On August 23rd, 2010, President Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States and Nobel Prize winner, met with Ashesi Founder, Patrick Awuah; Ashesi Board Member, Todd Warren; and Ashesi Capital Campaign Chair, Ruth Warren, to talk about Ashesi University College and its potential impact in Africa.
President Carter expressed hope for the work that Ashesi is doing, especially our focus on honour and integrity, and preparing the next generation of Africans to aim for greatness in the world. “I like Ashesi’s innovative approach. The college has reached a new level of achievement and excellence, and is well received…a success. Ashesi is an example for the rest of Africa. Ashesi is also filling a vacuum. Like the Carter Center, you are addressing a need that no one else is focused on.”
President Carter hoped that Ashesi’s leadership would find ways to replicate our ideas throughout Africa. In order to achieve this goal, President Carter urged Ashesi to look for partnerships with other institutions and individuals as a means to achieve leverage and scale, and to not be afraid of failure in any potential new partnerships or ventures
Ashesi’s leadership got the opportunity to hear from President Carter about the Carter Center’s approach to “Waging Peace, Fighting Disease and Building Hope”. President Carter has a strong knowledge of Ghana and Africa. The Carter Center helped monitor Ghanaian elections, has advocated for transparency of government information throughout Africa, and has undertaken several health initiatives in Ghana, as well as in other African countries. Thanks to The Carter Center’s singular drive, Ghana and the world are almost free of Guinea Worm, a disease that has plagued many of the world’s poorest people. Also thanks to the center’s work, many conflicts have been avoided, and the march of democracy strengthened across the world.
It was a real honour to meet, to learn from, and to be inspired by such an accomplished and compassionate person as President Jimmy Carter.