For more than a decade, the MTN Heroes of Change platform has been turning the spotlight on Ghanaians who quietly take on problems in their communities, often with little recognition, and giving some of them the resources and visibility to take their work further.
Now, the MTN Ghana Foundation is inviting the public to identify another generation of such changemakers as nominations open for Season 8 of the Heroes of Change programme.
Nominations will remain open until October 19, 2026, with Ghanaians encouraged to nominate individuals whose work demonstrates clear and sustainable impact in Education, Health or Economic Empowerment.
Nominations can be submitted through the MTN Ghana website or at any MTN Service Centre.
The latest edition comes with a substantially enlarged financial package, with the overall winner set to receive GH¢400,000, while winners in each of the three main categories will receive GH¢200,000 to support and scale their initiatives.
Nominators whose nominees make it into the top 10 will also be rewarded, while special recognition will be given for outstanding contributions in Sustainability and Digital Innovation.
But the significance of Heroes of Change is not only in the cheques presented at the end of each season.
Since the initiative was launched in 2013, it has provided a national platform for individuals whose work might otherwise have remained largely within their communities. Over the years, the programme has recognised more than 100 heroes across its various seasons, with their work spanning healthcare, education, social protection, community development and economic empowerment.
For some honourees, the recognition has translated into an opportunity to deepen work that was already making a difference.
Season Five winner Charles Ofori Antipem, for instance, developed a locally manufactured mobile science laboratory designed to make practical science accessible to students. By the time of his recognition in 2019, the initiative had reached hundreds of schools, trained hundreds of teachers and given thousands of pupils access to practical science education.
The platform has also provided visibility to people working in areas where resources are particularly scarce.
Genevieve Basigha, a former winner who established a school for children with hearing and speech impairments, said the exposure she received through Heroes of Change helped her attract donations from other individuals and organisations.
The impact has not been limited to education and community-based initiatives.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Season Six shifted its focus to individuals and institutions that had made significant contributions to the national response. Among those recognised was Professor William Kwabena Ampofo, whose work in establishing and expanding COVID-19 testing capacity included the development of a pooled-sample testing system capable of processing about 10,000 samples a day.
The examples illustrate the broader role the programme has come to play: identifying people already responding to social challenges and providing recognition, visibility and resources that can potentially help their interventions reach more people.
That record provides the backdrop to Season 8, which is being held as part of MTN Ghana’s 30th anniversary celebrations and under the company’s “Force for Good” philosophy.
Adwoa Wiafe, Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer of MTN Ghana, said Heroes of Change was established to recognise individuals whose quiet acts of service are transforming lives.
“Heroes of Change celebrates people who serve their communities without seeking recognition or reward. Through Season 8, we want to identify and support more of these remarkable individuals whose work is creating sustainable impact and inspiring others,” she said.
She added that this year’s initiative aligns with MTN Ghana’s 30th anniversary and its “Force for Good” philosophy, which harnesses the company’s resources, partnerships and platforms to create meaningful impact and contribute to national development.
The increased prize money means that the eventual beneficiaries could have considerably more resources with which to expand their work than winners in earlier seasons.
The overall prize of GH¢400,000 is twice the GH¢200,000 top prize announced for the previous edition, while the GH¢200,000 allocated to each category winner represents a substantial increase over earlier awards.
For communities where individuals have been sustaining schools, health interventions, livelihood projects or other social initiatives largely through personal sacrifice and limited resources, the nomination process therefore offers more than an opportunity for public recognition.
It could put their work before a national audience and, for those who progress through the competition, provide financial support to turn community-level interventions into larger and more sustainable initiatives.
MTN Ghana is consequently urging the public to look beyond prominent personalities and nominate people whose everyday work is producing measurable change in their communities.
The call is for individuals whose contribution is already making a difference, but whose stories may not yet have travelled beyond the communities they serve.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
