Maame Ewusi-Mensah: A rising star in corporate America
Looking younger than a woman in her late 30s, Ms Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, is a Ghanaian flying high.
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She has just been appointed as the Vice-President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).
The MCC is an innovative and independent US foreign aid agency helping in the fight against global poverty.
Its dealings with Ghana have, among other things, helped sustain the eradication of the Guinea worm disease; turned the Bird’s Eye chili pepper crop into a profitable export and more recently, facilitated the construction of the N1 Highway (George Walker Bush Highway).
In her position, Maame is a key member of MCC’s management team, as well as the principal authority to the Chief Executive Officer on legal and ethical aspects of the corporation’s programmes and operations.
Make things better
“I worked in the Department of Justice for seven years and during that time I had the opportunity of working on matters to make life better for Americans. But I always wanted to find some way to use my skills and talents to help make things better in Ghana.
“I, however, didn’t see a clear path to doing so. When the MCC opportunity came along and I learned more about what the outfit does and how successful it has been in reducing poverty in the countries it works in, I was excited to join the team,” she said about her new appointment in an interview with The Mirror.
Maame was in Ghana recently to attend the board meeting of the Ghana Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) that would be implementing an agreement between Ghana and the MCC to help with the energy sector.
“Of course, it is disappointing to see that after so many years the power rationing is still continuing but I am excited to be able to play a part to make the situation better,” she said.
‘Dumsor’ – a familiar story
Back in 1997, Maame was in Ghana as a volunteer teacher for a year at Achimota School. She recalled the country experienced a lot of power cuts during that period and it was a difficult time for many people.
She was, however, impressed with how hardworking and disciplined the students were.
Coincidentally, it is the energy situation that brought her back to Ghana this year.
In August 2014, the MCC signed an agreement with the Government of Ghana to partner the government to transform the power sector with $498 million compact.
Being Ghanaian, she considers helping to solve the power situation as a personal challenge. She said family and friends who knew why she was here all had one refrain: “Ooh have you heard about ‘dumsor dumsor?’ You have to solve the ‘dumsor’ for us,” she said with laughter.
“We want to see this works for Ghanaians. Even more than the inconvenience of the lights off, it is still a serious situation for the economy, people’s lives, health and safety and we want to make it better,” she stated.
Education
Maame received her undergraduate degree in History from Harvard University in 1997. She was also at Yale Law School and graduated in 2001.
She said she enjoyed her time at Yale Law School where she said the students and professors were highly motivated and she made many wonderful friends.
“During my time at Yale, I felt very much grateful for those who had gone before me and paved the way for me to be there as a black woman from Africa.
It definitely imbued a sense in us students that you can do whatever you want to do and that you have a responsibility to attack the biggest problems in the world, ” she noted.
She said prior to going to Yale, her father gave her a book called “Becoming Gentlemen”. The book was about women in law schools and how they fared.
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She said one of the lessons that she took from the book was that in law school, women, for whatever reason, were often counting themselves out of things, not speaking in class and doubting themselves.
She was, therefore, grateful to her dad for the book because it helped her in coaching herself to speak up in class and be involved in discussions and relevant activities.
She was an Articles Editor on the Yale Law Journal.
Career progression
Maame first worked as a law clerk to Stephen Reinhardt of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
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She also worked as a commercial litigation and intellectual property litigation associate in San Francisco at Morrison & Foerster LLP.
She later worked in several leadership positions at the Department of Justice before her new MCC appointment.
Along came MCC
According to Maame, she had been blessed with many great opportunities and also blessed with the ability to take advantage of those opportunities. She has also worked hard and maintained relationships.
She said when the MCC opportunity presented itself, she was thrilled to take it because of what the corporation did.
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“The mission is to reduce poverty around the world and that is a huge responsibility but very fulfilling and the team is very talented and committed to helping people of other countries make their lives better.”
Asked about what she had brought on board, she said her legal skill, passion for the work and the desire to see MCC achieve even greater success in countries around the world were her contribution.
Being new to the job, she also hopes to bring a fresh perspective to the corporation, fresh spirit of innovation, ideas, new ways of thinking and doing things.
Early life and family
Maame was born and raised in California. Both parents are Ghanaians who migrated to the US in the 1970s. Her father is Prof Kweku Ewusi-Mensah while her mother is Theodora Ewusi-Mensah, a paediatrician. Her younger sister, Ewurama Ewusi-Mensah lives in Washington DC and is a writer and editor.
Maame said because most of her family live in Ghana, she visited a lot as a child. She also had the opportunity to study work on a research project in Ghana while she was in college. She has since then been back and forth, visiting her motherland.
She said her parents had been an incredible support to her and her sister and they mean the world to her.
She is married to Yaw Osei Frimpong, an entrepreneur and consultant.
Secret to success
According to Maame, she had no secret to success. What had worked for her, she said, was the support of her family, her huge faith which helped her to navigate difficult situations, believing in herself, as well as knowing her heritage and where she came from.
“When I speak to younger law students I encourage them to believe in themselves and work hard. You need to ask yourself what it is that you enjoy doing.
“If you do not see anybody out there doing that kind of job, you can still do it because there is only one you and there are certain things that nobody else can do but you and if that is in your heart and mind, then go for it.
“To make that happen you have to work hard, believe in yourself, make the best of every opportunity and maintain relationships,” she advised.
Maame noted that it was not going to be all rosy as she had also faced challenges and difficult times.
“There are going to be challenges but you just have to remember that at any given point in time, your circumstances do not define who you are or your future.”
She loves to write, read, laugh, enjoy international food, teach children in her church and spend time with friends and family.