-winning entrepreneur. Formerly a scientist and headhunter, she honed her expertise in understanding luxury clients having successfully founded the world-renowned and multi-award-winning atelier Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium and the Luxury Business Emporium.
Author of the best-selling book, OPULENCIA, Elizabeth is the co-h...
2025-01-2155 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 256: Fact and Science Fiction in the Art of Acting with Agbeko “Bex” MorttyGreetings Glocal Citizens!
After spending the new year chasing [Aurora Borealis aka the Northern Lights](linkhttps://www.space.com/15139-northern-lights-auroras-earth-facts-sdcmp.html) in the North of Ireland and communing with friends and family there and in the UK, I’m back in NYC grounding and self-caring for a bit. The not so great news is that I just missed seeing the Northern Lights live, but now I’m that much more prepared for the next time. The great news is that I was able to catch up with this week’s guest, Ghanaian actor, producer and casting director, Agbeko...
2025-01-1451 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 255: Inspiring African Food Movements with Aimée WallinNew Year Greetings Glocal Citizens!
This week we meet Aimée Wallin, co-director at the non-profit Ghana Food Movement. Born of Swedish and Malian heritage, since completing her studies in Ghana, she calls Ghana home and finds herself a political foodie advocating for local eating, sustainable production methods and preservation of black food cultures. Ghana Food Movement is a network for food actors in Ghana with the vision of a resilient local food system that provides jobs and nutritious food for all Ghanaians. At the end of December, they celebrated the opening of their food education hub i...
2025-01-0739 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 254: Growth, Progress and Jubilare with Deborah AsmahNew Year’s Eve Greetings Glocal Citizens!
As we bid 2024 farewell, we have another Glocal Citizen to thank for our connection with this weeks guest. This fall in Accra, Rita Kusi and her team hosted their Global Conference on Human Resources in Africa 2024 where this week's guest was a featured panelist sharing her expertise as a leading business leader in the technology space. Ghanaian born and raised, Deborah Asmah is a trailblazing expert in digital governance and fintech, whose contributions have significantly impacted Ghana's fintech landscape. Her innovative approaches have enabled seamless access to payment tools, promoted fi...
2024-12-3150 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 253: Raising Circular Economies with Cordie AzizSeason’s Greetings Glocal Citizens!
This week on the podcast, our first guest, Cordie Aziz is back with fresh insights from her work and life changes since our first conversation. Cordie, now a mother of three is Founder and Executive Director of Enviornment360 an NGO turned social enterprise that has successfully executed sustainable waste management projects in urban and coastal communities in Greater Accra and Kumasi. Cordie’s achievements include creating of the first successful community plastic collection program in Accra; developing the first waste picker-run sorting center in West Africa; and successfully partnering with local and nati...
2024-12-241h 02
Glocal CitizensEpisode 252: Gone to Ghana with Cordie AzizAnniversary Greetings Glocal Citizens!
We’ve been coming together nearly every week for five years!! On this day in 2019, this two-part interview with my first guest launched the podcast. In celebration and commemoration, stay tuned for episodes throughout the year revisiting past guests and catching up “Where are they now?” style. This week it’s a flashback to the very beginning with our first guest, environmentalist and social entrepreneur, Cordie Aziz. It’s delighting that this conversation stands the test of time and is as relevant then as now. Check out the show notes for Cordie’s other episod...
2024-12-1740 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 251: Weaving Ourselves into Stories with Ivana Akotowaa OforiGreetings Glocal Citizens!
This week is the finale of our writing as activism series at the 2024 Pa Gya! Literary Festival. It has been such a pleasure bringing the works and words of these writers to a wider audience. It has been a wonderful multi-generational compilation of wisdom across genres. Joining us this week is Ivana Akotowaa Ofori, a Ghanaian storyteller known also by the alias, “The Spider Kid.” She is a weaver of words in many forms, including fiction, non-fiction and spoken-word poetry. Akotowaa has been nominated for various awards for her prose writing. Her work is incl...
2024-12-101h 04
Glocal CitizensEpisode 250: Why Joyful Matters with Nii Ayikwei ParkesGreetings Glocal Citizens!
We are nearing the end of our Writing As Activism series @ the 2024 Pa Gya! Literary Festival in Accra. This week, Ghanaian writer and editor winning acclaim as a children's author, poet, broadcaster and novelist, Nii Ayikwei Parkes joins the conversation. Winner of multiple international awards including the ACRAG (Arts Critics and Reviewers Association of Ghana) award, his novel Tail of the Blue Bird won France's two major prizes for translated fiction – Prix Baudelaire and Prix Laure Bataillon – in 2014. Nii Ayikwei is the founder of flipped eye publishing, a leading small press; serves on the boar...
2024-12-0358 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 249: Universally Speaking with Dagogo HartGreetings Glocal Citizens!
This week writing as activism is taking us to a land with a long history of activist thought ans action - Ireland. Born and raised in Nigeria, Dagogo Hart migrated to Ireland at an early age to complete his studies and now calls it home along with his young family. He is a poet, playwright, and spoken word artist whose words have wowed audiences from bar basements to electric picnic stages. He started performing in Dublin in 2016 in open mics and poetry slams, which saw him win the Slam Sunday grand slam and become...
2024-11-2644 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 248: When Refuge in Words Finds Voice with Vamba SherifGreetings Glocal Citizens!
This week our Writing as Activism @ Pa Gya! 2024 continues in conversation with Liberian novelist, journalist, film critic, curator, speaker and lecturer of African Literature and Arts at Leiden University in the Netherlands, Vamba Sherif. Vamba has written several novels, including The Emperor's Son (2024), a novel about emperor Samori Touré, The Witness (2011), Bound to Secrecy (2007), The Kingdom of Sebah (2003), Land of My Fathers (1999), and the memoire Unprecedented Love (2021). He has curated several anthologies, including the bestselling Black: Afro-European literature in the Netherlands and Belgium. His work, which has been translated in many languages, deals with themes s...
2024-11-191h 02
Glocal CitizensEpisode 247: From the Clap to the Dance with Aduke GomezGreetings Glocal Citizens!
Next up in our Writing as Activism series, this week’s episode, recorded at the 2024 Pa Gya! festival (in case you are wondering, this is the session taking place during our interview, features Nigerian poet and children’s book author, Aduke Gomez. Aduke embraced writing in the past decade after a career in law and finance. She now utilises her legal and advisory skills to assist in business and creative development. Commencing her career in legal practice with the law firm of Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie, she later worked for many years in various leadership role...
2024-11-1236 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 246: Writing as Activism: Ghanaian Voices and Pan-African Perspectives Across Genres with Nicole Amarteifio, Kwame Dawes and Nydia A. Swaby Live at Pa Gya!New Month Greetings Glocal Citizens!
The first Tuesday in November represents the official US election day. As polling evolves for higher participation and greater inclusion, most states offer early voting so millions have already cast thier votes. Throughout this year of elections across the globe, the build up to the two where I have a say, the United States and Ghana, has played a critical role in inspiring my most activist self to move the dial in different ways toward manifesting a new world. Coincidentally, this week on the podcast kicks off our Writing as Activism series...
