We are 9 years old today! #9yearsofImpact
Change Management | Market Development & Expansions | Agile | Process Engineering | Six Sigma Black Belt Consultant | MBA 2x | Sustainable Management | Business Development | Sales Leadership
Hacklab Foundation: CELEBRATING 9 YEARS OF IMPACT Today, #LinkedIn sent me an anniversary reminder, let me tell a little story about the Hacklab Foundation. In 2015 I got an idea to host a hackathon in my university department where i studied Computer Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. So I reached out to Derrydean Dadzie who was then the CEO of SEVN - DreamOval Ltd. and DreamOval Foundation on Facebook Messenger and he invited me to his office to present a proposal. A few minutes into the meeting he invited Henry Sampson his co-founder to listen to my proposal. At the time they had launched #Slydepay (no longer existent), one of the first e-wallets which targetted the youth to drive financial inclusion in a techie fashion. The proposal was clear: get students to build financial and e-commerce solutions using the APIs of Slydepay. The product was launched as a joint venture with Stanbic Bank Ghana at the time. We were all excited about the prospects. Derry reached out to Patrick George Quantson who was the Head of Emerging Payments department at Stanbic Bank at the time who bought into the idea. Stanbic Bank seeded the 1st ever hackathon with GHS14,490 in 2016 which will be valued at about GHS70,416 in 2024. It was enough to host 72 hackers at the #VodafoneCafe at the time on campus. Many will go on to secure internships and full-time jobs and first-time jobs including myself with Dreamoval & Stanbic Bank. Fast forward, today, as we celebrate our 9th anniversary since our inception in 2015, we have impacted over 17,000 people across 12 countries and placed over 3,000 people in jobs. WHAT NEXT???... Stay tuned for my next post as a share some exciting news heading towards the celebration of our 10th Anniversary. Big shout outs to: Nana Dwemoh Benneh Lily Edinam Botsyoe Daniel Ampofo Emmanuel Bruce Samuel A. D. Joy Quarshie Nana Efua Benyaw Jeffrey Dagadu George Plange Angela Mensah-Poku Franklin Asare Téva L. Norris Aboagye Boateng Hamzah BAWAH Liz Nabakooza Kakooza Imoh Eboh Moses Arhinful Acquah Leticia Browne Danso Amoah Ransford Mensah, PhD Joshua Cleopas Brenda Awulley Gifty Okeson Gideon Abu Oseini P S B Ocloo Keren Arkoh Christian okoli Emmaline Datey Okofo Dartey, PE-GhIE MIEEE Harrison Mensah Gyamerah Isaac Sesi George Kwadwo Appiah Ato Ulzen-Appiah and all who have contributed to our journey that i cant mention due to limits...