CONVERSATIONS EPISODE 1: PART 1
With Elizabeth Patterson, Founder of Girls Education Initiative of Ghana (GEIG)
In this conversation, I virtually sat down with Elizabeth Patterson, the Founder of Girls Education Initiative of Ghana. Posing to her questions around community development and engagement, Elizabeth shared her candid perspective and experiences on them, drawing from her decade’s experience within the nonprofit sector. From the importance of funding to the importance of education for girls and inclusion of those with disabilities to how culture, race and hierarchy play a role, this nuanced conversation provided powerful insights that are beneficial for both the nonprofit and philanthropic space at large. You can find more details about her work in the bio below. Much like the aim of this series, we hope this meaningful conversation adds to the existing catalog of what it means to do community work that truly makes a difference. We also hope that it’ll drive change within donor communities and enable them to understand the importance of funding and extending resources to those who often don’t get access to the needed resources to fulfill the mission and vision of their work.
To learn more about Girls Education Initiative of Ghana, visit them here: GEIG.
Thanks for staying tuned.
Ophelia Akanjo (OA): The first question I have is if you can share what brought you to community building work and what exactly you do within the space.
Elizabeth Patterson (EP): okay, I would say that I'm a public servant and a nonprofit leader and just now transitioning to become a consultant, but in terms of community building, I would speak and highlight the work that I've been doing with my organization, the Girls Education Initiative of Ghana (GEIG). I'm a public servant. That's what I said. I love to give up myself and my resources to make sure that the next person is able to advance themselves, especially through education. And, because of my own personal background, I do some disability advocacy as well, also through my organization. I advocate for inclusion of students to access education here in Ghana and in the US.
OA: Oh, that's wonderful. And can you speak a little to that background and what led you to including those with disability?
EP: So, about 20 years ago, I was in a car accident, unfortunately. And then that somehow, got me to be in, well, I don't want to say identifying as a disabled person, but it added a new layer to my identity as a person with a disability or limitation. So, the accident left me with a traumatic brain injury and some cognitive issues that affected my education. I went through the remainder of my high school in the hospital. The accident was when I was in my junior year, so I finished the second half of my junior year of high school and senior year from the hospital with one-on-one tutoring, having to learn how to talk and do everything again. And then like even think, I had a lot of cognitive work, I mean rehab, that was able to be done for me. So, all this, and then when I went to college and grad school, I found myself needing extra support, like extended deadlines for my tests, my exams, my papers. And so, I now fully appreciated and understood the plight of somebody with a learning limitation or a learning disability. When I decided to found the organization, I was in grad school. I came to Ghana for a bit and was teaching in a school which is where I decided. I'm sure [being a Ghanaian] you understand, like when a kid is struggling in school, they would say something like, w’abכn [not smart]. But not that; maybe there might be something deeper as to why a student or a person is not grasping something academically or intellectually. So, I found that in some of my students that I was working with, and all of this made me want to professionally work on behalf of students and girls to advocate for this so they could also have access to quality education.
OA: Thank you for sharing that journey. Oh my gosh, I can't imagine what that must have meant for you and your community and your family. And so after coming to teach in Ghana is it when you decided to stay and continue doing work?
EP: My accident was in 2004 and I came to Ghana in 2006, a few years after the accident. Just basically to try some else--alternative treatments because we did the western route for some time, so we wanted to see what our local, local, meaning Ghanaian medicines and I don't want to say healing, but yeah. But that also pushed my recovery a little bit. So, I stayed for nearly a year or a little bit over a year and then I returned to the states to finish undergrad and then proceeded to [teach] for about a year and a half in middle schools in New York City. Then I realized, (you're a New Yorker, so, you know what I mean) like it's not for me. So, I decided to move back to Ghana. Well, I went to grad school first and then did my master's in public policy and nonprofit [then I realized that] nonprofit policy and management is what I should probably be doing with my life's work. So, once I graduated in May 2014 from NYU, I found myself in Ghana in June 2014 and we started doing our work by July.
OA: You talked a little about the communities that you participate in and identify with, but if you can expound on that a little. How would you define community and what communities do you participate in, whether it be in Ghana, in the US or in the global sphere?
EP: So, community could be anything as your family, like your mom, your dad, your siblings, if you have just the folks in your home as a community, and then if you want to expand to your village, your neighborhood, whatever it is, your district, your state. That's your community. But a community is just like basically your group of people who can support you [and serve as] points of contact and resources for you in anything that you need or you're trying to do. And I belong to, I guess if you ask me to define myself, I am a woman, I'm an African, an American, I'm an African and American, I'm an African American. There's like differentiation. Right? African by birth, American by citizenship. Yeah, so I'm African and American. African American. When I'm in the states, I'm African American. I'm [also] a person with a limitation. I'm a mother, I am a sister, a daughter. I am all these things. And I'm Ashanti, I'm a Ghanaian.
OA: Wonderful. So many layers, right? And oh, I didn't know that you were a mother. That's wonderful. I would love to hear about that experience. I'm not a mother myself.
