Winnifred Selby

Winnifred Kyei Selby is a young Ghanaian social entrepreneur and the president of the EPF Educational Empowerment Initiative based in Kumasi, Ashanti Region of Ghana. She co-founded the Ghana Bamboo Bike Initiative with Bernice Dapaah at the age of 15.[1][2][3] And At age 17, she established another business, the Afrocentric Bamboo Initiative.[4][5] In 2018, she became the first Ghanaian to be inducted into the Royal Institute of Singapore.[6]

Education and career

Selby attended Joy Standard College.[7] She is also an alumna of Cambridge University Leading For Change Executive Education and Fellow of the Royal Commonwealth Society.[8] She co-founded the Ghana Bamboo Bike Initiative with Bernice Dapaah at the age of 15 and the Afrocentric Bamboo Initiative at the age of 17 right after completing her secondary education.[4][9]

Awards and achievements

• Anzisha Prize Fellow[10]
• World Economic Forum Global shaper[11]
• Board member of Dawadawa Impact Investment Fund
• Board member of the SHE Scholarships Fund of the EPF Educational Empowerment Initiative.
• Finalist of the 2014 Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards[5][12]
• Honoured Airtel Touching Lives 2014 Award[13]
• She was honoured 2015 World of Children Award in New York[14][1]
• Winner of the 2016 New African Woman in Science , Technology & Innovation Award[10]
• Winner of the 2017 Queen’s Young Leader Award[6][15][16][17][18]
• Featured in Forbes as one of the social entrepreneurs in Africa to watch[5]
• First Ghanaian to be inducted into the Royal Institute of Singapore[19][6]
• She has hosted a TED talk with TEDx Accra[20]
• Invited by Former President of the United States, Barack Obama to be part of the 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi, Kenya[13]

Philanthropy and activism

EPL Educational Empowerment Initiative

To break down barriers to education and empower young people from deprived communities, Selby founded the EPF Educational Empowerment Initiative.[16]

Winnifred's Menstrual Pads for Dignity

She also founded the Winnifred’s Menstrual Pads for Dignity Project which provides free disposable menstrual products for needy girls in the most deprived districts in Ghana.

Happy Feed Initiative

Selby initiated the Happy Feed Initiative, which complements the government of Ghana free school feeding and free uniforms program. This initiative provides new shoes and other educational supplies such as bags, books, and calculators to needy school children in deprived communities.

Ghana Girls College

In partnership with private universities in Ghana, she also started the Ghana Girls College Scholarship program which offers scholarships to brilliant but needy high school girls

W3 Initiative

She is the founder for Winnie Women's World. W3 Initiative is a non profit organization made of promotes gender equality, women empowerment and girl and children education.[19]

See also

• Bernice Dapaah
• Queen's Young Leader Award

References

1. "Winnifred Selby Receives 2015 World Of Children Youth Award At New York City Gala". Modern Ghana. Retrieved 2019-09-10.
2. "Ghana goes green with bamboo bikes | DW | 18.09.2014". DW.COM. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
3. ISMAILY, Leyla (2014-11-19). "WINIFRED SELBY'S GHANA BAMBOO BIKES". Inspire Afrika. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
4. "Fearless & Flexible: Winnifred Selby's African Socio-Ecological Business". The Way Women Work. 2015-01-13. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
5. Africa, Forbes Woman (2014-10-01). "The Eco-Princess". Forbes Africa. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
6. "Social entrepreneur inducted first Ghanaian member of Royal Institute of Singapore". www.myjoyonline.com. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
7. Opaluwa, Ladi (2016-03-23). "Winifred Selby: riding on bamboo bikes". This is africa. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
8. "Queen Elizabeth Honours Three Young Ghanaians". GhanaCelebrities.Com. 2017-07-01. Retrieved 2019-09-10.
9. Kidula, Olivia (2014-08-31). "Bamboo Bikes Creating Sustainable Employment For Women In Ghana". Afromum. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
10. "Celebrating Africa's Youngest Entrepreneurs | Winnifred Selby". www.anzishaprize.org. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
11. "INDIAFRICA - Winnifred Selby". www.indiafrica.in. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
12. "Winnifred Selby". Cartier Women's Initiative. 2014-06-16. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
13. "Royal Commonwealth Society honors Winifred Selby". www.ghanaweb.com. 13 February 2016. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
14. "Winnifred Selby, World of Children". worldofchildren.org. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
15. "Ghana's Elijah Amoo Addo, Efua Asibon and Winnifred Selby for The Queen's Young Leaders Award". Glitz Africa. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
16. "Three Ghanaians recognised by UK Queen for their social responsibility work". Pulse Ghana. 2016-11-30. Retrieved 2019-09-10.
17. "3 Ghanaians honoured by Queen Elizabeth in UK". Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always. 2017-07-02. Retrieved 2019-09-10.
18. "Queens Young Leaders – Alumni". Archived from the original on 2018-05-12. Retrieved 2019-09-10.
19. Editor, William Nana Beeko. "Ghana's Winnie Selby Becomes First African And Youngest To Be Conferred At Royal Institute Of Singapore". Modern Ghana. Retrieved 2019-09-09. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
20. "The Co-founder of Ghana Bamboo Bikes, Winnifred Selby". Women Africa. 2019-03-28. Retrieved 2019-09-09.