Elizabeth Akua Nyarko Patterson
The Founder & Director of GEIG
Born	Elizabeth Akua Nyarko Patterson (1985-01-02) January 2, 1985 (age 39) [1]
Occupation	Social Entrepreneur
Website	girlsedgh.org

Elizabeth Akua Nyarko Patterson (born 1985) is a Ghanaian social entrepreneur and the founder and executive director of the non-profit organization Girls Education Initiative of Ghana (GEIG). ^{[2] [3]}

Early life and education

Patterson was born in 1985 in Kumasi ^[1] in the Ashanti Region, Ghana. Her family moved to America in 1995 and she attended school there. When she was in her final year in high school, she was involved in a motor vehicle accident in which she suffered a traumatic brain injury which affected her cognitive and intellectual abilities, and also left her with a physical disability. ^{[1] [4] [5] [3]} She completed high school while recovering in hospital. ^[1] She holds a BA in Political Science and Business Management from Caldwell College, ^{[1] [5]} and a Masters in Public Administration from the New York University Wagner School of Public Service. ^{[1] [5]}

Career

Patterson worked as a communications and marketing associate at Junior Achievement in New York. ^{[1] [5]} After returning to Ghana in 2006, she was a volunteer teacher at the World Links Academy in Kumasi, ^{[1] [5]} and then director of communication and marketing for the Council of Young African Leaders. ^{[1] [5]} She experienced more difficulty accessing public facilities in Africa than she had in America. She also observed that a student at Kumasi who had learning difficulties was believed to be affected by evil spirits. ^{[1] [5]}

These experiences inspired her to found the Girls Education Initiative of Ghana (GEIG) in 2013, to provide support for disadvantaged girls, particularly those with special needs, to attend school. ^{[1] [4] [6] [7] [8]} GEIG supports girls in the Ashanti and Greater Accra regions, ^[5] and has assisted over thirty girls to attend and complete school from the basic level through to the tertiary level. ^{[9] [10] [11] [12]} Patterson was named Vlisco Ambassador in 2015, ^{[13] [14] [15]} because "despite all that had happened in her life, she has proven that disability is not inability. She has strong values and a big dream of ensuring all girls and women have equal footing in Ghana". ^[16] She has been a TedxAccra speaker. ^{[17] [18] [19]}

References

External links

This social work related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e