Omenaa Mensah (born 26 July 1979 in Jelenia Góra) is a Polish
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
,
presenter
A presenter is a person or organization responsible for the running of a public event, or someone who conveys information on media via a broadcasting outlet. Presenter may refer to:
People
* News presenter, person who presents news during a new ...
Swarzędz
Swarzędz (German: ''Schwersenz'') is a town in west-central Poland with 29,766 inhabitants. It is the seat of a mixed urban-rural commune called Gmina Swarzędz with 40,166 inhabitants. The town is situated in the Poznań metropolitan area, in ...
and the Economic and Social High School in
Poznań
Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...
. For five years, she played basketball and belonged to the Union of Swarzędz. She studied "Management and Marketing” at the University of Management and Banking in Poznań. In 2001-2004, she studied
international relations
International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...
(specialization: “European Studies”) at the Poznań University of Economics, where in 2005, she defended her master's thesis. She is a PhD student at the SGH Warsaw School of Economics with an economic and social profile. Her scientific interests concern
sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
.
Career highlights
During her studies, she founded the Omi Hair company, which is engaged in offering the public African hairstyles. She also earned her money as a model, working both in Poland and in Europe.
In 2003, she started working at
TVN 7
TVN7 is a Polish television channel specialising in action, drama and comedy shows and movies. Owned by TVN Group, the channel was launched in March 2002, replacing RTL7. It was relaunched on 1 September 2008 as TVN7. On 1st September 2014 the ...
, in which she ran the erotic interactive program ''Red Light''''.'' Since 2003, she has been a weather presenter in the
TVN Group
TVN Group (''TVN S.A.'') is a Polish media and entertainment group established in 1995 as ''TVN Sp. z o.o''. The CEO of TVN Group is Katarzyna "Kasia" Kieli, president and managing director of TVN Warner Bros. Discovery.
Its TV channel, TVN, i ...
; she also runs programs on its channels on the topics of travel, sports, culinary and lifestyle. In 2008, together with her daughter Vanessa, she ran the TVN Style: ''Kitchen cooking program - open 24 hours a day''. In 2014–2016, she ran the Domo+: ''Star Houses'' program, in which she visited Polish media personalities in their apartments and homes. In 2019, she ran the program ''Domo''+ ''Luxury Houses with Omena''. In 2020, she was involved in the production of the original program ''Exceptional Houses,'' which was broadcast on the
TVN Style
TVN Style is a Polish-language channel aimed at women featuring the latest in fashion, health and beauty. It was first launched on August 1, 2004 and a part of the TVN network, owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.
Line-up
* ''Miasto kobiet'' (''City ...
and TVN channels.
In 2007, in conjunction with Rafał Maserak, she participated in the fifth edition of the entertainment program: ''
Dancing with the Stars
''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...
.'' In autumn 2017, she was the captain of the winning team in the final of the third edition of TVN’s ''Mali Giganci''.
In 2012, she launched "Ammadora”, a custom-made art-inspired furniture company. In 2018, she launched the "Occhiello" brand, specializing in tailor-made men's suits, and in 2020, she expanded to include the “Amante” brand. She is also a partner, among others, in: "RiO Asi", "Omi Productions", "Omiimage", "InHome Real Estate", "O&R Holding", "ubramypracowników.pl", and "FoodWell".
Philanthropic activities
In May 2014, she founded the "Omenaa Foundation", of which she is the President. In April 2017, at the initiative of the Foundation, the construction of a school for Ghanaian children, in Tema, Ghana, began. Funds for this investment, as well as for other charitable activities of the foundation, are collected using tailor-made CSR projects and a number of projects with the involvement of Polish stars. She was also involved in the development of the education of Polish children from children's homes, organizing an action aimed at transferring the computer equipment necessary for remote learning for the occupants of children's homes during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. As part of the foundation, she also works to promote tolerance, acceptance and respect for other people. She is the initiator and producer of the charity performance: ''Czarno to widzę, czyli wymieszani, posortowani dds are not good, i.e. mixed, sorted', whose premiere took place in January 2020. In 2022, she became the vice-president of the "Rafał Brzoska Foundation", the goal of which is to provide financial and mentoring support for young talented people from poor rural areas.
In 2022, together with
Rafał Brzoska
Rafał Brzoska (born 13 November 1977) is a Polish entrepreneur, investor, economist and philanthropist. He is the founder and CEO of InPost S.A.
Life and career
Brzoska attended Jan Kasprowicz High School in Racibórz, Poland and later the K ...
, they organized "Convoys of Polish Hearts", the largest private transports of humanitarian aid for the civilian population in war-torn Ukraine. In April 2022, an ambulance and several trucks with basic necessities were sent to the hospital in Rivne, and at the end of the month, 34 train car wagons filled with, among other items, food, medicines and hygiene products, went to
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine. Amma Omenaa Mensah became its vice president.
For her charity work in 2020, she was awarded the Honorary Plebiscite Award "Charity Stars", and also took second place in the "Business Woman 2020 – Social Activities" category in the "100 Women in Business” plebiscite organized by '' Puls Biznesu''. For her charity work, she was also awarded the "Superstar of the Galaxy" in 2021.
Personal life
She is the daughter of a Polish mother (Izabella) and a Ghanaian father (Opoku). Her mother completed her studies in the field of "Environmental protection" at the Wrocław University of Technology, and her father is a
cardiothoracic
Cardiothoracic surgery is the field of medicine involved in surgical treatment of organs inside the thoracic cavity — generally treatment of conditions of the heart (heart disease), lungs (lung disease), and other pleural or mediastinal struct ...
surgeon who has worked actively in Poland and around the world. She has two children, her daughter: Vanessa (b. 2002) of her first relationship, and her son: Vincent (b. 2017), whose father is
Rafał Brzoska
Rafał Brzoska (born 13 November 1977) is a Polish entrepreneur, investor, economist and philanthropist. He is the founder and CEO of InPost S.A.
Life and career
Brzoska attended Jan Kasprowicz High School in Racibórz, Poland and later the K ...
. The couple's wedding took place in 2019.
She is fond of art, design and architecture, in particular, sculpture and spatial figures. In an interview for Well.pl in 2021, she revealed that she is running a large international project related to architecture, art and design.
In an interview conducted in 2021 for Onet.pl, she revealed that she is an
atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...