Projects
The Too Known Podcast
The Too Known Podcast is a limited series that centers a generation navigating life between cultures. Hosted by Dr. Rita Nketiah and Dr. Kirstie Kwarteng, the podcast explores the experiences of 1.5 and second generation Ghanaians across the diaspora. Through conversations on language loss, returning home, and identity, the podcast examines how young Ghanaians in the diaspora are reshaping Ghanaian culture and redefining what it means to be Ghanaian abroad.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music
AFFORD Diaspora Trade and Investment Mission to Ghana
Supported by a SOAS Impact Acceleration Account grant, Dr. Kirstie led a diaspora trade and investment mission to Ghana in collaboration with the African Foundation for Development (AFFORD UK), with partners including the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Ghana, MDF West Africa, and the Diaspora Affairs Office at the Office of the President of Ghana. The mission brought African diaspora investors and business owners to Ghana to engage directly with entrepreneurs, policymakers, and institutions in the heritage, tourism, agriculture, and real estate sectors. Grounded in Dr. Kirstie’s research showing that second generation diasporans prefer investment and skills based engagement over traditional remittance sending, the mission focused on trust, building long term relationships needed to support diaspora-led investment, and understanding local contexts and new forms of diaspora finance.
The Nana Project
The Nana Project is an online archive dedicated to preserving firsthand accounts of Ghana’s history through the voices of Ghanaian elders. It is through the stories of our elders that we learn about our history and ourselves. It is our mission to create a space where we can gain knowledge about Ghana’s past and protect it for future generations.
Visit The Nana Project
Sorry for My Left: The Transnational Practices and Identity Formation of Second-Generation Ghanaians
This research provides new perspectives on what diaspora engagement looks like beyond the first generation. Focusing on second generation Ghanaians in London, New York, and Accra, the project explores how identity, belonging, and place shape the ways young people in diaspora communities remain connected across borders. The study shows how second generation Ghanaian life takes shape through community building, media, and digital spaces, and how race, language, and Black identity influence who engages with Ghana, who builds ties within the diaspora, and how those connections are sustained.The project pushes back against the idea that second generation engagement is weaker than that of the first generation, showing instead how it is different, intentional, and deeply rooted.