Glocal Citizens

Selam Glocal Citizens! We’re back in East Africa by way of Washington D.C. for this two part conversation with singer, songwriter, music producer and designer, Kenny Allen. Kenny is a singer/songwriter/music producer and has travelled the world performing and recording music with acts like Meshell Ndegeocello and Raheem DeVaughn. In 2005, he was given a six month contract to perform at Addis Ababa...

Selam Glocal Citizens! We’re back in East Africa by way of Washington D.C. for this two part conversation with singer, songwriter, music producer and designer, Kenny Allen. Kenny is a singer/songwriter/music producer and has travelled the world performing and recording music with acts like Meshell Ndegeocello and Raheem DeVaughn. In 2005, he was given a six month contract to perform at Addis Ababa...

Greetings Glocal Citizens! We’re getting mindful this week on the podcast. I'm with the Co-Director of Synergy Yoga in Nairobi, Salim Rollins. Salim is a White Plains, New York native that calls Nairobi, Kenya home. Salim has maintained a dedicated hatha/vinyasa yoga practice since 2000 and was certified as an instructor through Yoga Alliance in 2007. He has studied under the mentorship of several...

Greetings Glocal Citizens! This week my guest is Amanda "Chirpy” Obidike, founder and Executive Director of Stemi Makers Africa. Amanda's expertise span from Project management and Operations, Education and Community building, Technology and Data Science. She’s a certified professional in STEM by the Open University, United Kingdom and Team lead of The Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and In...

Greetings Glocal Citizens! This week we meet Cliff Schmidt, is the Executive Director of Amplio Network, a Seattle-based nonprofit that provides inclusive digital technology to help governments and global development organizations widen their reach and impact in rural, remote, off-grid communities. Amplio, formerly known as Literacy Bridge launched in Ghana in 2007 and has since grown to serve com...

Hello again Glocal Citizens! My guest this week is Stacey Enyame, Founder and Chief Snacker at Snacks of Africa. In this fun-filled conversation we learn more about Stacey’s journey as the daughter of Ghanaian immigrants in the Bronx, NY and back to Ghana to make her mark as an international foodie. A business management professional with 10+ years global experience in product management, sales, s...

Greetings Glocal Citizens! My guest this week is a farmer after my own heart. He’s the co-founder and CEO of Oko Forests in Ghana. Oko Forests develops agroforestry systems with their network of smallholder farmers and has a guiding mission to sustain the landscape through the adoption of regenerative agricultural practices. He is also a prominent player in Ghana’s music scene as the founder and d...

Greetings Glocal Citizens! We have another two-part conversation featuring writer, journalist, professor and currently Director of New York University Accra, Chiké Frankie Edozien. Like me, NYU is also his alma mater. Frankie, who continues to teach while he leads the Accra program, was named one of the Top 50 journalism professors for 2012 by Journalsimdegree.org. In 2017 he was awarded the unive...

Greetings Glocal Citizens! We have another two-part conversation featuring writer, journalist, professor and currently Director of New York University Accra, Chiké Frankie Edozien. Like me, NYU is also his alma mater. Frankie, who continues to teach while he leads the Accra program, was named one of the Top 50 journalism professors for 2012 by Journalsimdegree.org. In 2017 he was awarded the unive...

S̄wạs̄dī Glocal Citizens! (That’s Thai for “hello!”) Over the next two episodes you’ll be getting to know my next guest, the consummate glocal citizens poster child, Yana Fleming. Yana hails from Washington, D.C. where she attended Howard University, but she hasn’t called the US home for at least a decade. I caught up with her in early April in one of her longtime home bases in Thailand. A communi...

S̄wạs̄dī Glocal Citizens! (That’s Thai for “hello!”) Over the next two episodes you’ll be getting to know my next guest, the consummate glocal citizens poster child, Yana Fleming. Yana hails from Washington, D.C. where she attended Howard University, but she hasn’t called the US home for at least a decade. I caught up with her in early April in one of her longtime home bases in Thailand. A communi...

Greetings Glocal Citizens! This week my dynamic diaspora is Olivia Asiedu-Ntow, Co-founder and COO of Scale-up Africa. ScaleUp was born out of the need to develop, grow and sustain SME’s across Africa with emphasis on women run/led and owned businesses. Their approach is to collaborate with innovative growth partners to work with SME’s over a period of two years with the intention of building thei...

