Prof. Ofori-Atta is a Clinical Psychologist at University of Ghana Medical School, Ghana. Angela has taught and practiced as a clinical psychologist at the University of Ghana Medical Center since she graduated with a doctorate from the University of British Columbia in 1992, where she was a commonwealth scholar for six years. Between 1994 and 1998, she was part of a team that set up mental health services in the most deprived region of Ghana; the Upper West Region.
She also set up and ran two volunteer organizations: Youthwatch for AIDS which taught 10,000 pupils about HIV/AIDS from an empowerment and psychological perspective, while the volunteer project renovated the children’s ward of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital and brought young volunteers from Holland and Ghana to stimulate the patients on the ward. Angela served on boards of various non-governmental and civil society organizations working in the area of democracy and good governance. These included the Centre for Democracy and Development, the Busia Foundation, and the Ghana Integrity Initiative.
After seven years of teaching, Angela entered into the world of politics as a Deputy Minister for Manpower Development and Employment. During that time, the International Labor Organization (ILO) arranged two weeks of one-on-one tuition in employment issues at the ILO’s centre in Turin. In less than two years of government office, Angela expanded a government project of skills training and employment placement (STEP) of 2,000 participants to 30,000, and is acknowledged for making employment a cross-cutting issue of the development strategy for Ghana in the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy.
Out of government but continuing in active political life, Angela worked on President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s 2005 election campaign both in Liberia and in West Africa. She has since been part of an ILO mission to Liberia to assess employment issues for a nation now emerging from conflict. Currently, Angela continues to teach at the medical school while pursuing her civil society and political interests. Angela is married to Ken and they have three children.
She has a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and Zoology from the University of Ghana. Since her teaching career began, Angela has introduced new courses to the curriculum of both the departments of Psychiatry and Psychology in Ethics and Professionalism.