PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT NETWORK

Goal

The Professional Engagement Network (PEN) is a Kingdom mission opportunity for those of us not resident to Ghana, to help faculty and students as they create tangible opportunities for impact in God’s Kingdom.

This Network is designed to provide an opportunity for you to utilize your wealth of personal expertise and experience. Many of us struggle to find opportunities to use the exceptional skills and deep experience we have gathered in business or in our professional endeavors, to the benefit of God’s Kingdom. Seldom do “mission Trips” provide such deep opportunities.

If using your talents directly to benefit God’s work appeals to you then this Network is for you!

How it works

To make this Network achieve benefits for you and benefit HCC faculty & students, requires a well-planned experience.

We are providing two modalities for you to utilize. Video Conference and travel to Ghana (generally for a week or two). These are not mutually exclusive.

It is likely that many of you will not be able to travel to Ghana. This is fine. We can provide a meaningful experience via video conferencing. You can begin with video conference and if that is all you wish to do, that is fine. PEN has been structured to meet your needs as you help our students in a material way with your experience.

Ultimately, the desire is for you to provide meaningful impact and to witness this impact. Your commitment can be as short as one (1) semester. If that is all you wish to do, that is fine. We hope you sign up for another semester!

At the end of a four-year experience (assuming you continue to help) a group of students, wouldn’t it be wonderful to join them for their graduation? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to visit Ghana to see the businesses and professional activities of the students you’ve mentored?

Here are the steps required to make it happen:

• HCCF has hired a coordinator in the USA & in Ghana to be responsible for the successful execution of this Network.
• The staff on both continents have been provided with the tools and relevant technology to create the working environment.
• HCCF will provide you with a list of skill areas and HCC Strategic initiatives we need to address. The list is not necessarily comprehensive, but it does represent the critical high priority areas which we can currently impact.
• You will be asked to provide a “resume” or CV (essentially) detailing the skills and experiences you are offering. We stand ready to dialog with you in order to help you refine the opportunity. We ask for your patience as we try to accommodate an intersection between your interest and the needs of our students.
• You will be asked to write a brief memo / letter explaining or describing why you’d like to help and what you hope to gain from the experience.
• We will then invite you to work with a small team of professionals to achieve the goals of the work defined.
• We are currently defining “jobs” or “roles” which we know will be helpful. We expect to learn and refine but we do know right now what will make a difference in many departments and in the Center for Entrepreneurship, Philanthropy & Ethics (CEPE).

Here are a few examples:

• Advisory team for a startup business
• Advisory group working with a small group of students.
• Co-investors and / or active mentors to a startup business
• Advisory Board for the Department of Health Sciences
• Advisory Board for the Department of Education Studies
• Advisory Board for the department of Media Studies
• Advisory Board for the Heritage Research Institute
• Participants in the HCC Venture Capital Fund

We will work within a Define / Execute / Refine framework.

Summary

This brief writeup is not comprehensive but hopefully sheds light on an exciting opportunity. We invite your help in making this Network even better.

Hopefully it is understood that we will work hard to find you a meaningful “job” or role. In some cases, the timing may not work. We ask for your help in managing this issue.