EP: I have two kids. My son is four and my daughter's two. They just arrived home from school.
OA: That's lovely. Were they born in Ghana?
EP: No, they were not. I moved to the States to give birth to them. Just a caveat, I didn't have any issue giving birth to them in Ghana, but my daughter was a pandemic baby, I guess you can say, and it was one of the biggest fears for me as a person with a limitation. So, my daughter was born in September 2020, just in the heat of the pandemic. I remember when I was going back and forth for my doctor's visits. With my son, I had a natural delivery, both were natural deliveries. Nothing whatsoever was wrong, no complications, but culturally, I don't know if you know Ghanaian culture but culturally, they looked at me as a woman who had a disability. Right away the doctor who was caring for me during my pregnancy was talking to me about doing a C-section and I said no, I have had one child and I delivered naturally. No issues, so I don't see why I need to have a C-section or do anything. So just like culturally and our society, it's one of the most jarring things for me as a woman with a limitation or a disability. They were born in the States because for me I know if there were any complications, that would be it. There would likely be more support for me in the US.
OA: I totally hear you. Growing up in Ghana, I noticed that a lot to the point where some disabilities or limitations as you say, are not even acknowledged. And I think it's very interesting. And with Ghana being such a religious state, there's also the tendency to try to pray everything away. And I think that's also an interesting lens. No judgment, but it's definitely interesting to take in. And were you, remind me again, born in Ghana or in the United States?
EP: I was born in Ghana and left when I was 10 years old. And I've been back, I guess full-time now. Next year will be 10 years. But I go back and forth because I'm still American.
OA: That's amazing. Following question is do you believe in measuring impact when it comes to nonprofit work? If so, how do you measure impact?
EP: Of course, I do. Of course. What's that Saying? What gets measured works, right? Everything that we do, whether it's quantitative or qualitative, we want to have it assessed or analyzed and measured, like our students’ academic performance. We need that to be quantified so we know that when we took this student in class six or sixth grade, by the time they're done with eighth grade or middle school, they've gone from maybe being a B student to an A student. And that's like the narrative that we could push out to a funder or like somebody, or even to get more parents to believe that this organization can transform their child's education. So, we measure everything qualitatively. You want to know how somebody felt after being part of whatever program. We do workshops three times an academic year. We bring young women who have a compelling story to share with our girls and others from the community. And so, you want to be able to quantify, like let's say if after meeting with this woman, my confidence has increased but there's no way to measure confidence boost. Right. But after meeting Ophelia (for instance), like now I feel like as a little boy and girl, I could also see myself reaching out, like accessing higher education because of Ophelia's story. Now I have faith that yeah, no matter what the odds are, I could also go to school and, and make something of myself. We like those testimonials. We want to see that. From our students and those we work with.
OA: That's great. And I asked that question because I'm curious about whether the pressure of having to sort of document results and to be really results-driven impacts the way that you do your work. Do you feel like it does?
EP: I mean, I think one of the best advice that one of my mentors gave me when I moved to Ghana to start the organization was to treat it as a business. Yes, it's a passion project, but treat it as though it's a business. And what gets measured is what people are going to keep funding and people are going to like investing in. So, if our funders, (just as a little background), in the almost 10 years that we've been around, we've only had two grants. And that's I mean, two more than maybe some other organizations may have had, but [for the most part, the organization] has really been sustained by individuals who keep getting reports of students, like reports, like testimonials from students. I got a message this morning from a girl who participated in one of our computer literacy sessions. Just randomly, she sends me a message saying because of GEIG's impact , [she is] now taking classes at Co-train Academy. So, she's now coding, and she was saying she thanks me and the organization for believing in and investing in her. So, it is something that I could tell somebody, a potential funder, right? And hearing something like this of course, if you have like $10, you would most likely want to invest that $10 into another student like her.
OA: That's great. And I would love to hear how it feels like treating it like a business as opposed to when you initially went in there with that passion, you know, that drive to make change.
EP: I think in my team, I'm still the one that if I hear a soft story from somebody, regardless of who they are, what their background is, I always say, okay, we can probably help you. But, with the business side, now I have to put that hat on every now and then. It's not every story that we need to throw money at. So now we have to have a cutoff. The participating students have to maintain at least a B grade point average every semester or trimester. Like a cumulative GPA at the end of the academic year of. 3.0 or higher. So, we pay attention to that. If you fall below that and if there's no real issue, there's no real reason why your grades are slipping then I figure out how, why, or you'll be on probation until your grades are improved. Because whoever is like investing in you and the organization, their money could be spent on something else. You know? So, if you don't give us the numbers, the grades, whatever you have, there's a likelihood that we'll probably have to let you go. Because I think our students now know that it's a competitive environment. And there's many other students out there who could use the support, especially financially.
OA: Thank you for expanding on that. My next question is, do you find that there are hierarchies within the nonprofit and philanthropic space? And if yes. In what ways? And do you think you participate in this hierarchical order, and if so, in what ways?