2024-11-0552 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 245: Health, Human Rights and Resilience with Aggrey Aluso and the Women of Africa Post-Pandemic Empowerment and Advocacy ProgrammeGreetings Glocal Citizens!
This week is the final installment in our collaboration with Bisi Bright’s Livewell Initiative and the Women of Africa Post-Pandemic Empowerment and Advocacy Programme with support from Gilead Sciences USA. In a fitting conclusion, Aggrey Aluso, the Director, Africa Region and global policy lead for the Pandemic Action Network, driving strategic advocacy efforts in Africa and globally joins the conversation. Born, raised and currently based in Kenya, Aggrey also serves as the incoming Executive Director of Resilience Action Network Africa (RANA), PAN’s networked advocacy partner, where he is mobilizing advocates to champion an A...
2024-10-2957 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 244: Forging a Path from Intrapreneur to Entrepreneur with Marielle LegairGreetings Glocal Citizens!
I met this week’s guest in Accra at a Women Wellness Africa breakfast early this year and was happy to be able sync our travel schedules to reconnect in one of the places she calls home, London. Marielle Legair is a speaker, certified NLP and hypnotherapy Coach, LinkedIn Top Voice, and LinkedIn Learning Instructor. She's leading career empowerment through cutting-edge neurological research and behavioural science. Her expertise goes beyond coaching, focusing on arming audiences with the tools to break barriers, overcome limiting beliefs, and thrive in their careers. With a background in corporate st...
2024-10-2251 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 243: Post Pandemic Women’s Empowerment with Bisi BrightGreetings Glocal Citizens!
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been learning more and more about the Women of Africa Post-Pandemic Empowerment and Advocacy Programme with guests from Egypt to Scotland to Nigeria with a range of business, health and well-being perspectives. This week we’re back in Nigeria with the women that started it all, Glocal Citizen, Adebisi Bright. Dr. Bisi Bright is an international award-winning scientist, social entrepreneur, health systems researcher, adjunct lecturer, consultant clinical pharmacist, and public health manager. She is 1st Vice Chairman and CEO of LiveWell Initiative LWI, a self-sustaining nonprofit healthcare soci...
2024-10-1554 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 242: Developing the Next Generation of Leaders with Adebowale Jeff Johnson and the Women of Africa Post-Pandemic Empowerment and Advocacy ProgrammeGreeting Glocal Citizens!
Next up in our collaboration with LiveWell Initiative for the Women of Africa Post-Pandemic Empowerment and Advocacy Programme is a conversaton centering youth and partnerships with a leading management consultant in Africa, Dr. Adebowale Jeff Johnson. Born and raised in Nigeria, he is the first Youth Performance Consultant in the world. He has worked in six consulitng firms over the span of his nearly 25 years of working experience. Also working with several other organisations in capacities ranging from Human Resource Manager, GM Strategy and Innovation, Business Service Manager, Project Manager, Resource Consultant, Corporate Affairs...
2024-10-081h 01
Glocal CitizensEpisode 241: On Mental Health Awareness with Dr. Motolani Oyerinde and the Women of Africa Post-Pandemic Empowerment and Advocacy ProgrammeGreetings Glocal Citizens!
I’m back on the road with this conversation which finds my guest and I in opposite sides of the United Kingdom--me in London, UK and my guest, Dr. Motolani Oyerinde, in Scotland.
Dr. Tolani, joins us in the next installment of our colloboration with Bisi Bright’s Livewell Initiative and the Women of Africa Post-Pandemic Empowerment and Advocacy Programme with support from Gilead Sciences USA. She is currently Managing Partner at Crystal Mental Healthcare and Health Education Services as well as Senior Family Health Officer at Livewell Initiative. Over the course of h...
2024-10-0154 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 240: On Community Wellness and Empowerment with Wael Ali and The Women of Africa Post-Pandemic Empowerment and Advocacy ProgrammeAutumn Greetings Glocal Citizens!
It’s a season of transformation from the vibrancy of summer sun to the rest, retreat and make ready energy of winter. Here on the podcast we’re taking this time to explore new collaborations in conjunction with events happening in the coming months. First up is a collaboration with the Women of Africa Post-Pandemic Empowerment and Advocacy Programme which is an intitaitve of Glocal Citizen Adebisi Bright’s LiveWell Initiative based in Lagos Nigeria. This series of conversations with the practitioners partcipating in the progamme is a sneak preview of the upcoming dialog...
2024-09-2456 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 239: Planting for People and Purpose with Cherron Perry-Thomas Part 2Greetings Glocal Citizens!
This week it’s Part 2 of a two-part conversation with serial entrepreneur and diversity activist, Cherron Perry-Thomas. She is founder and president of Green Dandelion Marketing and Sales which grew out of a desire to introduce retailers to innovative plant based products. Since its founding, 20 years ago, Green Dandelion has helped their clients launch more than 2,000 products in grocery and health stores in the mid-Atlantic United States. Clients include manufactures of biodynamic, organic, non-gmo, vegan and fair trade products, helping to solidify their commitment to leaving a positive impact on the planet and all li...
2024-09-1030 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 238: Planting for People and Purpose with Cherron Perry-Thomas Part 1Greetings Glocal Citizens!
This week it’s Part 1 of a two-part conversation with serial entrepreneur and diversity activist, Cherron Perry-Thomas. She is founder and president of Green Dandelion Marketing and Sales which grew out of a desire to introduce retailers to innovative plant based products. Since its founding, 20 years ago, Green Dandelion has helped their clients launch more than 2,000 products in grocery and health stores in the mid-Atlantic United States. Clients include manufactures of biodynamic, organic, non-gmo, vegan and fair trade products, helping to solidify their commitment to leaving a positive impact on the planet and all li...
2024-09-0339 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 237: Creating Meaningful Spaces in Community with Jodine DorcéGreetings Glocal Citizens!
This week Haiti, the recent Democratic National Convention (DNC), living in the now and ideas that challenge mindset boundaries are hot topic with my guest, Haitian-American, Jodine Dorcé. Jodine has been discovering, branding and promoting arts, music and culture for over a decade. Behind the scenes, she had an impressive career as an award-winning event marketer in the arts, entertainment and consumer product industries. Her achievements include developing and promoting products for Disney Consumer Electronics; leading sponsorship integrations for CurlFest and ONE Musicfest; producing the 2015 ESSENCE Festival and being responsible for the branding of R...
2024-08-2754 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 236: Back to School with Taiye Ayoola-Adedeji, Ayobisi Osuntusa, Nisha Ligon, and Farai MaliangaLate summer greetings, Glocal Citizens!
It’s that time of year in most of the northern hemisphere - Back to School! Students of all manner from first time learners to adult continuing educationers are migrating to a learning institution near you--Kindergartens, middle and high schools, trade colleges, university campuses and some are taking to phones, tablets or computers for online courses. ’Tis the season for getting the mind ready for a new round of training, building and expansion. So this week, in preparation for the start of classes its a review session with some glocal citizens firmly plan...
2024-08-2051 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 235: Centering the Human in Human Resources with Rita KusiGreetings Glocal Citizens!
