March 8th is a day set aside around the world to celebrate and honour the impact of women. At Ashesi we celebrate women everyday, but on International Women’s Day, we want you to meet eight Ashesi women who inspire us on campus, and serve as role models for many people around the world. 
1. Dr. Esi Ansah, Assistant Professor
Dr. Esi Ansah teaches in the Business Administration Department at Ashesi University College, and her classes include Leadership, Negotiation and Human Resource Management. She loves teaching, and is highly engaged in various initiatives in her academic community. She serves as a Patron for a number of student organizations and was voted by students as the Most Inspiring Faculty Member in 2010 and also as the Outstanding Faculty Member in 2008, 2010 and twice in 2011. In 2012, students again voted her as the Most Resourceful Faculty Member. Esi’s academic and professional/career interests include Service Delivery Systems, Public Sector Reform, Service Quality, Human Capital Development and Social and Public Entrepreneurship.
She is also a founding partner and the CEO of Axis Human Capital Ltd. Since 2008, Esi has managed Axis, growing its client base and establishing it as a respectable partner in recruiting high-calibre candidates for clients. She serves as the key Corporate Training Facilitator for Axis' clients. Esi also uses Axis as a platform to provide mentoring, career and life coaching to young professionals (CV Writing, Interviewing Skills, Individual Career Planning, Leadership Development, Entrepreneurship etc.), and is especially passionate about working with students and young professionals.
Esi earned her Bachelor’s degrees in Psychology, International Affairs and French from the Florida State University in 1999, graduating with three Bachelor’s degrees in three years cum laude (with honors). She also holds two Master’s degrees in Social Sciences and in Public Service Management from the University of Chicago (2004) and DePaul University in Chicago (2002), respectively. She holds a PhD in Public Administration (2008) from Rutgers University in New Jersey.
2. Araba Botchway, Director of Development
Araba is currently a member of Ashesi’s Executive Team, which is the core of Ashesi's leadership, leads Ashesi’s fundraising efforts in Africa, and helps manage all of Ashesi’s funding partnerships, including a $13 million scholarship programme with The MasterCard Foundation. Prior to her role at Ashesi, Araba worked as the Program Officer for the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program (IFP) in West Africa for a period of 12 years.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in French with Spanish from the University of Ghana, a post graduate diploma in Marketing of Services from the Maastricht School of Management (Netherlands), an Executive MBA from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, a certificate in Management of Higher Education Institutions from the Galilee College (Israel), and a certificate in Project Management from Syncom Business Intelligence (South Africa).
3. Dr. Marcia Grant, Provost
As Provost at Ashesi, Dr. Grant heads all of Ashesi’s academic affairs and is also a member of Ashesi’s Executive Team.
She has taught African, Latin American and International Politics at Oberlin College, served as foreign affairs consultant for the US Departments of State, Justice, and Labor, as Director of the Fulbright Program in Mexico, as Assistant Cultural Attaché for the American Embassy in Paris, as Director of the Edward S. Mason Program for Mid-Career Fellows at the Kennedy School at Harvard, and as Executive Director of the Institute of North American Studies in Barcelona.
In 1999, at the invitation of Queen Effat of Saudi Arabia and her daughter Princess Lolowah, Dr. Grant served as the founding Dean of Saudi Arabia's first liberal arts college for women. Since then, she has also served as Dean of the American Graduate School of International Relations and Diplomacy in Paris, as a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow, and as Academic Planning Head of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at The Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan.
Dr. Grant earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Swarthmore College, a Master of Arts and a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Tufts University, and a Ph.D. in African Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
4. Ruth Kwakwa, Dean of Student and Community Affairs
Ruth joined Ashesi as the Dean of Student and Community Affairs in 2012, and has overseen all of student services at Ashesi since. She is also a member of Ashesi’s Executive team – the core of Ashesi’s leadership. In 2013, Ruth was voted the Most Outstanding Member of Staff by the Ashesi community.
