Sandra Appiah is the co-founder and CEO of pan-African media company Face2Face Africa. She is also Managing Partner at Babu Global, an international consultancy, communication and marketing firm specializing on the pan-African market.
Early life and education
Appiah was born in eastern Ghana in a small town in 1989, immigrated to Italy at the age of 8, and lived in Milan. At the age of 12, her family immigrated again to New York City. Appiah attended high school in the Bronx, where she graduated as valedictorian and received a scholarship to the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. She majored in television, radio, and film with a minor in acting, and graduated magna cum laude, supported by the New York Times College Scholarship and the Jonathan Levin Scholarship. She experienced racism and misinformed beliefs about Africans in Italy and in the US, from African-Americans as well as from other ethnicities. As a result, she felt ashamed of her heritage, until a return visit to Ghana during her second year at university.
Career
After graduation, Appiah worked for The New York Times, HBO, and MTV. She was also a filmmaker of several documentaries. In 2011, Appiah and partner Isaac O. Babu-Boateng launched Face2Face Africa, a pan-African media company. Drawing from their experiences growing up as African immigrants in the United States, the two created an online platform and a print magazine in order to help rebrand the image of Africa within the global community. Appiah serves as the editor-in-chief of Face2face Africa’s print magazine. In 2016, they launched Babu Global, the parent company of Face2Face Africa. In 2017, Babu Global launched the Ghana Legacy Honors in Accra. Through Babu Global, they offer consultancy, marketing and communication strategies for multinational firms with an interest in the pan-African market. Appiah has also hosted an online talk show, interviewing among others Jesse Jackson, Alek Wek, Femi Kuti, Serge Ibaka, and Lira. She has spoken at conferences and forums on Africa, women empowerment, and other pertinent social issues.