It’s Leo season and birthday week for both my guest and me as well as fellow Glocal Citizen and birthday celebrant Muhammida El Muhajir, which is how I was introduced to my guest, Ghanaian-born, Rita Kusi. Rita is a highly respected, passionate, and result-oriented strategic human resource professional with 20 years of experience as a generalist in the field. Currently, she serves as the CEO and Senior Consultant at Keeping 'U' Simply Intact (KUSI) Consulting, a boutique Digital HR and Marketing consulting firm providing HR and Marketing services to clients across Africa and the Un...
2024-08-1351 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 234: In the Writer’s Zone with Abi Ishola-AyodejiGreetings Glocal Citizens!
For this week’s episode we’re back in West Africa with Nigerian-American journalist and author, Abi Ishola-Ayodeji. Her critically acclaimed debut novel, Patience is a Subtle Thief, was named one of BuzzFeed's best books of May 2022 and received a coveted Kirkus-starred review. As a journalist, she has showcased her talent across a diverse range of platforms, including http://ELLE.com, PBS, http://Ebony.com, CUNY TV, and more. Her career has seen her cover extraordinary people, communities, and events from New York City to Paris and from Nigeria to Ghana.
In 2017, Esse...
2024-08-0652 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 233: Talent + City = Itana with Victor NdukweGreetings Glocal Citizens!
Increasingly, I am thinking thoughts about places of being that better reflect citizen-centered social, economic and built enviroments. In recent conversation with Paul Damalie and following the works of another fellow GC, Chinedu Echeruo (which happens to be how I came across this week’s guest), those thoughts are beginning to rise into a mental framework for manifesting that new world. Born and raised in Nigeria, Victor Ndukwe is an Architect that has evolved over the years straddle tech and design. He is currently a founding team member of Itana (formerly Talent City) and is...
2024-07-3056 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 232: The Art of Administering Grassroots Services for Children and Families with Vimbo WatsonGreetings Glocal Citizens!
This week we’re going full circle with Zimbabwean-American, Vimbo Watson. Born in Zimbabwe, Vimbo’s family relocated to the US before she spoke her first words. Nonethless, her mother tongue has remained in her heart and has been a foundational part of fullfilling a life-long passion to uplift people and especially those in need back home. After a career in education as a teacher and principal, she’s now applying her administrative talents as the Director of Development for Kuda Vana Partnership an American-Zimbabwean non-profit operating a children's home and school in Zimbabwe. A pass...
2024-07-221h 03
Glocal CitizensEpisode 231: Putting STEM Girls Education in Practice with Doreen KessyGreetings Glocal Citizens!
The beautiful thing about life is that with care and attention time refines and gives rise to the amazement that is our daily experience. I met this week's guest nearly a decade ago, in the country she currently calls home, as we were both starting our work in the African edutainment industry and as she was making her way back home to Tanzania to do what she prepared for when getting her MBA and BS in International Business and Economics from Overton School of Business in the US--making a difference for African children. Tanzanian...
2024-07-1651 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 230: Sustainable Finance and Social Progress with Farhan Guled Part 2Greetings Glocal Citizens!
This week we're back in East Africa in conversation with Kenyan, Farhan Guled, coming to you in two parts. Farhan takes us with him from his native homeland to Europe and back to East Africa where he is currently Executive Director of Salaam Bank Limited in Kampala, Uganda; he has been instrumental is building the bank's start-up operation in the country. Born and raised in Kenya he began his entreprenuearship journey as founder of Maisha Fitness Center in Nairobi. Wearing many professional hats, Farhan is a "Multipotentialite Creative Thinker" offering an off the shelf...
2024-07-0800 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 229: Sustainable Finance and Social Progress with Farhan Guled Part 1Greetings Glocal Citizens!
This week we're back in East Africa in conversation with Kenyan, Farhan Guled, coming to you in two parts. Farhan takes us with him from his native homeland to Europe and back to East Africa where he is currently Executive Director of Salaam Bank Limited in Kampala, Uganda; he has been instrumental is building the bank's start-up operation in the country. Born and raised in Kenya he began his entreprenuearship journey as founder of Maisha Fitness Center in Nairobi. Wearing many professional hats, Farhan is a "Multipotentialite Creative Thinker" offering an off the shelf...
2024-07-0240 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 228: Local Perspectives on Development Communications with Emilly Okello-JumaSummer Greetings Glocal Citizens!
My guest this week, comes to us via fellow Glocal Citizen, Yana Fleming. Like Yana, Emilly Okello-Juma is a seasoned communications and program management professional. Born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, Emilly’s work has taken her to points near and far across around the world. She has 13 years of experience working in communications roles including on-continent support across all regions in Africa on projects funded by international actors such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, Feed the Future and Prosper Africa. She has demonstrated experience in development communications, including report wr...
2024-06-2551 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 227: The Artist and the Designer with Elike Nkansa Part 2Greetings Glocal Citizens!
I met Elike Kofi Nkansa, a multifaceted creative with a background in literature and art with a keen interest in fine detailng, one afternoon at a place called the Green Butterfly Market in Accra. He was seated in front of a beautiful portrait tapestry which I eventually purchased after visiting his flagship boutique and seeing a sampling of his portfolio. He trained as an architect and is the designer for his fashion brand, Elike Clothing which has become a household name, particularly in Ghana, and he has clothed many eminent personalites. He is currently...
2024-06-1836 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 226: The Artist and the Designer with Elike Nkansa Part 1Greetings Glocal Citizens!
I met Elike Kofi Nkansa, a multifaceted creative with a background in literature and art with a keen interest in fine detailng, one afternoon at a place called the Green Butterfly Market in Accra. He was seated in front of a beautiful portrait tapestry which I eventually purchased after visiting his flagship boutique and seeing a sampling of his portfolio. He trained as an architect and is the designer for his fashion brand, Elike Clothing which has become a household name, particularly in Ghana, and he has clothed many eminent personalites. He is currently...
2024-06-1136 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 225: A Cup of Impact with a Side of Coffee with Robert “Bob” Bush, Jr.Greetings Glocal Citizens!
This week we have a Glocal Citizens first so keep reading!
I first met my guest, Robert “Bob” Bush, Jr., more than 15 years ago in a cute bistro in the Meat Packing District in New York City. At the time, he had been living in the Middle East for a couple of years as Managing Director and Senior Advisor for the Corporate Office of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoumis, Prime Minister of the UAE. As you’ll hear in the conversation this was in many ways a culminating role, that started to tak...
2024-06-0459 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 224: #tbt...Jamaica with Stacy Kirk, Andray McKenzie, Beverley Watson, Suki Fuller, Morris Sinclair, Natasha Moore, and Nydia SwabyGreetings Glocal Citizens!
Beach has been in heavy rotation in my mind lately so I decided to recreate the experience of being there through conversations with guests from a favorite beach destination - Jamaica. Our tour guides for this virtual experience are fellow Stanford alum and techpreneur, Stacy Kirk; logistics, supply chain and production systems expert, Andray McKenzie; ceramic sculptor and art therapist, Beverley Watson; intelligence advisor, author, and speaker, Suki Fuller; global lifestyle ambassador, Morris Sinclair; talent development visionary, Natasha Moore; and Black feminist researcher, writer, and curator, Nydia Swaby.
