This is a presentation I gave on the creation of Ashesi University in Ghana, founded by Patrick Awuah, where I have served on the Ashesi Board foundation for 10+ years. I borrowed the content heavily from Patrick and a talk he gave at Northwestern in the Fall of 2014. I gave the presentation to 25 or so Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) fellows who were at Northwestern University in July 2014. YALI is an initiative of USAID. The scholars were amazing individuals from across africa.

1. Ethical Leadership
Innovative Thinking
A New Africa
The Ashesi Story

2. Founder: Patrick Awuah
Background
• Born and raised near
Accra, Ghana
• Engineering at
Swarthmore
• 7+ Years at Microsoft
working on networking
technologies
• Left Microsoft to attend
UC Haas MBA program
• …and to build a business
plan

3. What Patrick Saw
A skills gap
• Technical skills in many
fields
• The need to think
critically & creatively
• Leadership
• Ethics
In a country where <5% go
to college. College
Graduates lead the
country

4. • Great teams
• Innovation
What Africa Needs

5. Ashesi’s mission
To educate a new
generation of ethical,
entrepreneurial leaders
in Africa.

6. Ashesi’s Business Plan:
Customers
• Identified a gap in the market between
families who sent students abroad and
free local universities
• Started with market research with parents
—would they pay?
• Talked to employers. Would they hire
graduates?

7. Ashesi’s Plan: Value
Proposition
• Liberal Arts Core:
– Critical Thinking
– Ethical Society
• Practical Majors:
– Business
– Computer Science
• Projects and Community Service
• Career Services
• Dedicated Faculty

8. Ashesi’s Plan: Business Model
• Initially: Raise money from US Donors for
initial capital, build campus for 1200 or so
students, begin classes. Move to
sustainability from operations & tuition in 5
years
• Pivot: .com bust in US curtailed
philanthropy from initial target.
Curriculum gained accreditation; started
classes in 2002 in rented buildings

9. To cultivate within our students
the critical thinking skills,
the concern for others, and the
courage it will take to transform
their continent.

10. Ashesi’s learning goals
1. Ethics and civic engagement
2. Critical thinking and quantitative reasoning
3. Communication
4. Leadership and teamwork
5. Innovation and action
6. Curiosity and skill
7. Technological competence

11. How we do what we do

12. The Ashesi Way
• Consistently striving for
deeper expertise
• Asking questions that
broaden the conversation
• Embracing fresh thinking
• Connecting with others in
our chosen fields
• Proactively sharing skills
and knowledge with
others
Scholarship Leadership Citizenship
• Helping colleagues be
more successful
• Engaging talents,
experiences and
capabilities of others
• Communicating
effectively
• Taking initiative and going
beyond the call of duty
• Setting ambitious, yet
attainable goals
• Being socially and
environmentally
conscious
• Recognizing long-term
implications of decisions
and actions
• Having fun
• Being ethical
• Leaving a lasting impact
on individuals,
organizations and
communities

13. Graduates are
touching millions of lives

14. Graduates are adding value to
Ghana’s economy

20. We have come a long way!
600 students  530 alumni 
excellent track record  a beautiful campus
national and global recognition

21. LONG ROAD TO SUSTAINABILITY

22. Deficit financed for 7 years
Approximately $2 million in losses supported by donors
since 2002. Not including losses incurred from 1999
(500,000)
(400,000)
(300,000)
(200,000)
(100,000)
-
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
Initial Plan vs. Current Path
1stBusiness Plan CurrentPath

23. Ashesi Economic Model
US Ashesi Foundation
Ashesi University College, Ghana
Individual
Donations
Foundations
Grants for
Capital Projects
Scholarships
Tuition
Financial
Aid
Local
Donations

24. Decision Checklist
• Mission
• Strategy
• Economic model

25. Ashesi’s second decade:
People, programs, spaces

26. pan-African | International | Gender Balance
Brain Gain Fund | Scholarships | Collaborations |

27. Engineering at Ashesi
• Electrical Engineering
• Computer Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
Core Strengths
• Design
• Entrepreneurship
• Real world experience
via monitored internships
Educate tinkerers who can create engineering solutions
for local needs

28. Economics and Management
• Quantitative analysis
• Pipeline to top PhD programs in the world
• Pipeline to Corporate Africa
Law and Society
• Public sector leaders
• Civic society leaders

29. Campus
Master Plan
One hundred verdant acres
with stunning views of
Berekuso, Accra and Tema
Courtyard spaces that
emphasize a sense of
community.
A landscape of trees,
benches and stairs that link
courtyards and create
places for pausing, meeting
and gathering.
Architecture derived from
the Ghanaian vernacular

31. Engineering at Ashesi

33. Academics at Ashesi
• Computer Science
• Business Administration
• Management Information Systems
Liberal Arts Core: social sciences,
humanities, mathematics, African studies
and leadership