The Founder
"I started NAYA over 10 years ago (2010) in my kitchen in Atlanta, GA to take mental breaks from my software developer career. However, in 2014, I moved to Ghana and realized my hobby could make a bigger impact and touch more lives if it evolved into a full-time business. So, I quit my day job and put my time, resources, and learning into improving the products and building a brand people can love and share. Products with ingredients I know, and that care for the skin. Products that create a sustainable market for the many women who process Shea butter, Baobab Oil, and Black soap around Ghana. Plant-based products innovated and managed by mostly young women in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Math) with an incredible reputation for quality, and consistency in product development, distribution, and retail. I've been lucky to build a brand that does just that.
From my home to yours,
Thank you for trusting me and sharing in my journey."
Nana Ama Yankah
Nana Ama Yankah is the Founder & CEO of NAYA Naturals Limited which owns the NAYA by Africa beauty brand. An industrious woman with a passion to transform how we think about STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) and how we can improve the socio-economic lives of people through manufacturing and industry.
Nana Ama grew up in Ghana and attended Wesley Girls High School, after which she attained a scholarship to study in the United States of America. After college, she spent the first 9 years of her career developing technology solutions to manage cost and improve efficiencies for various manufacturing companies across US and Australia. The work introduced her to complex manufacturing processes in various industries and how manufacturing influenced the development of people and communities.
Her reintroduction to Shea Butter, as a needed commodity in the trending natural hair movement, was a transformational moment that gave birth to the idea of the NAYA by Africa Brand. In 2014, she moved back to Ghana and noticed the limited options in locally produced personal care products. Our indigenous Shea Butter and Black Soap which are safe, healthy and effective personal care products and have been around for generations, was still used as is, with little to no innovation to their finished products. Her passion is to create unique personal and home care products that people love to use and share. Products that will create jobs, empower people, develop more women leaders and build industries and develop communities. Products that will inspire people to innovate more in Africa.
Nana Ama graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BBA from Savannah State University in Computer Information Systems and Mathematics and holds an MBA from Emory University’s prestigious Goizueta Business School in Atlanta, GA.
How did NAYA by Africa start?
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