Meet a Pioneer
Derick Omari Ghana . 22 years old
D
erick Omari, a final year student at Ashesi University has proven to be a selfless and servant leader who is diligent in ensuring that others succeed and become better versions of themselves through his outstanding and impactful initiatives in his community. Derick who has had humble beginnings is inspired by his experience and has dedicated his life towards serving others especially the less privileged and the disabled. He founded Tech Era, an organization that is dedicated to exposing the less privileged and disabled to technology so that they can harness the potential to become the best versions of themselves. Derick is currently training about 100 blind students in Akropong school to use computers and smartphones so they can partake fully in our technological era. He has also established robotics clubs in 2 senior high technical schools reaching out to over 200 students in high schools, hoping to establish 10 more clubs in addition and he has trained more than 100 children in rural areas in basic computing skills.
Derick is also the founder of Berekuso music project, an arts initiative that trains the less privileged with skills in music and dance so it could serve as a source of employment for the young ones. The project has an atenteben ensemble, a choir and a dance troupe reaching about 50 children in the Berekuso community. Derick manages a diverse team of students from Ashesi University and communicates effectively with them which has made it possible to reach his goals. He has become a role model for students in Ashesi University and won numerous awards as a changemaker including recently the Queens Young Leader Award for 2018.
Derick was chosen as a 2016 Dalai Lama fellow and attended the Ethical Leadership Conference for his compassionate and ethical leadership he exhibits in his work to serve humanity. He was also selected as a Byron fellow in 2017 also for his commitment to serving others and making his community a better place. Derick has inspired several people to take up leadership mantles who are working to solving problems in the educational field. In his community (Ashesi), he has organized several events that brings the community together to celebrate diversity. Most of what he has achieved I believe is through his ability to listen to others - An extraordinary mark of a servant leader.
In 2017, he received the Leadership in Action award which is awarded to a student who goes beyond the call of duty to leave an indelible mark on the lives of others no matter how small. His organization (Tech Era) also won the community engagement award given to a student group that has demonstrated a commitment to serving others outside the Ashesi Community.
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