WomensTrust

Wilmot Office Staff

Dana Dakin
Founder and President

In 2003, to officially celebrate her sixtieth birthday and the beginning of the “return” phase of her life, Dana Dakin headed to Ghana with a list of bootstrapped names to “adopt” a village.  On the initial trip she was taken to Pokuase, within the outside northern perimeter of the capital Accra, where she pitched the concept of microlending to small groups of women.  She engendered enough interest to return in six months, with funding that came from the sale of her second car. 

Today, WomensTrust in the village of Pokuase is thriving, with more than 1000 women in the loan program and repayment rates consistently above 90 percent.  Additional funding is directed toward such pressing needs as scholarships for girls and healthcare.  The 501c(3) organization (with NGO status in Ghana) has become a viable community-based partnership in the village and is a model that can be replicated. 

Dana’s career is in the investment business, where she has been a pioneer in  marketing consulting to institutional investment firms, both on the trading side as well as for leading money management organizations.  Her experience began on Wall Street with a research project at the NYSE that led to negotiated commissions.  In 1971, she joined what became Callan Associates, a top pension consulting firm.  With a five-year inside perspective on evaluating money managers, she formed Dakin Partners in 1976, the first firm to creatively package institutional investment organizations.  She has worked on some of the great launches in the business, and has authored a summary of the essentials of investment marketing in Five for the Road. She also co-produced the eight-part PBS series “Beyond Wall Street: The Art of Investing” with a companion book published by John Wiley.

She was educated at Scripps College, where she graduated with a B.A. in 1964.  Her concentration was in international relations, with an honor’s thesis on Pan-Africanism.  She was a member of the college’s Board of Trustees for nine years.  Other board commitments over the year include Alumnae Resources in San Francisco, NH Writers’ Project and the Women’s Fund of New Hampshire.  Her office, based in a converted volunteer fire house in Wilmot Flat, New Hampshire, has been featured on HGTV.   (Personal website)

Kristen Ash
Program and Communications Coordinator

Kristen Ash joined the WomensTrust Team in October of 2007.  Her responsibilities include the oversight of the office in Wilmot, liaison with Pokuase staff, coordination of all events and travel, donor relationship management, as well as general support of all programs, initiatives and grants.

Focusing in fine art at the Rhode Island School of Design, Kristen completed her B.A. in art education and holds a New Hampshire teaching certificate.  After spending time working for the Kearsarge School District, she accepted a job at The New London Inn when new management took over in 2004, serving as front-of-house and events manager for their fine dining restaurant. She played a critical role in reopening the dining room and had oversight of all events and caterings.

Kristen has many other interests and talents. A designer and craftsperson, she assists a local artist in his jewelry and metalsmithing business. An inveterate traveler, she has roamed Europe extensively as well as the U.S.  Her love of people and culture has taken her to places as far away as India, New Zealand, Kenya, and now Ghana.

Jackie Catcher
Administrative Assistant

A recent graduate of Boston University, Jackie majored in political science and minored in women’s studies. She has a wide range of experience garnered from several internships served while at Boston University. Her strong communication skills, political interaction, and experience with underprivileged women, add depth and dimension to her position as administrative assistant for the Wilmot office of WomensTrust.

Jackie has served as an intern with a law firm in Concord and mentored inner city teen girls in journalism through Teen Voices Magazine in Boston. Her journalism skills earned her a position as assistant editor in The Daily Free Press, Boston University's independent student newspaper, as well as serving on the board of contributors for the Concord Monitor where she wrote op-ed pieces regarding high school and college  experiences.

She also volunteered her time in homeless shelters and was active politically in the last presidential election. 

Pokuase Office Staff

Gertrude Ankrah
Program Development Director

Gertrude Ankrah has served as on-the-ground Program Development Director for WomensTrust in Pokuase, Ghana, since 2005. Her responsibilities include maintenance of relationships for program growth and sustainability, including management of the WT staff and coordination of integrated programs and special projects. Born and raised in Pokuase, she graduated from a local private high school, the Confidence School (COINS) with top academic, sports, and speaking awards.