I drew some inspriation...
2024-05-2854 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 223: Multilingual Transcultural Education and New Paradigms for Teaching and Learning with Dr. Shartriya CollierGreetings Glocal Citizens!
My guest this week and I go way back to the days of carefree Saturdays and Brooklyn Street festivals, before adulting was the order of our days. Fast forward and today, Dr. Shartriya Collier is an Associate Dean and Full Professor at the School of Education at Nevada State College (NSC), where she leads and supports a diverse and dynamic faculty and student body. She has over 21 years of experience in education spanning from PK-20 to adult education, with a focus on curriculum and instruction, teacher and faculty development, and student success.
As the...
2024-05-2149 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 222: Toward Greening Communities--One Clean Street at a Time with Kwadwo SafoGreetings Glocal Citizens!
The Glocal Citizens community has gifted us with another inspiring diasporan. Heneba Kwadwo Safo, a graduate of the University of Ghana in Civil Engineering is the founder and leader of the BuzStopBoys. The Buzstopboys is a volunteer group promoting a Clean, Green, Environment (CGEn) through patriotism. With brooms, dustpans and a strong sense of community spirit, the BuzstopBoys have become a driving force for positive change. Their initiative focuses on cleaning heavily trafficked areas, creating a cleaner and more welcoming environment for both residents and visitors. It is no surprise that fellow Glocal Citizen...
2024-05-1441 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 221: Free Thinking and Maker Spaces with Paul Damalie Part 2Greetings Glocal Citizens!
This week’s conversation comes to you in two parts and is courtesy of a connection made by my guest from Episode 34, Stacey Enyame. Recognizing the intersection between tech and community/economic development and my background, Stacey suggested I join the Keta MakerSpace community on WhatsApp--a brainchild of #GlobalGhanaian, Paul Kwesi Damalie. We go into detail about the community and the vision for the platform and new city in the making in Part 2 of the conversation, both parts are not to be missed! Paul is founder of Damalie Innovation Holdings Group which invests in an...
2024-05-0636 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 220: Free Thinking and Maker Spaces with Paul Damalie Part 1Greetings Glocal Citizens!
This week’s conversation comes to you in two parts and is courtesy of a connection made by my guest from Episode 34, Stacey Enyame. Recognizing the intersection between tech and community/economic development and my background, Stacey suggested I join the Keta MakerSpace community on WhatsApp--a brainchild of #GlobalGhanaian, Paul Kwesi Damalie. We go into detail about the community and the vision for the platform and new city in the making in Part 2 of the conversation, both parts are not to be missed! Paul is founder of Damalie Innovation Holdings Group which invests in an...
2024-04-3042 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 219: Spotlight on the Producer with Sasheen Artis Part 2Greetings Glocal Citizens!
This week on the podcast we have another fellow Stanford Alumni – #chocolatecardinal, with a mini masterclass as a great follow-up to my conversation with creative director, Francis Brown. Sasheen Artis, born a New Yorker in Harlem, currently based in Los Angeles, California, is bi-coastal in her lifespan to date, spending her entire adult life on the West Coast. She started her career in the entertainment industry as a temp and is now a two-time Emmy winning producer and the Founder & CEO of Plenty of Pie, a curriculum-based talent incubator and media production accelerator offering leadership de...
2024-04-2331 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 218: Spotlight on the Producer with Sasheen Artis Part 1Greetings Glocal Citizens!
This week on the podcast we have another fellow Stanford Alumni – #chocolatecardinal, with a mini masterclass as a great follow-up to my conversation with creative director, Francis Brown. Sasheen Artis, born a New Yorker in Harlem, currently based in Los Angeles, California, is bi-coastal in her lifespan to date, spending her entire adult life on the West Coast. She started her career in the entertainment industry as a temp and is now a two-time Emmy winning producer and the Founder & CEO of Plenty of Pie, a curriculum-based talent incubator and media production accelerator offering leadership de...
2024-04-1637 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 217: On Building Animation Ecosystems in Africa with Francis Brown Part 2April Greetings Glocal Citizens!
As you listen to this week’s episode you may catch a hint of showers as part of the sound track for this conversation with long-time collaborator, Takoradi, Ghana’s own Francis Brown. As the saying goes, showers bring flowers and in this two-part conversation we’re definitely cultivating a bouquet of beauty and insights.
Francis is one of the first professionals that I worked with when I arrived in Ghana; at that times he was a student at Ghana’s National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI). Since then, his career has flourish...
2024-04-0926 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 216: On Building Animation Ecosystems in Africa with Francis Brown Part 1April Greetings Glocal Citizens!
As you listen to this week’s episode you may catch a hint of showers as part of the sound track for this conversation with long-time collaborator, Takoradi, Ghana’s own Francis Brown. As the saying goes, showers bring flowers and in this two-part conversation we’re definitely cultivating a bouquet of beauty and insights.
Francis is one of the first professionals that I worked with when I arrived in Ghana; at that times he was a student at Ghana’s National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI). Since then, his career has flourish...
2024-04-0240 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 215: A Web of Wellness with Kadiatou SibiGreetings Glocal Citizens!
This month we’ve traveled to three continents on our herstory tour and our final destination is the west coast of the US by way of The Gambia. My guest, Kadiatou Sibi, started in the world of work after finding her voice (literally), in university when she began traveling the world as a lead singer of the band, Belizbeha. Following a successful career in media, entertainment, and teaching, she focused on entrepreneurism to launch A Web of Wellness (AWOW). With over 24 years of experience as an Ayurvedic Wellness and Performance Coach at AWOW, Kadiatou he...
2024-03-261h 00
Glocal CitizensEpisode 214: Deep Dialogues and Enabling the Possibility of Change with Yaliwe ClarkeGreetings Glocal Citizens!
This week, we’re flashing back to my trip to Cape Town last November. I met my guest, Yaliwe Clarke through sister-to-sister connection, literally. Her sister and mine are friends and as we (my sister and I) were in SA together our meeting was inevitable. Yaliwe, who is of Zambian and British parentage found her way to South African nearly two decades ago from Zambia, where she spent most of her life. She is the immediate past Director of the African Gender Institute at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Prior to this, si...
2024-03-191h 03
Glocal CitizensEpisode 213: Globalizing Local Initiatives with Valerie WhiteGreetings Glocal Citizens!
This week’s episode and herstory really hit close to home. We recorded this interview on Ghana’s Independence Day, March 6th--or 6th March as we say in Ghana. And while days like this are meant to be celebrations of freedom and recognition of the work and struggles that went into the founding of the republic, my enthusiasm was half-hearted. If Africa, Africans and all people of the African Diaspora are honest with ourselves we have to accept that decolonization is an unfinished job. There is work to do. I, like my guest this week...
2024-03-1257 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 212: Reimagining Effective Mental Health Care with Sara ReedWomen’s Month Greetings Glocal Citizens!
If it’s March then it’s all about herstories here on the podcast and first up we’re in London by way of Hopkinsville, Kentucky with mental health futurist, Sara Reed. She is an empathic leader, mental health futurist, and practitioner in psychedelic-assisted therapy. I came across Sara’s work when listening to a session the Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Global Summit last year, and my curiosity was piqued hearing Sara describe her work and it’s impact. She has spent her early career examining the ways culture informs how we diagnose and treat me...
