Rising to the Challenge

Evelyn Amoah-Smith wasn’t the type of person to speak up in a meeting. She preferred to stay behind the scenes to get the job done in her role as an assistant accountant at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana, Africa.

But that was before she enrolled in the Leadership Empowerment Academy Program (LEAP) and was nominated as class representative.

LEAP is a global collaboration between the University of Cape Coast and CLOE that equips graduate students like Amoah-Smith with effective tools for analytical thinking, good  judgment and motivational and interpersonal relationship skills.

“I remember raising my hand to object to the nomination, but a colleague put my hand down and encouraged me to take the challenge because I was here to learn about leadership—so I went for it,” she says.

Participants in the yearlong program attend four face-to-face sessions, with three in Ghana and one in Buffalo,  and have the opportunity to attend the annual CLOE leadership conference. Graduates earn a CLOE  certificate and a digital micro-credential badge.

The class representative serves as a liaison between the coordinators in Ghana and Dorothy Siaw-Asamoah, clinical assistant professor and faculty director of global programs in the UB School of Management, who facilitates the program.

This gave Amoah-Smith a real-world leadership opportunity, communicating online lessons back to her classmates, coordinating assignments with  the class and preparing the room for in- person sessions.

Now an alumna of the program, Amoah-Smith is focused on developing her personal brand and being strategic about how she wants others to  perceive her.

“We had an opportunity to Google ourselves, and when I did, I couldn’t find anything about myself at all,” she says. “That told me how lost I was in this world, so I started by creating a LinkedIn account and have been enjoying  networking and learning from others.”

She’s also spearheading a new mentoring unit in her workplace.

“It’s an area where I saw a gap, so I’ve written a memo to the head of our department and have begun mentoring on my own with a small group of colleagues where we all share what we’ve learned,” she says. “It’s already brought about a  change in mindset and is helping us in our teams.”

LEAP has given Amoah-Smith a voice and taught her to build relationships and set goals for the next steps in her career.

"I am the quiet type. I hardly talk,” she says. “But LEAP has challenged me to voice my thoughts and ideas rather than holding them back just to compromise.”