Ghana
Emerging Public Leaders of Ghana
Our partner, Emerging Public Leaders in Ghana continues to deliver high quality impactful fellowship - in partnership with Emerging Public Leaders and the Mastercard Foundation - for mission-led young leaders eager to make a difference in their communities and in government. Now in their seventh year, EPL Ghana was the first non profit to be established inspired by the success of PYPP in Liberia and is led by an independent board and team of directors and staff.
EPL Ghana has also diversified and responded to real needs of young leaders in Ghana - including pursuing gender-just systems that support young women in public service, and piloting innovations around peace and security that build understanding in areas prone to conflict.
Our flagship program is a one-year program for young professionals to become more effective leaders and prepare them for entry into the public sector. Now in the seventh year of operations, the network of young fellows and alumni across Ghana’s civil service continues to grow and achieve positive impact for communities across the country.
The program has provided 175 fellows (46% women) a secure career pathway into the wider public sector, including public service institutions and policy-facing Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and built a critical mass of young people who are influencing government directly and indirectly as duty-bearers in public service agencies.
EPL Ghana’s leading gender initiatives, partners with Co-Impact and the Office of the Head of Civil Service (OHCS) on Women on the Rise: Tackling Gender Barriers to Women’s Leadership within the Public Sector, which seeks to strengthen the Public Service by addressing gender barriers towards a more systemic change.
As part of the project, the Public Service Commission created a Gender Taskforce to advise on developing strategic pathways and decreasing barriers to entry for women in public service. More than 70 gender desk offices have participated in training across government, with 500+ young women public leaders predicted to be supprted in the coming year.
In 2024, EPL Ghana launched their PEACE Fellowship (Professionals Engaged Against Conflict & Endangerment) program in partnership with the U.S. Embassy in Ghana and supported by Foundation for Security and Development in Africa.
The program upskilled public sector security professionals to provide critical security services in Northern, Upper East, and North-East regions of Ghana. Twenty five Fellows from various ecurity services participated in town hall meetings, deep dive sessions, community immersions, and field simulation training and was crucial in building community understanding ahead of the national elections in December.
Together, the new programs have reached over 100+ young professionals bolstering service delivery in at-risk communities and for minority groups.