2024-03-0544 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 211: Everyday Activism with Hakeem Oluseyi, Juleen Christopher, Kobby Graham, Samba Yonga, Eric CollinsGreetings Glocal Citizens!
This week on the podcast it’s flashback February. Inspired by last year’s Black History Month compilation episode, for this week, also dedicated to Black History Month, I’ve selected glocally speaking, mindset hacking and solution-scaping excerpts from conversations over the past year. Starting with the Science Mercenary, Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi on how reconceptualizing our ideas on time and how the evolutionary continuum of human intelligence need not be as complicated as we think. Cognitive-Behavioral Research Scientist, Dr. Juleen Christopher reinforces his thoughts by introducing us to her mindset hack, a technique called positi...
2024-02-2749 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 210: Me + You + Art + Wellness with Marlea EdwardsGreetings Glocal Citizens!
I’m back in Accra and it’s HOT and HUMID, but thankfully not so dusty--I’ve successfully evaded the Harmattan! A significant contrast to the environs for my guest this week who dials in from her hometown of London, England. Raised between London and Brooklyn with roots in Jamaica, Aruba and Donimica, Marlea Edwards was drawn to the creative arts from theatre to photography, storytelling, mythology and anthropology from an early age. She is an award-winning, multi-disciplinary creative artist and creative consultant with a key focus on visual storytelling and connecting to audiences. She is...
2024-02-2052 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 209: Healthtech Solutions and Tools for Engagement with Dana Weeks Part 2Greetings Glocal Citizens!
Kicking off February, we have a double-header in conversation with another Stanford Alum and fellow “Track Girl.” Born in Vietnam and raised in New York, Dana Weeks is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of MedTrans Go, a healthcare technology start-up based in Atlanta, GA. Prior to MedTrans Go, she co-founded the Black Angel Tech Foundation, created to support and increase the number of underrepresented minorities in technology. She has also held positions at AT&T, Pfizer, and in several innovative entrepreneurial ventures. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of The West...
2024-02-1329 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 208: Healthtech Solutions and Tools for Engagement with Dana Weeks Part 1Greetings Glocal Citizens!
Kicking off February, we have a double-header in conversation with another Stanford Alum and fellow “Track Girl.” Born in Vietnam and raised in New York, Dana Weeks is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of MedTrans Go, a healthcare technology start-up based in Atlanta, GA. Prior to MedTrans Go, she co-founded the Black Angel Tech Foundation, created to support and increase the number of underrepresented minorities in technology. She has also held positions at AT&T, Pfizer, and in several innovative entrepreneurial ventures. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of The West...
2024-02-0640 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 207: Digital Expertise for Greater Good with Stephen A. NewtonGreetings Glocal Citizens!
This week’s episode comes to us courtesy of a dinner hosted by EP 22/23 guest, Kwame Acheampong. Kwame and my guest, Stephen Newton are longtime colleagues that recently rejoined forces at Aleph Group, Inc., a global digital advertising platform that connects brands with every digitally connected user in Africa where Stephen currently serves as the Managing Director Sub-Sahara Africa. With Jamaican lineage, born and raised in the US Mainland and Virgin Islands, Stephen departed the US in 1998 and currently calls Cape Town, South Africa home. With over 25 years of C-suite experience, Stephen is a se...
2024-01-301h 00
Glocal CitizensEpisode 206: Wellness as a Way of Work with Tara Aura PurnellGreetings Glocal Citizens! I am sincerely grateful to my community of Glocal Citizens, especially as former guests have been delivering on sharing life experiences with me and the podcast in their communities. My guest this week is someone I met last December in Ghana while catching up with Nydia Swaby in Accra and I’m happy to share her story. Washington, D.C native, Tara Aura Purnell is a meditation guide, ritual artist, certified yoga teacher, and wellness-prenuer empowering people to feel better more of the time. She curates wellness events for marginalized communities as Co-Founder of Blind Seed, wh...
2024-01-231h 01
Glocal CitizensEpisode 205: On Organizing Labor with Tobias BavnsgaardGreetings Glocal Citizens!
“The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
On Monday of this week, we celebrated global visionary, activist and minister, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. For many, it is a time to reflect on how far the US and the world have progressed concerning civil/human rights for Black and colonized peoples. Dr. King’s work, especially as the Civil Rights Movement began casting a wider net on the levers of social and economic exclusion, was very much focused on supporti...
2024-01-1654 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 204: Raising Digital Economies with Eric Osiakwan Part 2Greetings Glocal Citizens!
This week on we’re moving into the new year with some wise words and insights in Part 2 of my conversation with Ghanaian investor and developer of new businesses, Eric Osiakwan. With 25 years of experience spanning 32 countries in Africa gained through a number of successful tech start-ups, Eric is a leading pioneer of internet in Africa. Having worked in multiple countries building internet service providers (“ISP”) and ICT businesses, some of his successful exits include iBurst in South Africa, One2Net in Uganda, and BusyInternet in Ghana, to name a few. Eric also founded and ra...
2024-01-091h 01
Glocal CitizensEpisode 203: Lifelong Learning with Monroe FranceNew Year Greetings Glocal Citizens!
Thank you to all that land here with us weekly to #listenandlearn about #DynamicDiasporans living, working and playing worldwide. I look forward to a new year of conversations that will include taking deeper dives into the whys and ways of reimagining global impact economics alongside continuing to travel far and wide with our guests. Stay tuned!
This week, I’m joined by Monroe France the inaugural Vice Provost for Institutional Inclusive Excellence Tufts University and a professor of practice at the Jonathan Tisch College of Civic Life. Previously, Monroe served as th...
2024-01-0250 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 202: Creating New Ecologies of Knowledge with Nana Oforiatta AyimGreetings Glocal Citizens!
This week’s guest is fast becoming a cultural icon across her chosen disciplines. Ghanaian by ancestry and born in German and spending a formative part of her life in England, Nana Oforiatta Ayim is a writer, filmmaker, and art historian. She is Founder of the ANO Institute of Arts and Knowledge, through which she has pioneered a Pan-African Cultural Encyclopaedia, a Mobile Museums Project, and curated Ghana’s first pavilion at the Venice Biennale. She published her first novel The God Child in 2019, and in German in 2021. She has made award-winning films for muse...
2023-12-1850 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 201: On Becoming a Public Health Champion with Fiona GambangaGreetings Glocal Citizens!
My guest this week is a fellow podcaster and we met as fellow members of a global #BWiD (Black Women in Development) Connect networking group. Born and raised in Harare, Zimbabwe, Fiona Gambanga is a global health professional with more than seven years’ experience in qualitative and quantitative research, public health program planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. She has supported countries such as Zambia, Malawi, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe in health workforce planning, diagnostics implementation research and UHC implementation and planning. Currently based in Kigali, Rwanda, Fiona is also the creator, host, and producer of th...
2023-12-1253 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 199: Intelligence as a Way of Business with Suki Fuller Part 2Greetings Glocal Citizens!
