Ato Ulzen-Appiah (born 31 December 1983 in

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

) is a

social entrepreneur Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to a wide range of o ...

consultant A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

blogger A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order s ...

and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

of the GhanaThink Foundation who was named African Male Youth of the Year 2018. He is a co-founder o
Barcamp Ghana
and Junior Camp Ghana which champions the youth to take up volunteer roles in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. He is an ardent social media user and mentors a lot of the youth.

Early life and education

Ulzen-Appiah hails from

Elmina Elmina, also known as Edina by the local Fante people, Fante, is a town and the capital of the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem Municipal District, Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem District on the south coast of Ghana in the Central Region, Ghana, Centra ...

but grew up in

Kumasi Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is the ...

, Ghana. He started his basic education at

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) is a public University of Ghana that focuses on science and technology. The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology is the public university established in the country, as well a ...

Primary School in

. He then proceeded to the

Presbyterian Boys' Senior High School , country = Ghana , region = Greater-Accra , location = Legon , coordinates = , type = Public high school , religious_affiliation = Presbyterian Church ...

(PRESEC) for his secondary education. He later went to the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

(MIT) for his bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering and master's degree in Construction and Engineering Management from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

Career

Ulzen-Appiah is currently the director of the GhanaThink Foundation which mobilises and organises talent for the primary benefit of Ghana. He started his professional career at

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

as a program manager building sustainable tech communities in Africa, overseeing scores of tech events around the continent. He then joined Rancard as product manager building new revenue services off its platform, in charge of payments and content hosting. He co-founded Museke.com an African music website, with a focus on lyrics. He is a member Global Shapers Alumni of the World Economic Forum Accra hub. He has been on a lot of panels discussing the future of Africa and the new digital age using

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

. He was a judge on the Seedstars Accra startup challenge. Ulzen-Appiah works as a program manager at the Kosmos innovation center. In his role, he assists agribusiness startups to launch their businesses and also offer advisory services in the Kosmos innovation challenge which is a flagship program of the Kosmos innovation center. In 2014, Ulzen-Appiah served as a guest panelist on Digital Media and Entertainment, during the 16th Annual Africa Business Conference at the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

. He shared the panel with Solo Nnanna (A marketing manager for

Viacom International Paramount Global Distribution Group or Paramount Global Content Distribution is the international television distribution arm of American media conglomerate, Paramount Global, originally established in 1962 as the international distribution divis ...

) and Award-winning technologist

Ade Olufeko Ade Abayomi Olufeko . (born 1980), is an American-born designer, technologist, and entrepreneur primarily active in Lagos. His international work in humanities has been leveraged by Consortiums, NGOs, and high-impact leaders. He is the founder ...

. The panel was moderated by

Uzodinma Iweala Uzodinma Iweala (born November 5) is a Nigerian-American author and medical doctor. His debut novel, ''Beasts of No Nation'', is a formation of his thesis work (in creative writing) at Harvard. It depicts a child soldier in an unnamed African ...

the Editor-in-Chief of ''Ventures Africa''

References

External links

mightyafrican.blogspot.com
Living people Ghanaian Christians Ghanaian bloggers 1983 births Presbyterian Boys' Senior High School alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Stanford University School of Engineering alumni People from Elmina {{Ghana-bio-stub