Learn how The Steve Biko Foundation will benefit from The Sun International CEO SleepOut™
Obenewa Amponsah is the Washington, DC-born staunch Pan Africanist that leads The Steve Biko Foundation. Learn more about the great work of this foundation that is also a beneficiary of this year's The Sun International CEO SleepOut™.
CEO of The Steve Biko Foundation (SBF), Obenewa Amponsah is not only leading a beneficiary organisation, but guess what: the beneficiaries are also participating in The Sun International CEO SleepOut™ too!
She speaks on expectations and the aims of the SBF: “I am terribly excited and very ready to be freezing cold! *laughs* The Steve Biko Foundation is a community development organisation that’s really inspired by the legacy of Steve Biko. We focus on what I call ‘The Three C’s”: the first one is Consciousness - who am I? The second is Community - what is my place in the world? And the third is Core Skills - helping individuals in communities develop the skills and abilities to make their ideas a reality. We do that through programs in the area of arts and culture, education, sports, as well as economic justice and public dialogue.”
How will the SBF be using the funds? Obenewa unpacks their plans: “The funds that we get from The CEO SleepOut™ will be utilised for our skills and training programs as well as our tertiary programs. You know that The CEO SleepOut™ focuses a lot on the issue of homelessness and one of the drivers of homelessness or lack of an adequate accommodation - people who live in informal settlements - is really unemployment. And so we’re saying ‘how do we help people develop skills, really, so that they are able to get jobs or better yet - even be job creators, by creating their own businesses?”
Of Ghanaian descent, Obenewa was born and raised in the Washington DC area. Prior to joining the SBF in 2006, Obenewa obtained expansive work experience in governance and development. This includes her position as a Senior Consultant with GoodWorks International, a business development and government relations firm; as well as her tenure as the Administrator for the African Presidential Archives & Research Centre, an entity dedicated to chronicling democratic transitions in Africa and the leadership of African Heads of State.
Obenewa has volunteered for a number of non-profit institutions and is currently a director of Milani Enterprises, a female-led investment group; and the founder and convener of iLifa Women’s Group, an intergenerational dialogue program.
She graduated with Honors for both her undergraduate degree from Boston University (USA)—majoring in International Relations and minoring in History; and her Masters degree in International Relations from the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa).
Obenewa has called on the CEO of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Sello Hatang to rise up to the #4Leaders4Change challenge.