In some circles, my guest for this two-part episode could be thought of as a spy by a different name. With roots in Jamaica, and raised between the Middle East, Europe and the United States, Suki Fuller, an intelligence advisor, author, acclaimed international keynote speaker and Fellow of The Council of Competitive Intelligence Fellows is a women that is usually intent on not being watched. She is the Founder of Miribure, Co-Founder and Senior Vice President of DC Analytics and Storyteller for Group of Humans. She is a contributing author to A Practical Guide...
2023-12-0547 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 200: Angel Fair Africa @10 with Eric Osiakwan Part 1Greetings Glocal Citizens!
This week, we interrupt our scheduled Part 2 conversation with Suki Fuller to give some shine to a milestone event taking place in Cape Town, South Africa. Co-founded by my guest, Ghanaian, Eric Osiakwan, Angel Fair Africa, happening November 28th - December 1st, brings selected and curated entrepreneurs to pitch to a room of angel investors with the intent of doing deals. Eric is an entrepreneur and investor with 25 years of ICT industry leadership across Africa and the world, He has worked in 32 African countries setting up ISPs, ISPAs, IXPs and high-tech startups. He Co-Founded...
2023-11-2850 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 198: Intelligence as a Way of Business with Suki Fuller Part 1Greetings Glocal Citizens!
In some circles, my guest for this two-part episode could be thought of as a spy by a different name. With roots in Jamaica, and raised between the Middle East, Europe and the United States, Suki Fuller, an intelligence advisor, author, acclaimed international keynote speaker and Fellow of The Council of Competitive Intelligence Fellows is a women that is usually intent on not being watched. She is the Founder of Miribure, Co-Founder and Senior Vice President of DC Analytics and Storyteller for Group of Humans. She is a contributing author to A Practical Guide...
2023-11-2148 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 197: Distilling Lifescapes From the Road with Dante Bowen HendricksGreetings Glocal Citizens!
This week I’m joined by a longtime friend as we both were about to hit the road for weekend adventures fitting our global missions. Photographer, Dante Bowen Hendricks found his calling as a young boy in Guyana when his uncle gifted him a rotating globe that sparked Dante's fascination with world cultures. After immigrating to Brooklyn as a teen, Dante set aside his passion for photography to work in his family's shipping business. But a trip back home reignited his love for the art.
Dante dove into developing his skills, studying at...
2023-11-1444 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 196: Thoughts on the African Dream with Nyamal TutdealGreetings Glocal Citizens!
This week’s episode is like the jetway bridging me between my two locations this week. From my Continental base in Accra, South Sudanese-Ethiopian-American, Nyamal Tutdeal, who is a conflict resolution and healing practitioner, joins us again to talk about, among other things, one of her homelands--Ethiopia, where I found myself (in Addis Ababa) for the weekend. Many may recall meeting Nyamal on the podcast prior to her move to Accra, and now after a nearly two years, she’s an “Accra-an.” With over a decade of work experience under her belt, Nyamal has develope...
2023-11-0759 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 195: Shaping Pan-African Progress with Christa Elise SandersGreetings Glocal Citizens!
This week I had the opportunity to catch up with Christa Eiise Sanders, an International Education professional with over 20 years of progressively responsible and diverse experience within the field of higher education. She is currently the Campus Director at Webster University in Accra, Ghana. A graduate of Spelman College and Columbia University, her expertise includes strategic planning, program development, counseling (with a focus in multiculturalism/diversity); academic oversight, advising and planning. She also has a strong background in creating and managing study abroad programs in Africa and Europe. Growing up in an Bryn Mawr...
2023-10-3154 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 194: Inside the Singer’s Voice with Jeremiah AbiahGreetings Glocal Citizens!
This week I have the pleasure getting to know a longtime friend even better from insights into his professional world. An internationally recognized recording artist, vocal coach, songwriter/writer, style influencer, and entrepreneur, Ghanaian-Cuban-American, Jeremiah Abiah inspires artists around the world to learn, love, and live their voice. His creative talents and expertise have made him a sought-after coach for national and international singers, actors, rappers, and public speakers. His influence and involvement have launched the careers of many musicians currently on the charts. As a singer, producer and writer, his recording contributions have...
2023-10-2351 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 193: On Catalytic Capital with The Money Maker, Eric CollinsGreetings Glocal Citizens!
For this week’s episode I found myself in a hidden gem of a community in East London with a not so hidden gem in the European investment space, Eric Collins. Eric, born an raised in the southern United States, has called London home for the nearly 10 years. He is a serial entrepreneur, investor, technology executive and host of Channel 4 business show, The Money Maker, which is based on the highly successful US show The Profit on CNBC.
Eric has spent much of his career building the value of digital companies through in...
2023-10-171h 01
Glocal CitizensEpisode 192: Always Mentally Prepared with Ky Adderley Part 2Greetings Glocal Citizens!
Did you miss us? We missed you! September threw me for a bit of a loop with travel and wifi access which resulted in a brief break. My travels took me on a Northern Lights adventure through remote Alaska where we actually experienced the North Pole! Then it was a return to summer in the southern U.S. with a grounding trip to Atlanta, Georgia.
I’m back in NYC for this two-part episode and taking a stroll down a few Brooklyn memory lanes with my guest, Ky Adderley is a leadership an...
2023-10-1050 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 191: Always Mentally Prepared with Ky Adderley Part 1Greetings Glocal Citizens!
Did you miss us? We missed you! September threw me for a bit of a loop with travel and wifi access which resulted in a brief break. My travels took me on a Northern Lights adventure through remote Alaska where we actually experienced the North Pole! Then it was a return to summer in the southern U.S. with a grounding trip to Atlanta, Georgia.
I’m back in NYC for this two-part episode and taking a stroll down a few Brooklyn memory lanes with my guest, Ky Adderley is a leadership an...
2023-10-0340 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 190: Come Chop with Stanley LumaxGreetings Glocal Citizens!
This week on the podcast I have the pleasure of hosting a social innovator who intersects not only my local experiences in Brooklyn and Accra, he is the husband of my guest on Episode 139, Asmeret Berhe-Lumax and on the Advisory Committee of Episodes 42/43 guest, Nana Eyeson-Akiwowo’s African Health Now. A fellow Ghanaian, Stanley Lumax is currently the Executive Brand Marketing Director at JP Morgan Chase, where he manages the Sapphire and Freedom Unlimited portfolios. Prior to this role, he partnered with Complex Media Networks to create Climate, an agency built to help brands ha...
2023-09-0547 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 189: Venture Capital for the Mulitcultural Mainstream with Garnet HeramanGreetings Glocal Citizens!
This week on the podcast I have the pleasure of hosting the gentleman who opened the invitation to what is now Glocal Citizens. As you listen to the episode, you’ll understand more about how my guest’s investment ethic and a particular investment in a start-up podcasting network four years ago are at the intersection of our collective coming to being on this page.
Born into multiracial family in Trinidad & Tobago, now based in Southern California, my guest is investor, influencer and friend, Garnet Heraman. With over 25 years experience at the inte...
2023-08-2946 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 188: Transforming the Future of Work with Hawa Kombian Part 2Greetings Glocal Citizens!
