We pause to take a break and Adoley is busy examining her nails. For someone who types so fast, it surprises me that her nails are still so intact. And I must give it to her nail artist, her nails are cute and classy. Unlike her scary lashes. “Joyce, it seems I have heard of this Yawa Hansen-Kwao. Doesn’t she work with women’s groups?” “Exactly Adoley. You are right.” “For over a decade, YAWA HANSEN-QUAO has nurtured youth empowerment, women’s leadership, and social entrepreneurship in Africa. Through the Leading Ladies Network, Yawa has fostered an ecosystem of women and girls who have ambitious goals, strong character, and resolve to serve as impactful leaders in business, civil society, and government. In May 2012, at the World Economic Forum on Africa, Yawa was recognised as one of Africa’s rising leaders, and in 2016, she was awarded an Eisenhower Fellowship in honour of her pioneering work nurturing emerging women leaders. In addition to being a founder, speaker, and author, Yawa served for three years on the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Foundation board and is currently a director at Ashesi University, a leading liberal arts university in Ghana. She previously served as a leadership consultant to UNWomen, helping to develop leadership curricula to enhance the capacity of women leaders in East and Southern Africa. Additionally, Yawa served for two years as a member of the Advisory Board of the Women’s Institute for Global Leadership at Benedictine University.” “Wow. How did you meet her?” “Yawa discovered me while reading Rev. Akua Ofori Boateng’s book “Broken For Use.” In the book, Rev. Akua indicated the shifts that occurred in her life from our coaching sessions. Yawa was going through major transitions in her life and needed to engage a coach. She did some research on me, went on my company Self Search’s website www.selfsearchgh.org, got my phone number, and calledme. That was the beginning of our coaching sessions. Till today, we both believe it was divine intervention. As prayerful as Yawa is, God had to come through in one way or another. Our sessions challenged her meaning, helped her make frames, and broke through her old beliefs that were not serving her well. She learned how to create her own truth statements and behaviours and followed through with actions that aligned with them. In less than six sessions, I was seeing and experiencing a completely transformed Yawa. She began sharing her reflections, acknowledging her gains, and creating destiny pathways that resulted in positive outcomes in both her personal and professional lives. She had become a master at the game of transformation. Coaching had yielded positive results, and we saw the areas we could leverage from each other. Together, we co-created training and coaching programmes for organisations, and we called on each other for professional support when there was a need. Participating in programmes organised by her, one thing was evident: that growth is ongoing and that the willingness to open up greater possibilities for oneself is a choice one must make for themselves.” 40
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTAyMTM3NQ==