IBM Presents Recommendations, Findings Pro Bono Clients

The Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection and the Ministry of Education, Ghana, are using analytics to measure the effectiveness of previous social marketing campaigns on girl child education.

Thus, an IBM team developed an extensive female mentorship strategy supported by a web-based information management system.

The team made recommendations for institutional ownership, outreach, and continuous impact analysis, being critical success factors for the proposed national Girls Empowerment and Mentorship (GEM) network.

TECHAiDE: IBM’s recommendations for TECHAiDE were consistent with ongoing efforts to expand access to education through ICT enabled solutions to the disadvantaged in Ghana’s urban, sub-urban and rural communities.

The IBM team helped create a prototype and content strategy for TECHAiDE’s flagship ASANKA product.

ASANKA (acronym for All Subjects And New Knowledge Access) is a digital solution which increases access and affordability to educational and socially relevant content.

The IBM team proposed a sustainable business model around organizational transformation, financing, marketing, product development and supply chain to assure widespread adoption of the ASANKA product, nationally.

In addition, the IBM team helped establish relations between TECHAiDE and Peace Corps Ghana for on-going collaboration in support of Let Girls Learn programs. One IBM CSC volunteer will remain in Ghana for a few weeks to ensure wholesale transfer of data, recommendations and consulting support to the Peace Corps office in Ghana.

Ashesi University: Demonstrating their civic and innovative citizenship credentials during a day out in the community, the IBMers fostered cross mentoring activities between Peace Corps volunteers, undergraduates of Ashesi University – a leading not-for-profit Ghanaian institution – and 24 girls from selected Peace Corps supported schools, enabling the youths to acquire lifelong skills.

Since the launch of Let Girls Learn, with the help of corporate partners and individual donors from all over the U.S., Peace Corps has funded more than 100 Let Girls Learn projects in 22 countries throughout Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Central America.

In addition, more than 800 Peace Corps volunteers have already received training to become catalysts for community-led change to improve girls’ access to education and empowerment.

“When we invest in the next generation of female leaders, we build a stronger global community,” said Tonia Wellons, Associate Director, Office of Strategic Partnerships for the Peace Corps. “The impact of empowering one woman with education and paid work ripples outward to positively benefit her children, community, country, and —eventually—the world.”

More than 130 Peace Corps volunteers are in Ghana working with their communities on projects in agriculture, education, and health. During their service in Ghana, Volunteers learn to speak local languages, including Dagaare, Dagbani, Ghanaian Sign Language, Gurune, Likpakpaln, Mampuli, and Twi.

More than 4,495 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in Ghana since the program was established in 1961.

The Peace Corps sends the best and brightest Americans abroad on behalf of the United States to address the most pressing needs of people around the world. Volunteers work with their community members at the grassroots level to develop sustainable solutions to challenges in education, health, economic development, agriculture, environment and youth development. Through their service, volunteers gain a unique cultural understanding and a life-long commitment to service that positions them to succeed in today’s global economy. Since President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps in 1961, more than 220,000 Americans of all ages have served in 141 countries worldwide.

IBM's Corporate Service Corps is a global pro-bono initiative through which IBM deploys teams of top achieving employees to emerging market countries.

These global and multicultural multi-ethnic teams spend one month on the ground working with local government, nonprofit civic groups, and small business to develop blueprints that touch issues ranging from economic development, energy and transportation, to education and healthcare. Participating IBM employees offer skills that include technology, scientific research, marketing, finance, human resources, law, and economic development.