The African Leadership Academy is proud to announce the launch of the Andrew Arkutu Fellowship, which is funded generously by the families of Drs. Edo Bedzra and Jo Ling Goh. This Fellowship will support an ALA student from Ghana by contributing to their school fees in honor of Dr. Andrew Arkutu. The fellowship committee has selected Maame Yaa Osei -Owusu ’21 as the Inaugural Andrew Arkutu Fellow, as she has embodied exemplary leadership and passion for her community.
Each year, ALA identifies exceptional young leaders from across Africa who have demonstrated leadership potential and develop their skills, mindset, and networks to contribute to our mission of enabling lasting peace and prosperity in Africa. Our mission would be impossible to achieve without the generous support of our friends and partners. This Fellowship is another example of the strong partnerships we have been able to forge over the years with friends who share our mission.
“Our vision with the Andrew Arkutu Fellowship is simple; to grow a cross-generational community of socially oriented, like-minded individuals who are connected by a shared belief in the advancement of their successors and country. We are excited to begin with a yearly commitment of $5,000 towards the education of a Ghanaian student at the ALA along with a lifetime of professional mentorship, a good upon which we look to build a perfect legacy,” said Dr. Bedzra.
Dr. Bedzra is a congenital cardiac surgeon at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, USA, and graduated from the joint Harvard Medical School and Harvard Business School MD, MBA program before completing training in Adult and Pediatric Cardiothoracic surgery. He credits Dr. Arkutu with providing the critical financial support necessary to fly from Accra, Ghana, to the United States to begin his post-secondary education at Oberlin College. Dr. Arkutu declined public appreciation, simply saying, “Somebody helped me when I needed it. When it’s your turn, pass it on”. We’re excited that Dr. Bedzra has chosen to pay it forward by supporting Ghanaian students attending ALA.
Dr. Arkutu’s heart for Ghana and Africa powerfully aligns with ALA’s mission. Having trained as an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Dr. Arkutu spent his career advocating for and improving sexual and reproductive health on the continent through academic appointments, non-profit board oversight, and work with the United Nations Population Fund. Thus, it was no surprise that he selected the ALA, of the options we presented, for the establishment of a fellowship in his honor. The ALA’s mission of transforming Africa by developing future leaders to create lasting peace and shared prosperity, its programs enabling extramural experiences on the continent, and its demonstrated results of the overwhelming majority of graduates returning to the continent after studying abroad align perfectly with the vision of the Andrew Arkutu Fellowship.
