The Board of Directors for the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) have appointed Professor Audrey Sitsofe Gadzekpo as the new Chair for the Board. This took place during the 71st Board meeting on September 26, 2022, upon the retirement of the immediate past Chair, Mr. Seth Dei on June 1, 2022. Professor Gadzekpo had been serving as Vice-Chair since 2018 and been a member of the Governing Board since its inception in 1998.
As a founding member of the Center, Prof. Gadzekpo has remained a huge asset to CDD-Ghana and contributed to the shaping and advancement of the Center’s growth. She has served in multiple capacities, including chairing and speaking at workshops, seminars and colloquia, writing extensively for and serving on the editorial board of the Democracy Watch Newsletter (the Center’s official mouthpiece) and contributing to the Center’s scholarly publications. She has also been involved in diplomatic briefings, led media monitoring activities and provided media training to staff.
Prof. Gadzekpo has considerable experience engaging in media, gender, governance and advocacy work. She has been involved in domestic and international election monitoring, anti- corruption campaigns and initiatives, women empowerment initiatives, and media development initiatives. Her rich experience coupled with her membership of the CDD-Ghana Board makes her an ideal candidate to provide leadership, overall guidance, and direction to the Board and the Center as a whole.
A former Dean of the School of Information and Communication Studies, University of Ghana, Prof. Gadzekpo has close to 30 years of experience teaching, researching and advocating on issues relating to media, gender, governance, and development.
She attended Achimota Secondary School, where she obtained her Ordinary Level certificate, before pursuing her sixth-form education at OLA Secondary School, Ho. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Ghana, a Master of Arts in Communications from Brigham Young University, Utah, USA and a Doctorate in African Studies from the University of Birmingham, U.K.
Prof. Gadzekpo has contributed immensely to the education and civil society sectors and currently serves on other boards and governing councils including STAR-Ghana Foundation, Center for Journalism, Innovation & Development (CJID) in Nigeria, Solidaridad Continental Supervisory Board for Africa, GHACEM Foundation, Webster University-Ghana Campus, African University College of Communications (AUCC) and Tema International School (TIS). She is also a patron of the Alliance for Women in the Media (AWMA).
She was a founding member and a former Chair of Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) and the immediate past Chair of the board of Panos West Africa (PIWA), a media development organization based in Senegal. Other boards, councils and commissions she has served on in the past include the following: West Africa Democracy Radio (WADR) in Senegal, the National Media Commission (NMC), Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Ghana News Agency, Public Agenda Newspaper, Vodafone Foundation, Joyce Ababio College of Creative Design (JACCD), and African Literature Center in Kitwe, Zambia.
In addition to its Chairperson, CDD-Ghana’s Governing Board is composed of Vice Chairman Mr. Kweku A. Awotwi, an experienced international business executive; Secretary Mr. James Sraha, a practicing accountant and tax consultant; Prof. E. Gyimah-Boadi, Chairman of the Board of Afrobarometer Network, Co-founder and Former Executive Director of the Center; Dr. Baffour Agyeman-Duah, Co-Founder of the Center and currently Chief Executive Officer at the John A. Kufuor (JAK) Foundation; Mrs. Clara Beeri Kasser-Tee, a private legal practitioner and law lecturer at GIMPA; Mrs. Sadia Chinery-Hesse, an experienced lawyer and governance practitioner; Mr. Felix Biga, Chief Operating Officer with the Afrobarometer Network; Prof. H. Kwasi Prempeh, Executive Director of the Center; Dr. Edem Selormey, Director of Research at the Center and Dr. Kojo P. Asante, Director of Advocacy and Policy Engagement at the Center.