The ACHIEVE fellowship reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: “A sign of a good leader is not how many followers you have but how many leaders you create” (Mahatma Gandhi). As an emerging scholar from Africa, navigating the world of academia, research, and power dynamics can be challenging. Hence, I am deeply thankful for the opportunity to be mentored by experienced leaders with a genuine interest in mentoring as well as supporting the next generation of global scholars in Implementation Science. Prior to my graduate education, I have been working towards child trafficking prevention in Ghana and exploring ways to address its root causes. Luckily, this fellowship came at a crucial time in my professional career as a researcher and recent graduate. During my dissertation, I had been thinking about how I could use implementation science to improve interventions to advance child trafficking prevention in Ghana. Thankfully, through the power of mentoring and relationships, one of my dissertation committee members, Dean Mike Spencer from the University of Washington’s School of Social Work, shared the ACHIEVE fellowship opportunity with me. Dean Spencer learned about this fellowship through his connection with Washington University in St. Louis Vice Provost, Dr. Mary McKay, and these experiences have deepened my understanding of the power of mentoring and relationships. That being said, my deepest appreciation goes to the leadership of the program for their kind, thoughtful, incredible vision and investment in me and other fellows to achieve the best in our various professional goals.
To be honest, I was initially hesitant to apply because I thought it was just one of “those” fellowships. I wanted to be sure that this fellowship would be a good use of my time and would maximize my professional next steps, especially because of the time commitment. Excitingly, my experiences have been truly positive since joining the fellowship. Thanks in part to the incredible program administrators, including Chelsea and Laura, for their detailed information during the informational session, consistent communication, care, patience, and support at all times. Mentors of this fellowship are genuinely invested and truly appreciated. The regular check-ins with my amazing mentors, Drs. Sensoy Bahar Ozge, Kirsten Davison, Patricia Akweongo, and Theresa Betancourt, made it clear and easy for my arrival in Ghana with a sense of direction, facilitated the development of my qualitative interview guide informed by implementation, and my IRB application and approval process. I recount my meeting with Dr. Patricia on arrival in Ghana, as it was such a warm welcome. Even though I am from Ghana, meeting with Dr. Patricia greatly improved my readiness to launch and move forward with my research. Today, I am about 85% complete with my project and data collection process, and I am on time to start my data analysis in January or February 2024.
In the spirit of collaboration ignited by this fellowship, I so appreciated our time together in Maryland, at the National Institute of Health for our Fogarty International Center LAUNCH Orientation. By bringing together all the consortia, they allowed us to organically facilitate cross-collaboration. This helped create a supportive network and created our community of Fogarty Ghana fellows. Lastly, my prior relationships in Ghana, collaboration with local organizations, and understanding of the local culture and the Twi language also helped my successful experience. I cannot thank enough my colleagues at Boston College, including Libby Evans, Rachel Stram, Winifred Nwangwu, Andrea Morris, and other behind-the-scenes staff, for their incredible onboarding and regular check-ins that made me feel part of the team, and facilitated reimbursement and vendor payment setups which made my research and stay Ghana even better.