Greetings Glocal Citizens! Last weekend, June 19th marked a more widespread interest and awareness around the observance of Juneteenth, the day when slavery ended in “earnest” for black people in America. I mention this in the context of my guest this week, Muhammida El Muhajir, because, the global mood has landed squarely on ideas of liberation, liberation in the most basic form—a freedom to brea...

"The best time to have planted a tree is 10 years ago, the next best time is now.” ~ Chinese Proverb Hello Glocal Citizens! "What the what?” is the first thing that comes to mind when I look back on the past few months. Those of us not in the midst of protest or lockdown are likely itching to get away..anywhere but this surreal reality. Well, I urge you to stay in the now and focus your attention...

Greetings Glocal Citizens! This week we have a refreshing conversation with Nigerian author, Leye Adenle. Leye (pronounced Leye, not Leia like in Princes Leia) has written a number of short stories under his own name, and over a hundred satirical pieces under various other appropriated names. His writing has appeared in publications such as the Big Issue, and he has written and recorded pieces for...

This episode marks my last conversation from the road for the time being. Wrapping up my Winter 2020 tour, I had the pleasure of meeting with Akua Gyekye at a bustling London eatery—please pardon the sound. Akua is Facebook’s Public Policy Manager for Africa and MENA Elections; she focuses on issues relating privacy, safety and security, freedom of expression, the impact of the Internet on economi...

From Lagos, I traveled to London in early March 2020 where I met COO of LinkCommerce.com, Kwame Acheampong. Kwame is another of those definitive glocal citizens that I love to visit with. Ghanaian by parentage, he grew up in both Europe and Ghana and has lived and worked in a number of countries across the globe. Kwame is an innovative, results driven entrepreneur, with extensive experience in tec...

From Lagos, I traveled to London in early March 2020 where I met COO of LinkCommerce.com, Kwame Acheampong. Kwame is another of those definitive glocal citizens that I love to visit with. Ghanaian by parentage, he grew up in both Europe and Ghana and has lived and worked in a number of countries across the globe. Kwame is an innovative, results driven entrepreneur, with extensive experience in tec...

For this week’s episode, I am rounding out my Lagos tour with a visit to the famed @JazzholeLagos cafe and bookshop in Ikoyi where I met Funsho Ogundipe composer of the Glocal Citizens theme music 419afrobeat.com featuring the legend and recently departed Tony Allen. Funsho is a Nigerian pianist, music director and composer, he is known for his work with the Afrobeat band Ayetoro. As musical direc...

Greetings, Glocal Citizens! In this interview, I am still in Lagos, Nigeria at the offices of Osaretin Oswald Guobadia, co-founder, EVP and COO of DBH Solutions, a building infrastructure and top tier technology solutions provider in West Africa. “Oz" or “Ozzie" as his friends call him, is a business strategy and technology consultant with over 20 years’ experience. His interests also span venture...

Greetings, Glocal Citizens! One of my last trips of 2020 was to Lagos, Nigeria where I took in the 2020 edition of Social Media Week Lagos and met up with a few long-time friends. First up is Amaechi Okobi, Group Head Corporate Communications and External Relations at Access Bank PLC. Amaechi is a marketing and communications professional with over 20 years marketing experience having worked in co...

Welcome back Glocal Citizens! Thanks for joining us for the third and final installment of our conversation with Bushcraft entrepreneur, Asio Highsmith. in this episode, we dive deeper into the art and craft of forging new relationships with the environment. Check out the show notes from Part 1 of this series, to get to know a bit more about Asio’s background. Please do comment, share and if you h...

Hello all, thanks for joining me for another episode of Glocal Citizens. I am currently in Accra, Ghana social distancing and on lockdown like most of the world in an effort to stay safe and stem the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. I recorded this interview with Actor/Model/Entrepreneur, Asio Highsmith earlier this year and given his passion for the land, it is a right o...

Greetings Glocal Citizens! For the next few episodes we'll be digging deep into the mind of Actor/Model/Entrepreneur, Asio Highsmith. On screens and print you may have seen Asio in some of our all time TV favs like Sex and the City and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit or in campaigns for Capital One Bank, Art of Shaving or Land's End. And, if you're familiar with Fort Greene, Brooklyn, you ma...

Hello again from Reykjavik! This week I'm sitting down with another fellow podcaster and Ghanaian, Edem Adzaho. Edem is a Writer, Educator and traveller, who is passionate about helping people take steps in the direction of their greatness. She hosts the Vamejo Travel Podcast, where she helps shape the positive narrative of Africa by talking to Africans and non-Africans passionate about traveling...