Resume

 ESI W. CLELAND

P.O. Box 14132, Accra, Ghana                              +233.27.860.4615                        esi.cleland@maameous.com

Talented copywriter and proven public speaker; experienced in writing for tv, radio, web, newspapers, and documentaries for food and beverages brands, telecommunications, airlines, engineering, and medical fields; highly adaptable to working in teams or independently in unpredictable and demanding environments.

EXPERIENCE

Copywriter, Publicis Ghana  Apr ‘09 - Present 

·         Developed Global campaign for Nestle internal communications which won a pitch against the best of Ogilvy and JWT worldwide. 
·         Developed  360-degree  campaigns for Nestlé  Consumer Services, Nestlé Professional, Nescafé, Maggi, Nido, Cerelac, Vodafone, Brussels Airlines,  West Africa Trade Hub, L’Oreal, and Oral B

·         All campaigns except Vodafone Brand Campaign were launched across Central and West Africa.

·         Oversee campaigns through the production stage to completion.

·         Keep up to date with popular culture and trends in the Central and West Africa region.

Blogger Sep ‘08 - Present

• Blog is ranked #3 out of 214 Ghana blogs (source: Afrigator.com, the African blog aggregator).

• With nearly 350 followers, it is the most followed and the most loved blog in Ghana.

• Topics centre on all that is fun, interesting and funny about Ghanaians and their way of life.

Journalistic Writing and Editing Sep ‘03 - Present

• Opinions Editor of the Smith College Newspaper, The Sophian; edited all articles submitted for opinions columns, and earned a reputation for sparking campus-wide debates.

• Articles in Canoe Quarterly and The AFRican lifestyle magazine

• Reader for The Baobab Prize, an African literary writing competition

Business Writing – Able to understand what businesses wish to communicate to clients and stakeholders and craft the best words to effectively deliver these messages.

GECAD Ghana Ltd. Sep ‘08 – Apr ‘08

• Wrote the business plan for a proposed world-class multi-million dollar outpatient medical diagnostic centre.

• Performed feasibility study and market research to assess the economic viability, equipment needs, market potential and level of competition of medical diagnostics in the West African sub region.

Office of Licensing & Ventures, Duke University May ‘07 - May ‘08

• Developed marketing documents and mailings which were sent to corporate clients like Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Amgen, L’oreal etc to attract potential commercial licensees for Duke-developed innovations and clinical assets.

• Conducted marketability analyses to determine commercial potential of innovative technologies.

Duke Advanced Imaging Laboratories, NC, USA Sep ’07 -Jul ‘08

• Co-wrote 3 scientific abstracts for presentation at the 2008 AAPM and ASTRO conferences based on research on the potential of dynamic contrast enhanced MRI to predict efficacy of chemo-radiation cancer therapy.

Ghana New Ventures Competition (GNVC) Inc, Ghana  May ’04 - May’05                     
 •Advertised for GNVC in 10 U.S colleges by writing articles in college newspapers, creating flyers, and PowerPoint presentations.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Technical Writing - Knack for translating dense, scientific manuscripts into crisp and readable language that consumers and business development executives understand.

Biophysics Lab., International University, Bremen, Germany May ’04 - Aug’04

• Wrote detailed manuals to teach future scientists to use complex biomedical equipment correctly.

Image-Smith’s Inc., MD, USA Jun ’05 -Feb ‘06

• Co-authored 2 publications which summarized the research findings on the accuracy and precision of a system to determine the resolution and noise properties of medical grade displays in clinical settings.

Related Interests

• Aspiring novelist; working on debut novel, to be completed in 2011; published Choices a short story on StoryTime, an African new fiction freezine (ISSN: 2072 -9359)

• Year-long stint doing voice-overs for radio and television in English, Twi and Fanti

• Student speaker at Smith College commencement 2006; wrote and delivered a speech to over seven thousand people, which received a standing ovation and influenced an alumna to make a substantial donation in my honor to support financial aid at Smith College.

EDUCATION

Duke University, Durham, NC, US Degree obtained in May ‘08

M.S. in Medical Physics with concentration in Diagnostic Imaging

Graduate Student Fellowship

Smith College, Northampton, MA, US Degree obtained in May ‘06, cum laude

B.A. in Physics; Minor: Engineering

Adelaide W. Bull Paganelli Physics Prize, Elected to Sigma Xi, IBM/APS fellowship finalist, First Group Scholar (Top 5% of class), Dean’s List, National Dean’s List, Teaching Assistant: Classical Mechanics, Mathematical Methods for Engineering, Modern Physics), Recipient of the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation Merit Scholarship for academics and leadership, Chair of service organization

Wesley Girls High School (WGHS), Cape- Coast, Ghana

2nd prize for a national writing competition in Ghana, Co-president, of Writers and Debaters Club, produced student magazine; organized debates between WGHS and other secondary schools, notably Holy Child Secondary School, and Presbyterian Boys Secondary School.

Relevant courses:

• Seminar on the role of formal logic in persuasive writing.

•Three 6-week long writing seminars which emphasized technique and structure in writing.

Related Skills: IMAGE J, Adobe (Photoshop, Image Ready, Illustrator, Premiere) Macromedia Dream weaver (MX, 4), I-movie, Corel Draw, Microsoft Office Suite, EndNote, basic html

Languages: English, Twi, Fante, French (basic)

Travels: USA, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Nigeria, La Cote D’Ivoire, Senegal