Meet Amma Boakye-Danquah
Amma is a strategic advisor with a mission. With more than 16 years of experience shaping education systems and youth leadership across West Africa, she's not your typical consultant. Working with heavyweight organisations such as USAID and Innovations for Poverty Action, Amma specialises in turning data into decisions and evidence into policy. Her superpower? Creating spaces where people actually want to share, especially those who typically stay silent.
Amma’s challenge
Imagine running strategic meetings for international development teams where:
- Power dynamics keep people from speaking openly
- Conversations run one way from the stage
- You can’t tell what the audience is thinking, learning, or struggling with
- Global Audiences need guided thinking
Traditional meeting formats were leaving critical insights on the table. Critical perspectives were lost, especially from those least likely to speak up. Amma knew there had to be a better way.
The covid-19 catalyst
When COVID pushed meetings online, we were forced to rethink how to keep people engaged. But once we returned to in-person sessions, many reverted to one-way presentations that hid what audiences were actually thinking or needing. That’s when , Amma discovered AhaSlides, and everything changed. More than a presentation tool, she needed a partner to capture critical learning. She needed a way to:
- Get feedback from the room
- Understand what participants truly know
- Reflect on learning in real-time
- Make meetings interactive and engaging
Amma’s Aha moments
Amma implemented partial anonymity during presentations. Suddenly, conversations that were once stuck became fluid. Participants could share without fear, especially in hierarchical settings.
Instead of static slides, Amma created dynamic experiences:
- Spinner wheels for random participant engagement
- Framstegsspårning i realtid
- Content modification based on participant interactions
- Session evaluations that guided the next days convening
Her approach went beyond the need to make meetings interesting. They focused on gathering meaningful insights:
- Tracking what participants understand
- Capturing their values
- Creating opportunities for deeper discussions
- Leveraging ideas to develop new knowledge products
Amma also used tools like Canva to elevate presentation design, ensuring she could hold high-level meetings with ministers while maintaining professional standards.
Resultaten
✅ Formal and stiff high stakes meetings became dynamic conversations
✅ Shy participants began to share openly
✅Teams built trust
✅ Hidden insights uncovered
✅ Data driven decisions unlocked
Quick-fire Q&A with Amma
What's your favourite AhaSlides feature?
The ability to get qualitative data and have people vote in real time is a wonderful way to democratize decision-making with limited time. We still end up discussing the outcomes and often deciding that the end result needs tweaking, but it allows for equity of voices.
How would your audience describe your sessions in one word?
"Engagerande"
AhaSlides in one word?
"Insiktsfull"
What emoji best sums up your sessions?
💪🏾
