Elizabeth Akua-Nyarko Patterson

Patterson was born in 1985 in Kumasi[1] in the Ashanti Region, Ghana. Her family moved to America in 1995 and she attended school there. When she was in her final year in high school, she was involved in a motor vehicle accident in which she suffered a traumatic brain injury which affected her cognitive and intellectual abilities, and also left her with a physical disability.[1][4][5][3] She completed high school while recovering in hospital.[1] She holds a BA in Political Science and Business Management from Caldwell College,[1][5] and a Masters in Public Administration from the New York University Wagner School of Public Service.[1][5]

Patterson worked as a communications and marketing associate at Junior Achievement in New York.[1][5] After returning to Ghana in 2006, she was a volunteer teacher at the World Links Academy in Kumasi,[1][5] and then director of communication and marketing for the Council of Young African Leaders.[1][5] She experienced more difficulty accessing public facilities in Africa than she had in America. She also observed that a student at Kumasi who had learning difficulties was believed to be affected by evil spirits.[1][5]

These experiences inspired her to found the Girls Education Initiative of Ghana (GEIG) in 2013, to provide support for disadvantaged girls, particularly those with special needs, to attend school.[1][4][6][7][8] GEIG supports girls in the Ashanti and Greater Accra regions,[5] and has assisted over thirty girls to attend and complete school from the basic level through to the tertiary level.[9][10][11][12] Patterson was named Vlisco Ambassador in 2015,[13][14][15] because "despite all that had happened in her life, she has proven that disability is not inability. She has strong values and a big dream of ensuring all girls and women have equal footing in Ghana".[16] She has been a TedxAccra speaker.[17][18][19]