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Oral Ofori

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Oral Ofori
Oral Kwame Ofori
Born(1980-01-26)January 26, 1980
Tema, Ghana
NationalityGhanaian-American
OccupationDigital media producer
Years active2006 – present
Known forFounding TheAfricanDream[1][2] and Coordinating Seminar on Ghana's RTI bill in US[3][4]
SpouseAlda Lee Viglione
Websitewww.oralofori.com

Oral Kwame Ofori (born January 26, 1980), professionally known as Oral Ofori, is a Ghanaian-American award-winning[5][6] digital media producer and blogger,[7][8][9] freelance journalist, entrepreneur, and writer. Born in Tema, he is also the founder of the US-based communication consultancy TheAfricanDream LLC.[10][2] In February 2018 Ofori took on a language interpretation job as a level II interpreter of the Twi and Ga language with the Fairfax County Public Schools system.[11] In December 2021 Mr. Ofori started work with the Embassy of Ghana, Washington, D.C. as Head of the Customer Relations Office[12][13] under Ambassador Alima Mahama. In February 2024 Mr Ofori's firm TheAfricanDream LLC partnered the Washington DC government in the United States to provide media for the event dubbed Africa on the Avenue to support local businesses.[14]

Early life, career and education

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Born to Ghanaian parents in Tema, Oral Ofori graduated from Chemu Senior High School in 1998 and completed his journalism studies at the London School of Journalism in 2006. The following year, he began an internship with the Voice of America (VOA) in Washington, D.C., as a radio news reporter and contributor.[15][16]

Ofori is also a columnist for Ghanaian news websites such as GhanaWeb,[17] ModernGhana,[18] and the US-based Afrikan Post newspaper.[19] He has also contributed to publications including the Los Angeles Sentinel,[20] Swedish news magazine Beyond Borders,[21] the Dallas Weekly,[22] the North Dallas Gazette,[23] and the Baltimore Times.[24]

Since 2014, Ofori has been host and producer of #TheAfricanDream show[25] aired on Fairfax, Virginia Public-access television's[26][27] channel 30.

Reporting and interviews

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Ofori formally started a blog in 2011 [28] and has since then written about or interviewed persons including Mayor Peter Bossman,[29] scientist and fiber optics innovator Dr. Thomas Mensah,[30] Anthony K. Wutoh; Howard University Provost and Chief Academic Officer,[31][32] and musician and artist Koby Maxwell.[33]

Some of his other interview subjects have been Deborah Addo of INOVA Hospitals in the US,[34][35] Grammy-nominated musician and activist Rocky Dawuni,[36] sportscaster Sonny Young of Voice Of America,[37] historic Quander family member Rohulamin Quander,[38] Hege Hertzberg, former Ambassador of Norway to Ghana, Gambia, Mali, Burkina Faso and Liberia, and among others Howard University Professor Michael C. Campbell.[39]

Recognitions

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Year Recognition Body
2023 Honored for Promoting the African Story globally Ghanaian Professionals Network, Texas[40]
2023 2022 Winner, Best Diaspora Blog Afrobloggers, Diaspora[41][42]
2020 2020 Top Ten D.C. Media & Film Awardee Ayoo Africa, Washington DC[43][44]
2018 Over 50 episodes produced of #TheAfricanDream TV show Fairfax Public Access, Virginia[45][46]
2013 Diversity Empowerment Awardee ACM New England, US[47][48]


