A Seat at the Table: Inside December’s leadership lunch & learn

The December edition of the Leadership Lunch & Learn, a quarterly forum created by Social Influence to cultivate unfiltered conversations between experienced leaders and the next generation of women leaders, convened at Eve by Boz HQ for a timely and thoughtful exchange on leadership in practice. As the final edition of the year, the gathering created space for reflection, recalibration, and forward-looking clarity.

Designed as an intimate yet impactful platform, Leadership Lunch & Learn distinguishes itself by prioritizing honesty over optics and depth over formality. The series brings together women who are actively shaping industries to speak candidly about leadership as it is lived, complex, evolving, and deeply personal.

This final edition of the year featured a distinguished lineup of speakers and mentors whose careers span business, media, governance, culture, and the creative economy: Bozoma Saint John, Nana Yaa Serwaa Sarpong, Angela Carmen Appiah, Chef Maame Boakye, Dorien Toku, Caroline Sampson, Mariam Buahin,Yawa Hansen Quao and Joyce Ella Dodd. Their insights explored influence, resilience, self-advocacy, and the decisions that define leadership over time – framed not as theory, but as practice.

In her keynote, Bozoma Saint John offered a compelling reframing of influence, underscoring the importance of voice and presence long before titles are earned:“Whatever you’re doing at the beginning is how you’ll be at the end. If you’re not speaking up now, you won’t suddenly find your voice at the top. Influence isn’t given, it’s earned and taken.”

Nana Yaa Serwaa Sarpong reflected on resilience and growth, highlighting how experience is shaped not by time alone, but by courage and the willingness to confront challenges:“We don’t gain experience just by the years we live. We gain experience by allowing ourselves to go through the fire – through the pain – and growing from it.”

The speed mentoring sessions translated these insights into action, allowing for direct exchange, clarity, and perspective, the kind that can only emerge through proximity and honest conversation.
As convenor Abena N. Chrappah noted: “When women are given access to the right conversations and the right people, the impact is exponential. That was the intention behind this gathering.”

With a new year ahead, the Leadership Lunch & Learn stood as both a close and a beginning, a moment to reflect, recalibrate, and move forward with greater intention. Grounded in access, strengthened by community, and shaped by meaningful dialogue, it reaffirmed a simple truth: leadership is built in rooms where conversation is honest and presence is intentional.

The post A Seat at the Table: Inside December’s leadership lunch & learn appeared first on The Business & Financial Times.

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