Created: Nov 26, 2024 07:58 AM
Gainful recognition: Karen Hendrickson with her award (Photograph courtesy of Karen Hendrickson)
A Bermudian whose professional career in Ghana spans several fields including health and the aviation sector has been named one of the West African country’s most influential people.
Karen Hendrickson was given an ideal birthday gift when she was named among the 100 Most Influential People in Ghana at an awards ceremony in Accra on Friday.
Honourees were recognised for shaping the socioeconomic, cultural and political future of the African country.
Ms Hendrickson, who celebrates her birthday this week, said the award was a surprise.
She said: “I could say I was shocked even, but soon after that, deep humility and gratitude washed over me because I never expected any such accolades.”
In the past, Ms Hendrickson noted, she received other awards and including one for best chief executive officer in 2019.
However, she said, she expected that accolade based on her contributions to the health sector at the time.
She also won a humanitarian award in 2023 and it came from her efforts to ensure refugees who travelled to Ghana from other parts of Africa were afforded free healthcare.
Ms Hendrickson said: “My company set up free heathcare for almost 1,000 refugees and at the same time for the past 15 years, we set up the children healthcare charity.
“I’m a founding member there and the charity had been paying for children to get open-heart surgery.
“Those I understood because they were based on active things I was doing.”
However, she said, the latest recognition caught her off-guard and added: “In my mind, the things that they had looked at showed that they were looking holistically at all the things that I was doing.”
Karen Hendrickson and her husband, Richard Nwaobi (Photograph courtesy of Karen Hendrickson)
An excited Ms Hendrickson said although she was humbled by the award, presented by the Business Executive group of Ghana, it made her “hyper aware” that there is much more work to be done.
She said: “It is the collective power of my community, the collaboration and courage as we work in our different projects to make things a little bit better than the day before.
“I’m going to now use this platform to actively uplift others so that we can together shape a narrative of progress and create spaces where people can thrive.”
Ms Hendrickson said as someone with Bermudian roots, she felt honoured and humbled by the award.
She said Ghana has more than 30 million people, from which there are at least three to four million expatriates, and she said there may be several dozen Bermudians living in the resource-rich country.
Ms Hendrickson added: “To be selected is nothing short of a miracle, especially since you don’t know that people are watching you.
“I am the type of person who gets on with what I am doing and I try to live my life as transparently as possible.”
Humbled: Karen Hendrickson with her award (Photograph courtesy of Karen Hendrickson)
Born in Jamaica, Ms Hendrickson said that she learnt the values of resilience, hard work and embracing heritage while growing up in Bermuda.
She moved to Ghana 23 years ago to pursue her dreams of developing the African country.
“Coming to Ghana and just continuing with the skill sets that I learnt in Bermuda is truly amazing,” she said.
“I have the same calibre of friends as I had there. We are supporting and celebrating with each other.
“I see Ghana as a beautiful extension of Bermuda.”
A handful of women received awards at the event, and Ms Hendrickson said: “As a group of women, it means we had to be exceptional to be the noted, let alone nominated and to win.”
The former senior vice-president of HSBC runs the airline MalaikAir, a Pan-African carrier that is set to operate from Nigeria soon.
She said the company plans to offer direct flights between West Africa and the Caribbean and the regulatory work is being ironed out before the carrier takes off.
Ms Hendrickson expressed gratitude to the organisers of the awards as well as her husband, her immediate and extended family in Bermuda and everyone who supported her.
Her advice to others working to achieve their goals is to dream boldly,
She added: “Together we should harness our platforms whether big or small, it doesn’t matter.
“Shape a future of inclusion, innovation and inspiration.”
In her call to action, she urged young people to dream boldly and act purposefully, and added that true success lies in how one uplifts others.