EP: So as with everything, and especially being in Ghana, it’s “who you know”. Like my organization, GEIG, is doing similar, if not the same work as, let's say Camfed or another organization that's doing girls education work or youth development. But because we are small, our team is very, very small, my full-time staff are about three people. Right? Very small. And that's this year we just expanded and scaled up to three or four people, full-time staff. But it has been me and one other person as the true full-timers for almost 10 years. And the support of volunteers. We'll go in for the same pitch. We have the numbers, we have whatever it is that we need to use to back the data, qualitative, quantitative data to back our impact. But if you put us against, let's say a Camfed, I would say that it's more likely that Camfed will get those funding opportunities because yes, we are doing similar work, but they're more known. And there's more of a backing behind an institution like that. So, there's the hierarchy and that's just one example. Because you're lesser known or whatever it is, you'll get overlooked and then somebody else doing the same work, but probably not as impactful is getting the success and the accolades. You also asked if I participate in this hierarchy. I would say me as someone who, I'm not going to say that I'm like this big celebrity or anything, but there's a bit of traction around me and the work that I've been doing, so maybe there's like somebody who's starting out doing something similar to what we're doing and maybe they're being overlooked because like, oh, Elizabeth has GEIG, and we'd rather get Elizabeth to be the speaker than somebody else who's just starting out. Maybe in that regard but I cannot think of a specific example where somebody has said that, oh, I went in for an opportunity, but then GEIG got it. I don't know if that exists, but I'm sure it's a “who, you know”. I'm probably someone who knows somebody else that somebody just starting out doesn't have access to certain people. So maybe there are certain opportunities that I would be more privy to than somebody else who's just started. So, in that regard, I would say maybe I participate in that hierarchy. But I cannot speak to the truth of it.
OA: And do you find that, I guess this is another layer in terms of identity, do you find that your American background sort of plays a role in how people perceive you and believe you or don't believe you?
EP: So, when I first came to Ghana, I speak fluent Twi, but I still speak it with somewhat of an accent, people were not believing me that I'm Ghanaian. So, I think initially I had to authenticate myself and constantly remind people that I'm Ghanaian, I'm Ghanaian, I'm Ghanaian. I either speak Twi or mention my middle name, all of that for people to believe me. But on the American side I think the benefit when it comes to the organization has been the fact that I have one foot in the US and then another foot in Ghana. The majority of our supporters are my network in the US. It's a handful of people who support the organization to sustain it. But of those people, I'm trying to think in my head how many over the years, maybe a handful, like five people have supported financially or in kind. The in-kind support, say we get locally, but financial support in terms of donations, it's mainly because I have that point of reference with the US.
OP: If you don't mind me digging just a little deeper, what do you feel is the reason why Ghanaians don't support (financially) the philanthropic space?
EP: I always tell this story. I remember when we came to Ghana, and I came in 2013 to do the registration [of GEIG]. I graduated with my master's, moved here with the intention of actually doing this work, and in the Ghanaian fashion in everything you need to “officially launch” and let people know about us. While I was going around inviting folks to come to the launch, I remember this person whom I gave an invitation card to. He looked at it and he said to me, what is this about? So, I explained the organization and what we do. Like we support girls and people with disabilities with financial scholarships to go to school. And I remember he said to me, do you want me to give you money to support children that I don't know so they could go to school? And I was like, yes, that's exactly what I'm asking you. He then said to me, I have nieces and nephews who also need the help. So, I would rather give to my nieces and nephews or my extended family. So culturally, everybody has nieces and nephews or cousins or kids that they would rather give their money and resources to rather than some “stranger's” child. So that's why long story short, I think culturally, we don't really give to others. We're not really into building our communities in that way.
About Elizabeth Patterson:
Elizabeth Akua-Nyarko Patterson is the Founder and Executive Director of the Girls Education Initiative of Ghana, GEIG. GEIG's mission is to provide academic and financial support for girls including applicants with special needs, so they may access secondary, higher education, and professional opportunities.
Ms. Patterson holds an MPA, master’s in public administration from NYU Wagner School of Public Service where she specialized in non- profit management. She has a bachelor’s from Caldwell University where she majored in Political Science and Business management.
Prior to her work with GEIG Ms. Patterson served as the Director of Communications and Marketing for The Council of Young African Leaders, CYAL and communications and marketing associate at Junior Achievement of New York, JA- New York.
Ms. Patterson is the 2014 ReconnectGH-Education Entrepreneur, presented in 2015 at Tedex Accra, was a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community- Kumasi Hub from 2014-2015, and the 2015 Vlisco Brand Ambassador for Ghana. Ms. Patterson is an alumnus of the Young African Leadership Initiative- Regional Leadership Center- Accra, and the 2017 humanitarian of the year as recognized by the Ecclesiastical Bishops and Leaders Conference of Africa. She is an Acumen 2022 West Africa fellow.