We’re traveling from Canada to the north of Ghana and back again in this two part conversation with Ghanaian-Canadian, Hawa Kombian. As an intentional, passionate and creative leader who enables organizational founders’ and their teams to achieve operational sustainability and social vibrancy by building results-driven cultures of connection, Hawa is squarely focused on bridges all the dimensions of leadership toward more impact and sustainable presents for her clients.
Having a background in communications, and humanitarian pursuits with organizations leading in innovative technology and social change, her experience spans education, digital health, and...
2023-08-2234 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 187: Transforming the Future of Work with Hawa Kombian Part 1Greetings Glocal Citizens!
We’re traveling from Canada to the north of Ghana and back again in this two part conversation with Ghanaian-Canadian, Hawa Kombian. As an intentional, passionate and creative leader who enables organizational founders’ and their teams to achieve operational sustainability and social vibrancy by building results-driven cultures of connection, Hawa is squarely focused on bridges all the dimensions of leadership toward more impact and sustainable presents for her clients.
Having a background in communications, and humanitarian pursuits with organizations leading in innovative technology and social change, her experience spans education, digital health, and...
2023-08-1533 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 186: Beaming Bold with Audra GordonHi there Glocal Citizens!
If you like the idea of being bold, you’ll love the idea of “Beaming Bold”after listening in on thes conversation with my guest, Aurda Gordon. Audra’s journey began in the beautiful islands of St.Vincent and the Grenadines where she was born and Brooklyn, New York where she was raised. She is now now an expat living in Hong Kong for almost 12 years.
As a Wealth Management and Business Development Professional with extensive experience in retail banking and retail fashion, she is a self-starter who has excelled in senior r...
2023-08-0856 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 185: Building An Ecosystem for Youth Development with Kojo NorthAugust Greetings Glocal Citizens!
Kicking off my favorite month of the year (it’s my birthday month) is a Ghanaian Brit by way of the Netherlands, Kojo North. A proud Ghanaian, Kojo has built a successful career consulting software companies while dividing his time between London, Amsterdam, and Kumasi. With a keen interest in supporting Ghanaian software startups, he invests in and advises startups focused on driving digital transformation within the lodging and restaurant industries. Believing in technology's power to solve real-world challenges, Kojo employs this approach across the board with his projects. Kojo's ambitions stretch beyond th...
2023-08-0157 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 184: On Being a Science Mercenary with Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi Part 2Greetings Glocal Citizens!
This week we’re taking a trip to the stars and back with astrophysicist, author, STEM educator, multi-patented inventor, voice actor, TV personality, science communicator, and keynote speaker, Hakeem Oluseyi. Another fellow Stanford University Alum, Hakeem recently served as the Space Science Education Lead in the Space Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters. His work has resulted in 11 patents, and more than 100 publications covering contributions to astrophysics, cosmology, plasma physics, and the development of space missions, observatories, focal plane instruments, detectors, semiconductor manufacturing, and ion propulsion. He has co-hosted and contributed to several shows on Sc...
2023-07-2538 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 183: On Being a Science Mercenary with Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi Part 1Greetings Glocal Citizens!
This week we’re taking a trip to the stars and back with astrophysicist, author, STEM educator, multi-patented inventor, voice actor, TV personality, science communicator, and keynote speaker, Hakeem Oluseyi. Another fellow Stanford University Alum, Hakeem recently served as the Space Science Education Lead in the Space Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters. His work has resulted in 11 patents, and more than 100 publications covering contributions to astrophysics, cosmology, plasma physics, and the development of space missions, observatories, focal plane instruments, detectors, semiconductor manufacturing, and ion propulsion. He has co-hosted and contributed to several shows on Sc...
2023-07-1848 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 182: Branding Experiences with Begay Downes-ThomasGreetings Glocal Citizens!
This week’s episode comes to you from Dakar, by way of New York City and [Banjul](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banjul "smartCard-inline) in The Gambia. My guest, Gambian-American, Begay Downes-Thomas was born and raised in New York City to Gambian parents and currently calls Dakar, Senegal her base. She has more than 20 years of experience as a senior advocacy strategist in strategic communication, partnerships, and media in the development sector - specifically in strategies, branding, and resource mobilization at the country and regional level in Africa and internationally. She currently leads Global Pa...
2023-07-1148 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 181: Pictures Worth Thousands of Words with James Barnor Part 3Summer Solstice Greetings Glocal Citizens!
I’m fresh off of a couple of weeks of ramping up the summer in Europe where the sun was truly a superstar right alongside my guest for the next few episodes. James Barnor is a Ghanaian photographer who has been based in London since the 1990s. His career spans six decades, and although for much of that period his work was not widely known, it has latterly been discovered by new audiences. In his street and studio photography, Barnor represents societies in transition in the 1950s and 1960s: Ghana moving toward in...
2023-07-0419 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 180: Pictures Worth Thousands of Words with James Barnor Part 2Summer Solstice Greetings Glocal Citizens!
I’m fresh off of a couple of weeks of ramping up the summer in Europe where the sun was truly a superstar right alongside my guest for the next few episodes. James Barnor is a Ghanaian photographer who has been based in London since the 1990s. His career spans six decades, and although for much of that period his work was not widely known, it has latterly been discovered by new audiences. In his street and studio photography, Barnor represents societies in transition in the 1950s and 1960s: Ghana moving toward in...
2023-06-2740 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 179: Pictures Worth Thousands of Words with James Barnor Part 1Summer Solstice Greetings Glocal Citizens!
I’m fresh off of a couple of weeks of ramping up the summer in Europe where the sun was truly a superstar right alongside my guest for the next few episodes. James Barnor is a Ghanaian photographer who has been based in London since the 1990s. His career spans six decades, and although for much of that period his work was not widely known, it has latterly been discovered by new audiences. In his street and studio photography, Barnor represents societies in transition in the 1950s and 1960s: Ghana moving toward in...
2023-06-2043 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 178: When Women Speak with Aseye Tamakloe Part 2Greetings Glocal Citizens!
This week on the podcast we have another two-part conversation, with one of Ghana’s foremost creative culture practitioners. Aseye Tamakloe is a filmmaker and lecturer at the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) and a PhD candidate at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana Legon - both in Accra. She has worked as editor, director and producer on a number of local and international productions. As a freelance editor, her works include, award-winning films such as Perfect Picture, by Shirley Frimpong–Manso, Chronicles of Odumkrom:The Headmaster, by Ernest Kofi Abbeyquaye, Who...
2023-06-1330 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 177: When Women Speak with Aseye Tamakloe Part 1Greetings Glocal Citizens!
This week on the podcast we have another two-part conversation, with one of Ghana’s foremost creative culture practitioners. Aseye Tamakloe is a filmmaker and lecturer at the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) and a PhD candidate at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana Legon - both in Accra. She has worked as editor, director and producer on a number of local and international productions. As a freelance editor, her works include, award-winning films such as Perfect Picture, by Shirley Frimpong–Manso, Chronicles of Odumkrom:The Headmaster, by Ernest Kofi Abbeyquaye, Who...
2023-06-0646 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 176: The Generative Artist's Way with Kai TurnerGreeting Glocal Citizens!
