Esi Sutherland-Addy is a

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

ian academic, writer, educationalist, and human rights activist. She is a professor at the Institute of African Studies, where she has been senior research fellow, head of the Language, Literature, and Drama Section, and associate director of the African Humanities Institute Program at the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It is the oldest public university in the country. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the British colony of the Gold Coast ...

. She is credited with more than 60 publications in the areas of education policy, higher education, female education, literature, theatre and culture, and serves on numerous committees, boards and commissions locally and internationally. She is the first daughter of writer and cultural activist

Efua Sutherland Efua Theodora Sutherland (born 27 June 1924 – 2 January 1996) was a Ghanaian playwright, director, dramatist, children's author, poet, educationalist, researcher, child advocate, and cultural activist. Her works include the plays ''Foriwa' ...

Biography

Born in Ghana as Esi Reiter Sutherland, she is the eldest of the three children of playwright and cultural activist

and African-American Bill Sutherland (1918–2010), a colonial civil rights activist who went to

in 1953 on the recommendation of

George Padmore George Padmore (28 June 1903 – 23 September 1959), born Malcolm Ivan Meredith Nurse, was a leading Pan-Africanist, journalist, and author. He left his native Trinidad in 1924 to study medicine in the United States, where he also joined the C ...

Kwame Nkrumah Francis Kwame Nkrumah (, 21 September 1909 – 27 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957, when it gained ...

. She was educated at St. Monica's Secondary School,

Mampong Mampong is a town and the capital of the Mampong Municipal District, Mampong Municipal in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. As of 2012, the town has a population of 42,037 people. The town is home to the ''Mamponghene'', Nana Osei Bonsu II. Histo ...

and

Achimota School Achimota School (Help:IPA/English, /ɑːtʃimoʊtɑː/ ), formerly Prince of Wales College and School at Achimota, later Achimota College, now nicknamed Motown, is a co-educational boarding school located at Achimota in Accra, Greater Accra Reg ...

(where she met her husband). She has held various positions at educational establishments in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and the US, which includes being a Senior Fellow at the Institute of International Education at

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, UK, and as visiting lecturer at the following universities: University of Indiana, Bloomington, USA, the Centre for African Studies,

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Accra Campus,

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

, UK, and L'Institut des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales,

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. She served with the Ghana government as Deputy Minister for Higher Education, Culture and Tourism from (1986–93) and from 1994 to 1995 as Minister of Education and Culture. Genevieve Ruha
"Dr. Esi Sutherland-Addy"
''Ghana Nation'', 17 September 2013. . She has undertaken studies particularly in the field of education for many international organizations including

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

, the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa.Members of the Board of Trustees
, Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights,

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is a department of the United Nations Secretariat that works to promote and protect human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Univers ...

. She has been on both local and global boards with companies such as Ghana Commercial Bank, Open Society for West Africa, and The Commonwealth of Learning. She has also held key roles in non-governmental organizations and she has been on the executive board of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) and the Mmofra Foundation. At the moment, Esi works with institute of African studies at the

and is spearheading a project called Oral Traditions and Expressive Diversity involving the collection and digitization of Ghanaian Oral Traditions. She also supervise postgraduate students. She serves as the Chairperson of the following entities: Board of Trustees of the Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights. The Forum of African Women Educationalists (Ghana) and Afram Publications Ghana Ltd.

Awards

Esi Sutherland-Addy has been the recipient of several awards, which include: An Honorary Fellowship of the

College of Preceptors The Chartered College of Teaching is a learned society for the teaching profession in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1846, the college was incorporated by Queen Victoria into a royal charter as the College of Preceptors in 1849. A supplemental ch ...

, UK (1998), A Group Award by the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

(2001 and 2002) for the Women Writing Africa Project, An Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Education, Winneba (2004), and the Excellence in Distance Education Award from the

Commonwealth of Learning The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is an intergovernmental organisation of The Commonwealth headquartered in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Working collaboratively with governmental and non-governmental organizations and other institutions ...

(2008). Ghana Tourism Authority 20th Anniversary Emancipation Day Award (2018)

Selected bibliography

;Editor * (Editor) ''Perspectives on Mythology'' (Proceedings of a Conference organized by the Goethe-Institut and the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, between 21 and 24 October 1997), Goethe-Institut/Woeli Publ. Services, 1999. * (Co-editor with Aminata Diaw) ''Women Writing Africa: West Africa and the Sahel'',

The Feminist Press The Feminist Press at CUNY is an American independent nonprofit literary publisher of the City University of New York, based in New York City. It primarily publishes feminist literature that promotes freedom of expression and social justice. The ...

CUNY The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

, 2005. . * (Co-editor with Anne V. Adams) ''The Legacy of Efua Sutherland: Pan-African Cultural Activism'', Banbury: Ayebia Clarke Publishing, 2007. . * (With

Ama Ata Aidoo Ama Ata Aidoo (23 March 1942 — 31 May 2023) was a Ghanaian author, poet, playwright, politician, and academic. She was a Secretary for Education in Ghana from 1982 to 1983 under Jerry Rawlings's PNDC administration. Her first play, '' The Dil ...

) ''Ghana, where the Bead Speaks'', Foundation for Contemporary Art-Ghana, 2008. . * (Co-editor with

Takyiwaa Manuh Takyiwaa Manuh (born May 1952) is a Ghanaian academic and author. She is an Emerita Professor of the University of Ghana, and until her retirement in May 2017, she served as the Director of the Social Development Policy Division, of the Un ...

) ''Africa in Contemporary Perspective: A Textbook for Undergraduate Students''. Ghana: Sub-Saharan Publishers, 2013. . ;Papers * "Gender Equity in Junior and Senior Secondary Education in Sub-Saharan Africa", World Bank Publications, The

, number 6500, November 2008.
"Women, Intangible Heritage and Development: Perspectives from the African Region"
ICH UNESCO.

References

External links

“Efua Sutherland-Addy, Associate Professor
Institute of African Studies
"ESI SUTHERLAND ADDY PERSONALITY - PROFILE FRIDAY ON JOYNEWS (14-3-14)"
''My JoyOnline'', 14 March 2014. YouTube.
". Esi Sutherland-Addy – The Executive Lounge on JoyNews (2-8-19)"
''JoyNews'', 2 August 2019. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutherland-Addy, Esi Living people Ghanaian women writers Academic staff of the University of Ghana Alumni of Achimota School 20th-century Ghanaian women writers 20th-century Ghanaian writers Ghanaian women academics Year of birth missing (living people) Ghanaian human rights activists Ghanaian academics 20th-century Ghanaian women 20th-century Ghanaian educators Cabinet ministers of Ghana Ghanaian women's rights activists St. Monica's Senior High School alumni

Biography

Awards

Selected bibliography

Further reading

References

External links