TED Community » Yawa Hansen-Quao

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Women + Leadership, Social Entrepreneurship, Mentoring, Philanthropy, Compassionate collaboration in the service of positive social change

An idea worth spreading

What would Africa look like if we were to recruit, equip, mentor, and connect young African women to realize their leadership potential, and leverage them to improve their circumstance and the circumstance of others? African women demonstrate a remarkable ability to improve their own situations – and the situation of others – when given the tools and opportunities to do so. I'm convinced that by nurturing servant leadership and social entrepreneurship among women who are often overlooked by traditional top down and bottom up measures, we can empower them to become the catalysts for positive change in communities across Africa and the world.

Talk to me about

Why women’s empowerment + servant leadership + social entrepreneurship = positive transformation of Africa and the world at large, Why you must visit Ghana

People don't know that I'm good at

Word Games and Speed Reading.

My TED Story

Speaking at TEDGlobal in 2007, Patrick Awuah told the story of an ambitious young woman who made history by becoming the first female president of a college-level student government in Ghana. I am that woman. Today, through the Leading Ladies' Network, I am leveraging my achievements to nurture a new generation of competent and socially conscious female leaders to bring positive transformation to Africa. I want to network with others who, like me, believe that Africa's women hold the key to Africa's future.

Comments

• TEDCred score: +25.60 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• +1

  A reply on Conversation: Can we get "Unconditional Love" from people not related? (other than siblings, parents or wife)

  Feb 28 2012: Verble, thanks for sharing your perspectives, you and I are definitely on the same page!
• +3

  A comment on Conversation: Can we get "Unconditional Love" from people not related? (other than siblings, parents or wife)

  Feb 28 2012: As humans, we are limited in our ability to love others--even those we're related to. To love unconditionally, must be supernaturally strengthened by connecting to the divine. We're able to love unconditionally once we're connected and fully surrounded to the God who so unconditionally loves us.

• A comment on Conversation: Where do you use math in your profession?

  Feb 28 2012: Perhaps the best gift that Mathematics trains the learner to think through problems by breaking them down into simper terms. Also helps your mind to see correlations between seemingly unrelated ideas.
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: Would you rather be an information producer, propagator, or consumer?

  Feb 28 2012: I totally agree with David Bismark's comment. I think in our modern world, we are all producers, propagators and consumers of information. We have very little choice in this matter.

• A reply on Conversation: Would you rather be an information producer, propagator, or consumer?

  Feb 28 2012: My sentiments exactly. Well said!
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: Why do you use your voice in TED conversations?

  Feb 28 2012: These TED conversations help me learn about things outside of my professionial scope of expertise and interest. They also provide insights to what issues are most topical from varying points of views.

• A comment on Conversation: What makes an idea spread? Duration? Quality? Loudness?

  Feb 28 2012: I'm convinced ideas spread quickly because of the perceived quality or relevance to both broadcasters and recipients. I also think that mass media outlets like radio, tv etc have the ability to influence and perhaps even skew our perception of what ideas are the most credible, relevant and impactful.