This week we’re visiting the US’s Golden State in a back-to-the-future kind of moment. A New York native, my guest, Kaigani Turner and I both honed our “tech cred” during our years on the Stanford University campus somehow laying the foundation, plotting, programming and piecing together a present in the media space. Now a digital media innovator with over 25 years of experience most of which was spent living and working in London, Kai has been active in the NFT space since 2017 and is a thought leader in defining #Media3 as the intersection between...
2023-05-3044 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 175: Innovation in Acculturation with Kobina Ankomah Graham Part 2Greetings Glocal Citizens!
My guest this week is Ghanaian-Briton, DJ, lecturer, cultural writer and researcher Kobina “Kobby” Ankomah Graham. Raised between the alternate realities of Ghana and Britain, he is passionately curious about music, African culture, and counterculture. Through almost two decades of lecturing, researching, public speaking, developing creative projects, curating music and freelance writing, he has championed arts and culture.
He has explored this idea in settings ranging from classrooms to international conferences, and in numerous workshops, panels, podcasts, publications, and dance floors. Along the way, he has been profiled by platforms like the BBC...
2023-05-2350 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 174: Innovation in Acculturation with Kobina Ankomah Graham Part 1Greetings Glocal Citizens!
My guest this week is Ghanaian-Briton, DJ, lecturer, cultural writer and researcher Kobina “Kobby” Ankomah Graham. Raised between the alternate realities of Ghana and Britain, he is passionately curious about music, African culture, and counterculture. Through almost two decades of lecturing, researching, public speaking, developing creative projects, curating music and freelance writing, he has championed arts and culture.
He has explored this idea in settings ranging from classrooms to international conferences, and in numerous workshops, panels, podcasts, publications, and dance floors. Along the way, he has been profiled by platforms like the BBC...
2023-05-1652 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 86: The Long and Short of Filmmaking with Will Niava Part 2Greetings Glocal Citizens!
We're welcoming August with a doubleheader featuring Will Niava, an award winning Ivorian-Ghanaian film director based but not bound to Montréal, Canada. After his education in film production at the Concordia University in Quebec, Will directed a number of projects around the world. Namely, four episodes of MTV Shuga, a fiction series in the Ivory Coast as well as “Violence Of The Lambs”, a music video released on NOWNESS from which he made his first short film “ZOO”. ZOO was selected at over 60 international film festivals of which 15 are Oscar qualifying. The film has since rac...
2021-08-1043 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 85: The Long and Short of Filmmaking with Will Niava Part 1Greetings Glocal Citizens!
We're welcoming August with a doubleheader featuring Will Niava, an award winning Ivorian-Ghanaian film director based but not bound to Montréal, Canada. After his education in film production at the Concordia University in Quebec, Will directed a number of projects around the world--namely, four episodes of MTV Shuga, a fiction series in the Ivory Coast as well as “Violence Of The Lambs”, a music video released on NOWNESS from which he made his first short film “ZOO.” ZOO was selected at over 60 international film festivals of which 15 are Oscar qualifying. The film has since rac...
2021-08-0340 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 9: Florence Adu and Nana Amoako-Anin talk Bliss in Accra and Beyond - Part 2In Part 2, we pick pick up the conversation with an introduction to the newest offering in Nana’s bliss portfolio, the Bliss Wellness Center, and we learn more about how her work with children is tackling the unspoken traumas inherent in the global child trafficking crisis.
More about Nana and her work:
Bliss Yoga Accra
@nanaamoakoanin on IG
@blissyogaaccra on IG
TEDx Accra
Oprah Magazine
Touch a Life KidsSpecial Guest: Nana Amoako-Anin.
2020-01-2817 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 8: Florence Adu and Nana Amoako-Anin talk Bliss in Accra and Beyond - Part 1Hello Glocal Citizens! For the next two part interview, I visit with Nana Amoako-Anin, founder and owner of Bliss Yoga Accra and the Bliss Wellness Center at her lovely home in Accra, Ghana. In Part 1, Nana tells us about her transition from New York City powerhouse attorney to Accra-based wellness ambassador and market-maker.
More about Nana and her work:
Bliss Yoga Accra
@nanaamoakoanin on IG
@blissyogaaccra on IG
TEDx Accra
Oprah Magazine
Touch a Life KidsSpecial Guest: Nana Amoako-Anin.
2020-01-2119 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 5: Florence Adu Talks with Emmanuel Etim, Founder and Producer Refined Creative Part 2In Part 2 of our conversation, Emmanuel goes into detail about what it takes to be a non-fiction storyteller in Africa, the ins and outs of working with major networks such as CNN and National Geographic, and what’s on his screens these days.
Links of Interest
Find out more about Emmanuel and the Refined Creative vision here.
and
On Linkedin
On IG @emmanetim
What's Emmanuel watching?
Longmire on NetflixSpecial Guest: Emmanuel Etim.
2019-12-3119 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 4: Florence Adu Talks with Emmanuel Etim, Founder and Producer Refined CreativeGreetings Glocal Citizens!
My guest for the next two episodes is Emmanuel Etim, founder of Refined Creative. Emmanuel is a Nigerian-American that now calls Accra home base of operations offering production and training services with the goal of raising awareness of international development and innovations through visual storytelling.
In Part 1 of our discussion Emmanuel tells us about his early exposure to non-fiction story-telling through six degrees of separation from Michael Moore and how he came to call Accra home, for now.
Links of Interest
Find out more about Emmanuel and the Refined...
2019-12-2424 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 3: Florence Adu Talks with Cordie Aziz of Environment360 Part 2In Part 2, we delve into the business of waste in Ghana and how Environment360 is making an impact with their programs in schools and in increasing number of communities across Ghana.
Links of Interest
Cordie Aziz on LinkedIn
Environment360
Jaku and the Earth Defenders – Malaria MadnessSpecial Guest: Cordie Aziz.
2019-12-1722 min
Glocal CitizensEpisode 2: Florence Adu Talks with Cordie Aziz of Environment360I’m excited to launch the Glocal Citizens Podcast with one of my favorite people here in Accra, Ghana. In this episode, I meet with Cordie Aziz, Founder and Executive Director of Environment360 at her office in the Adenta, Accra, Ghana. Environment360 harnesses the value of waste by creating inclusive waste systems that have economic and environmental impact in the communities that they serve.
In Part 1 of our discussion, Cordie, a Sierra Leonian-American, tells us about how she came to be local in Accra, her impressions of the city, and a primer on waste management.
Li...
2019-12-1019 minGlocal CitizensEpisode 1: Coming Soon: Glocal CitizensGreetings Glocal Citizens! Let me introduce myself, I'm your host Florence Amerley Adu. I'm CEO and co-founder of LEAP Transmedia. Our vision is to seeds and sows a fertile ground for improving education and economic outcomes for Ghanaians and Africans across the diaspora.
Do you dream about “doing something” abroad? Then consider Glocal Citizens required listening in the due diligence, trusted advisor and inspiration department. In each episode, I visit with dynamic diasporans making local and global impact designing and applying their craft. We explore how their passions have rooted them throughout their lives, while at the same...
2019-11-2202 min