References

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  1. ^ "TheAfricanDream trademark". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  2. ^ a b "TheAfricanDream LLC Business Entity Details". alignable.com. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  3. ^ "Ghana Embassy in U.S. to host forum on RTI bill". modernghana.com. September 2, 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  4. ^ "RTI Bill forum". Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  5. ^ "WPAA Tv award".
  6. ^ "2020 Top Media Awardees". 10 September 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  7. ^ "TV Producer/Blogger from Ghana wins award in the USA". www.ghanaweb.com. 30 August 2014. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  8. ^ "Blogger Week Ambassadors - Blogger Week UnConference". Blogger Week UnConference. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  9. ^ "#TheAfricanDream show produced by Oral Ofori on FPA passes 50th episode". www.ghanaweb.com. 26 October 2018. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  10. ^ "TheAfricanDream LLC Business Entity Details". sccefile.scc.virginia.gov. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  11. ^ "Interpreter". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
  12. ^ "Ofori at Ghana Embassy in U.S." Ghana Embassy, DC. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
  13. ^ "Some publications posted in tenure of Ofori at the Embassy". Retrieved 2022-02-26.
  14. ^ "Africa on the Avenue 2024". District Bridges. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  15. ^ "Oral Ofori #JollofFestival Organizer is Interviewed by Vincent Makori – VOA Africa News". newsvideo.su. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  16. ^ "British Philanthropist and Sports Gear Company Campaign for World Peace". VOA. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  17. ^ "Columnist Ofori, Oral". www.ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  18. ^ "Modern Ghana". www.modernghana.com. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  19. ^ "September 2016 online version". Issuu. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  20. ^ "You searched for TheAfricanDream - Los Angeles Sentinel". Los Angeles Sentinel. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  21. ^ "Search result | Beyond Borders". Beyond Borders Magazine. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  22. ^ Weekly, The Dallas. "Search". The Dallas Weekly. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  23. ^ "You searched for Oral Ofori - North Dallas Gazette". North Dallas Gazette. 26 December 2015. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  24. ^ Ofori, Oral (2016-01-06). "Kenyan artist Almaz to keep indigenous music alive". m.baltimoretimes-online.com. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  25. ^ "Search". Fairfax Public Access.
  26. ^ "#TheAfricanDream show produced by Oral Ofori on FPA passes 50th episode". www.ghanaweb.com. 26 October 2018. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  27. ^ "#TheAfricanDream show". www.fcac.org. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  28. ^ "Oral Ofori's first blog". oralofori.blogspot.com. 24 October 2011. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
  29. ^ "Mayor Peter Bossman of Piran in Slovenia on TheAfricanDream.net". www.theafricandream.net. 6 June 2017. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  30. ^ "Dr. Thomas Mensah identify paths to industrialize Africa - North Dallas Gazette". North Dallas Gazette. 2015-12-01. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  31. ^ "Howard Appoints Dr. Anthony K. Wutoh, Provost And Chief Academic Officer | Howard University". www2.howard.edu. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  32. ^ "Howard University Partners with Google to raise percentage of black computer scientist and engineers". GhLinks.com.gh™. 2017-07-06. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  33. ^ "Koby Maxwell to celebrate Ghana independence in American Diaspora". www.ghanaweb.com. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  34. ^ Inova. "Deborah Addo, CEO of Inova Loudoun Hospital - Inova". www.inova.org. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  35. ^ "Deborah Addo, CEO of Inova Mount Vernon hospital has Ghana connection". www.ghanaweb.com. 16 January 2015. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  36. ^ "Rocky Dawuni - The African Dream". The African Dream. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  37. ^ "Sonny Young – Sonny Side of Sports". 3 August 2018.
  38. ^ "Quander family member". www.Hypercitigh.com. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
  39. ^ "HU Biologist's Participation in Study Leads to Genetic Discovery Challenging Skin Color as Characteristic of Race". Howard Newsroom. 2017-11-21. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  40. ^ "Ghanaian Professionals Network host Night of Excellence in Texas honoring persons from Ghana". ModernGhana. January 18, 2024.
  41. ^ "The Afrobloggers Awards » Afrobloggers". December 2, 2020.
  42. ^ "AbAwards2022 Winners » Afrobloggers". March 25, 2023.
  43. ^ Beenie, Elorm (September 10, 2020). "Oral Ofori of 'The African Dream' bags another US award, this time in Washington DC | Beenie Words".
  44. ^ "2020 Top Media DC".
  45. ^ "#TheAfricanDream show produced by Oral Ofori on FPA passes 50th episode". GhanaWeb. October 26, 2018.
  46. ^ "#TheAfricanDream show". www.fcac.org. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  47. ^ "Citizen Media-Maker Awards · WPAA-TV". wpaa.tv.
  48. ^ "TV show recognized for diversity empowerment". www.ghanaweb.com. 30 August 2014.
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