My Nonprofit Reviews

I am happy to write this review as a beneficiary of EPI full scholarship program during my undergraduate studies at the University of Ghana. Currently, I serve as the President of the EPI Alumni Charter in Ghana. The aims of EPI, of making the African continent a better place to live, rightly coincide with those of many Africans seeking higher education to build their skillset for the job market and to contribute their quota to their nation’s development.

EPI, over the past years, has collaborated with leading universities in Ghana to train African intellectuals with appreciable and evidence-based understanding of African societies, pre and post-colonial past, values and institutions. The end goal is that these trained Africans can lead the search for African model of development that would restore human dignity and decent living to ordinary people in Africa.

Clauses in the EPI scholarship agreement seek to solve the problem of brain drain. I strongly believe that the best means of tackling Africa’s development problem is to train African intellectuals to lead the quest for finding solutions to their country’s development problems. That exactly is the business of EPI.

EPI did not only remove my financial burden during my undergraduate Political Science studies at the University of Ghana, it also encouraged me to believe in myself and to think beyond the ordinary. EPI’s merit-based scholarship takes into consideration high academic scores, past leadership and voluntary activities, in the selection process. High academic scores are also needed to maintain the scholarship throughout undergraduate years.

The EPI country coordinator is a great addition to the program. She is unceasingly looking out for you, readily writes recommendations and even speaks with organizations on your behalf for internship opportunities. By the time I was done with my undergraduate studies, I had enormous volunteer and paid work experience on my resume. These voluntary services helped me to develop key competencies such as good communication, presentation, interpersonal and networking skills, probing and analytical thinking abilities.

EPI Alumni Charter and Activities

EPI alumni consist of young graduates from University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and Ashesi University College who have all benefited from the EPI scholarship while undertaking their undergraduate degrees. These young graduates, now with different types of work experience, skill-set and qualifications in Medicine, Computer Science, Engineering, Economics, Banking and Finance, Leadership and Communication, have the potential and motivation to succeed in varying working environments while giving back to society through voluntary work.

The alumni charter, the yearly alumni meeting with the Lafrances and the periodic alumni meeting with EPI country coordinator are all means of continuously supporting EPI scholars after completing school. The President, Sara Lafrance, and the EPI office in Ghana have both written compelling recommendation letters for some EPI graduates, including myself, for post graduate studies and for job interviews.
The yearly meeting with the Lanfrances provides an interesting experience as alumni take turns to share their entrepreneurial stories and dreams for the future.

Creditably, EPI graduates from all universities continue to stay in touch through the Alumni Network Charter. This networking has helped some scholars to secure jobs and scholarships for post-graduate studies.
The EPI alumni charter is currently undertaking a community service project in selected Senior High Schools in Ghana to provide mentoring, teaching support, public health education, scholarship application processes, motivation and career development information to students and staff. The services we provide for Senior High Schools are entirely voluntary with all funding borne by the EPI alumni. This is one of our means of giving back to society and we are highly elated to do this.

Emmanuel Kpogo
EPI Alumni President, Ghana

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