Yawa Hansen-Quao

For over a decade, Yawa Hansen-Quao has worked to unlock opportunities for women and youth 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 recognized as one of Africa’s Rising Leaders and in 2016 was awarded an Eisenhower Fellowship in honor of her pioneering work nurturing emerging women leaders.

From July 2018 to June 2022, Yawa served as Executive Director for Emerging Public Leaders—an innovative nonprofit committed to driving Africa’s development by creating a new generation of public servants committed to social impact.. During her tenure, Yawa led EPL’s expansion across West and East Africa while catalyzing $16million USD in support of the organization’s pan-African expansion plans.

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 of Ashesi University; a leading liberal arts university in Ghana. She previously served as a leadership consultant to UN Women 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.