A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Swarthmore College, Ruth joined Ashesi with several years of diverse experiences in different sectors. She worked with the World Bank and the Swedish Development Agency as a Consultant, Lintas Ghana Limited as Director of Media Strategy and Redhill School, South Africa as the Manager for Marketing, Brand Management and Alumni Relations. Ruth has a passion for working with young adults through mentoring, intercultural exchanges and leadership programs.
5. Dr. Ayorkor Korsah, Head of Computer Science Department
Gertrude Ayorkor Korsah is currently the Head of the Computer Science Department at Ashesi, and teaches courses in Robotics, Programming, Data Structures, and Algorithms.
In 2013 she was named a 2013 Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award (TDIA) recipient. The goal of the TDIA is to highlight applications of, and advancements, in disruptive innovation theory that have spread far beyond their original technological and industrial realms.
Dr. Korsah was named an honoree, together with Ken Goldberg of UC Berkeley, for their work in founding the African Robotics Network (AFRON).
She was also honoured with an Ideas 2012 Award as one of three Ghanaian Achievers during the Festival of Ideas 2012 event held in Accra. The Ideas Award is given to Ghanaians under 40 who have invested significantly in a project or organisation that enriches the lives of Ghanaians.
Dr. Korsah was celebrated for “having worked on diverse projects, including designing an automated system for monitoring water usage on Ashesi University’s campus, using robotics to motivate high school high school students to study computer science and engineering, and studying the potential role of technology in improving child literacy.
6. Millicent Adjei, Associate Director of Diversity and International Programs
Millicent joined Ashesi in 2012, and started the university's Office of Diversity and International Programs. As part of her role at Ashesi, she has helped increase inter-cultural understanding on campus, and has helped Ashesi initiate several study abroad and funding partnerships with top universities and organisations worldwide.
Millicent has a degree in Business Administration from the University of Ghana Business School, and a Masters in Comparative and International Development Education from the University of Minnesota. She is also a Ford Foundation International Fellow, an award granted to exceptional individuals from developing countries for academic excellence and efforts to address issues of social justice in their communities.
7. Regina Agyare '05, Founder, Soronko Solutions
Regina graduated from Ashesi as one of the best students, and the only woman, in her Computer Science class. She took a job in I.T Banking, where she was also the first and only woman in her department. After six years, Regina moved to start her social enterprise, Soronko Solutions, through which she hopes to promote social development through technology.
Last year she was named one of four Change Leaders joining the Tigo Reach for Change’s 2013 incubator programme, which helps social entrepreneurs build innovative ideas geared towards improving the lives of children.
Regina is an Aspen New Voices Fellow, where she serves as a Development Expert. She has also been featured on Lean In, a foundation started with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, which is focused on encouraging women to pursue their ambitions and change the conversation from what they can’t do to what they can do. Regina is also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community and is also a GOOD Fellow. She is actively involved in mentorship events on campus, and has inspired several women at Ashesi and beyond to study Computer Science.
8. Yawa Hansen-Quao '07, Founder, Leading Ladies Network
Yawa Hansen-Quao is passionate about women’s leadership development and established Leading Ladies Network to prepare women to occupy seats at every leadership table including businesses, government, and civil society.
As a Protocol School of Washington certified Corporate Etiquette & Interntional Protocol Consultant, Yawa shares her passion for personal development by hosting training workshops that help attendees acquire the polish and skillset of knowledgeable world-class executives.
Yawa holds a Masters degree in Gender, Peace & Security from the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center; an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Ashesi, Honors in Entrepreneurship and New Product Development from the American University of Rome, Italy, and a Certificate in Radio and Television Presentation from the Ghana Institute of Journalism.
In 2005 Yawa became the first woman in Ashesi’s history to be elected as a student government head, when she became President of Ashesi’s Student Council. In 2007, Yawa was also inducted into the British Council's Pan-African Network of Emerging Leaders. In addition to being a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Shapers Community, Yawa serves on the Global Shapers Foundation Board as well as the Advisory Board of the Women's Institute for Global Leadership at Benedictine University, USA.