Unlike many women in her village, Gertrude holds several post senior secondary educational certificates. In 1993, she graduated from the Mars Business Secondary School in Accra, Ghana, in business administration. From 1993 to 1995, she worked as a customer service representative and account clerk at the Ga Rural Bank in Amasaman, the regional capital of her district. She then enrolled at the Sydalk Computer College and in 1999 took ownership of a general store in Pokuase.

That same year Gertrude began an involvement with politics that has moved her from the local to national level. She currently holds four political offices: Constituency Woman’s Organizer for Trobu-Amasaman Constituency (winning re-election for a second term in 2009); Secretary to the Greater Accra Women’s wing of New Patriotic Party (NPP); government appointee member of the Ga West District Assembly; and District Committee Member for the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). In addition, Gertrude worked as second-in-command for Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey’s winning campaign for Member of Parliament in 2005. She is an appointee to the MASLOC Committee (the Ghana government program for microfinance) and was selected for the prestigious ABANTU training program for emerging women leaders in Ghana.

In June 2006 and 2007, Gertrude furthered her education relative to her role at WomensTrust by attending the Microenterprise and Development Institute (MDI) at Southern New Hampshire University, her first trip out of her country. That program was subsequently named SMDP and shifted to The Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire, where she will be a conference speaker in November 2010. She delivered the keynote address at the annual meeting of UN African Mothers’ Association (UNAMA) in New York in December 2009. Contact info: gankrah@womenstrust.org

Eric Ankrah
General Services Officer

Eric Ankrah joined WomensTrust in February 2006 as office manager. In addition to managing the office, his responsibilities include processing daily loan repayments, reconciling receipts for repayments and operational expenses, and managing community interaction when needed.

Born in Pokuase, Eric attended the Nii Otto Kwame III school, completing his senior secondary studies in 1987. The following year, braving a two-hour commute each way, he enrolled at the Institute of Management Studies, passed his ordinary coursework, and earned an advanced degree in accounting.

Following completion of the coursework in 1991, he was assigned to a post in Wa, the capital of the country’s Upper West region, where he completed a required two-year commitment to the Ghana National Service. During this time, he traveled extensively throughout the country as financial secretary for the regional office of the National Service Personnel Association.

He was also recruited to work as an accountant for the 31st December Women’s Movement, a program with a microlending component founded by President Rawling’s wife. When his service was completed, Eric took a position with the Ghana National Petroleum Company (GNPC) as distributor of liquid propane gas for the entire Upper West region.

In 1995 Eric returned to Pokuase and started his own audio/cassette sales business. With a commitment to serving his community, he founded a town football league, and in 2002 was invited to join the Pokuase Development Association. Subsequently, he was elected chairman of the local Assembly Unit Committee for the 2007-2008 term. This committee is responsible for the development of the Pokuase township.

Solomon Fiagah
Loan Administrator

Solomon Fiagah joined WomensTrust in the summer of 2009. Initially he worked on a part-time basis assisting in the collection of loan repayments.

A Pokuase native, Solomon has become an integral part of the WomensTrust team, and as of July 2010 he is employed full-time in the office as the WomensTrust loan officer, acting as liaison between Pokuase and Wilmot.

His duties include assisting in loan collection and reporting, managing the electronic tracking system and hardware, and facilitating marketing projects by photographing clients and interviewing them.
 

Francis Yaw Osei
Chief Financial Officer

Francis Osei grew up in Batama Kumasi, Ghana. He joined WomensTrust in November of 2007, and has been instrumental in the development and management of the loan program’s financial reporting. In addition to his fiscal responsibilities, he manages the Pokuase staff ensuring timely and efficient completion of respective daily responsibilities and communicates regularly with the Wilmot office.

Francis holds a Higher National Diploma in accounting from the Kumasi Polytechnic Institute as well as an Advanced Business Certificate from the Top Accountancy School in Accra. He is a member of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants and the Foundation for Future Leaders International.

After completing his accounting degree, Francis began working as an administrator and bursar for His Grace School Complex. Before coming to the WomensTrust, he held accountant positions at the Kesbin Group of Companies as well as Osei and Associates.

A strong supporter and advocate of microfinance, Francis is a great asset to WomensTrust and to the communities we serve.