Team - Hope Education Project

The hope education project team

Mariama Adam - Projects Manager

Mariama Adam is an accomplished Ghanaian project officer, who has made remarkable strides in the educational sector through the lens of community development and empowerment. Her passion lies in creating a meaningful difference in the lives of youth and women, leveraging her skills in project management to spearhead various high-impact initiatives. Mariama is a dynamic multilingual communicator, fluent in English, Dagbani, and Twi, allowing her to foster deep connections within diverse communities. A dedicated bookworm, an adventurer at heart, and a driven development enthusiast, Mariama brings a unique blend of personal interests that further enrich her work and relationships.

Her role at Theatre for Social Change, where she served as a Project Officer, stands out as a testament to her impressive leadership skills. Mariama’s expertise extended to community identification and selection, training field facilitators, and designing project monitoring and evaluation indicators. Her innate ability to build robust relationships with key partners underscores her commitment to collaboration and shared success. At Camfed Ghana, Mariama took on the responsibilities of a Project Coordinator, managing teams, training educators, and maintaining a strong administrative backbone to ensure project success. This tenure allowed her to further grow as a leader, emphasizing the importance of structure and diligence in project implementation.

Mariama’s capacity to lead was further demonstrated in her role as Executive Director at Child Liberty Foundation, Savelugu. Here, she pioneered project designs using CLF standards, supervised project teams, and contributed to the development of monitoring indicators for evaluation teams. Beyond her primary roles, Mariama has been an active contributor to boards and organizations like the Ghana SRHR Alliance-Youth Advisory Board and Dance4Life Netherlands. With a Bachelor’s degree in Education from the International Open University, Gambia, Mariama is not only an accomplished professional but also a committed lifelong learner. Her blend of experiences, education, and personal interests paints a picture of a deeply engaged expert, passionate about driving positive change in her community.

OUR ADVISORY PANEL

Sara Pownall

With nearly three decades of experience in migration and a keen focus on human trafficking, my career has been significantly shaped by my engagements, particularly over the last 20 years in Africa. My initial role with the UK government, aimed at disrupting illegal travel using forged documents, brought me face-to-face with the early challenges of human trafficking at Kotoka International Airport in Accra. This experience, at a time when human trafficking was not as globally recognized as it is today, underscored the complexity of the issue. Living in West Africa has not only deepened my understanding of the drivers behind migration but has also highlighted the critical shortage of reliable information for those considering migration, despite the known risks of labor exploitation and human trafficking.

Since transitioning from the UK government, my work with the United Nations, specifically with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), has broadened my perspective on migration and human trafficking. In these roles, I have focused on advising on project content, implementation, and the comprehensive monitoring and evaluation of initiatives aimed at addressing human trafficking. This experience has equipped me with a holistic understanding of the migration landscape, enabling me to effectively communicate the complexities of human trafficking and migration to potential migrants and external stakeholders, fostering impactful collaborations and driving significant outcomes in the global fight against human trafficking.

Dr Thomas Yeboah

Dr. Thomas Yeboah is an esteemed Research Fellow and Lecturer at the Bureau of Integrated Rural Development (BIRD) at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. With a PhD in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge, UK, Dr. Yeboah brings nearly a decade of experience focusing on the dynamics of household, gender, and generational relations within rural development and migration. His research critically examines the complex socio-cultural aspects of children’s labor and the nuanced differences between benign and exploitative forms of work. Dr. Yeboah’s insightful studies into children and youth’s labor migration are pivotal in understanding their roles in both rural and urban economies, particularly their decisions, journey experiences, and the social and spatial mobilities they navigate.

Before his current role at BIRD, Dr. Yeboah contributed significantly as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Trust, Peace, and Social Relations at Coventry University, UK. There, he was integral to the EPSRC-funded Humanitarian Engineering and Energy for Displacement (HEED) project, which collaborated with engineers and social scientists to enhance community resilience among Congolese refugees in Rwanda and internally displaced persons in Nepal. His robust expertise in qualitative and quantitative research methods has made him a sought-after consultant for various development-oriented organizations. Recently, Dr. Yeboah has led research on the ECOWAS free movement protocol, exploring the diverse experiences of migrants in Ghana, and investigated the engagement of youth in commercialized rural economies across Africa, emphasizing the importance of effective interventions to foster rural youth employment.

Dr. Yeboah recently collaborated with researchers from the University of Ghana to undertake a research project focusing on trafficking in persons into, within and out of Ghana, investing the causal factors, incidence and nature of trafficking as well as the impact of covid-19 on trafficking in persons.

Ophelia Allotey

Ophelia is a dedicated advocate for gender and menstrual equity, as well as sexual and reproductive health (SRH). Her career has been focused on improving access to menstrual products and reproductive health education, especially for marginalized and hard-to-reach communities.

She provides free community paralegal services to girls and women facing gender-based violence, helping them access justice while preserving trusted relationships and family values. Her services include assistance with medical care, psychosocial support, and legal aid as needed.

Ophelia has distributed over 500 menstrual products and reached more than 1,000 young people with comprehensive SRHR information. She is also a strong advocate for policy changes, such as removing taxes on sanitary pads and including menstrual products in universal healthcare coverage. Her efforts have been recognized by various media outlets.

Through her relentless work, Ophelia challenges the stigma surrounding menstruation and empowers young people to take control of their sexual and reproductive health. She is a true champion for menstrual justice and gender equity.

Ophelia holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from the African University College of Communications and has completed programs in advocacy, media relations, and gender studies.

She is inspired by the quote from Steve Maraboli, “The empowered woman is powerful beyond measure and beautiful beyond description.