GRASAG-USA LAUNCHES PROF. YAW YEBOAH AND DR. JULIET O. NTIAMOAH ENDOWMENT FUND
The Graduate Students Association of Ghana – USA, on Saturday, September 30, 2023, launched its GRASAG-USA Endowment Fund and Giving-Day initiative to support the academic and welfare needs of the members of the association. The endowment fund is named after the first Patron of the association, Professor Yaw Yeboah, a Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering (CBE) at the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University-Florida State University (FAMU-FSU), and Dr. Juliet Ohemeng-Ntiamoah, founding president of GRASAG-USA in honor of their significant contributions establishing GRASAG-USA.
In his welcome address, the association’s president, Mr. Kwesi Acquah Sam, a 3rd-year doctoral candidate at the University of Maryland, College Park, indicated that with the exponential increase in membership, it has become imperative to devise means of mobilizing resources to support the association’s growth and support members in diverse ways that may be needed. He was optimistic that the endowment fund, when operationalized, would alleviate the current financial burden that rests on the shoulders of most members and thus appealed to the public to donate to it graciously.
The Chairman of the occasion, Dr Michael Boakye-Yiadom, who is the Director General of the UNESCO Category II Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (IEPA), speaking at the event, expressed his excitement over the initiative and touted it as a laudable idea worthy of emulation saying, “this is a shining example for others to follow.” According to him, this project will empower the many Ghanaian students who travel to the US to study to excel.
On his part, the Deputy Minister of Education for the Republic of Ghana, Rev Ntim Fodjour, who represented the Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, described the fund as “historic” and a step in the right direction. He says the initiative “will provide a sense of community and a unique platform where Ghanaians studying in the US can receive the needed support.” Commending the current administration for the initiative, Rev Ntim Fodjour expressed the Ministry of Education’s readiness to offer any form of support to ensure that the endowment fund thrives to serve its established purpose.
“I expect this endowment fund to create opportunities for us to add on to the already sterling and already outstanding members from our Ghanaian community who are making us proud,” he added.
Prof Yaw Yeboah, the patron of the association and one of the individuals in whose honor the endowment fund was named, charged the association to “manage the fund wisely and make sure it is invested to grow,” adding that “all effort should be made to help put the endowment fund into perpetuity.” He thanked the administration for bestowing on him such an outstanding recognition by naming the fund after him.
Dr Juliet Ohemeng-Ntiamoah, the founding president of GRASAG-USA, for whom the fund was also named, described the gesture as humbling. She was optimistic that with the proper support and contribution, the fund would raise enough money to support the association’s many projects, including but not limited to supporting Ghanaian students who wish to travel to the US for further studies.
The event was heavily attended by key dignitaries, including Prof Yayra Dzakadzie, the Director of Tertiary Education at the Ministry of Education, Nana Gyamfi Adwabour, Executive Director of the Center for National Distance Learning and Open Schooling, Ms. Angela Affran, the Technical Advisor to the Minister of Education and Prof Paul Ventura, Board of Trustees, US Africa Initiative. Other past executives and alumni were also present.
A “GRASAG-USA GIVING DAY” was also launched alongside the event to raise funds for the association. This is a universal platform, GoFundMe, which is expected to receive donations from members and all who share in the association’s vision. A test run of this fund accrued $2,425 as seed money.
Since the establishment of GRASAG-USA some seven years ago, the association has survived on the benevolence of a few members’ financial contributions. In some ways, this situation has stagnated the association’s growth in terms of program organizations. Despite these challenges, the association has gone beyond the ordinary to support over 500 hundred members through academic and professional development programs. At least fifty prospective graduate student applicants to the US have also been supported financially by sponsoring their application fees. All these contributions have come from individual personal contributions.
We want to use this medium to reach out to all well-meaning Ghanaians living in Ghana and the diaspora to contribute to our fundraising initiatives to provide adequate support services to Ghanaian graduate students studying in the United States by donating via the link: GRASAG-USA GIVING DAY.
God Bless our Homeland, Ghana.