Frances Mensah Williams

Managing Editor, ReConnect Africa

Frances is the founder and Managing Editor of ReConnect Africa.com. an award-winning global online careers and people management portal for professionals of African heritage and descent. Since its launch in 2007, ReConnect Africa now reaches over 38,000 subscribers globally and the website attracts visitors from more than 90 countries around the world.

She is an author, speaker and Business and HR Consultant and the founder and Chief Executive of Interims for Development Ltd., an award-winning UK-based Human Resources, Training and Coaching consultancy. Interims has undertaken a range of projects for organisations in the UK and within Africa designed to build management and entrepreneurship capacity and skills. These have included the recruitment and placement of Interim Managers on development projects and the delivery of management courses and enterprise training in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria. She has won a number of awards recognising her approach, specifically in innovation and enterprise.

Frances is also an experienced Executive Coach and development practitioner who has over 20 years’ experience in Human Resources management in the UK and Africa.Her passion is people development through delivering training seminars and career workshops as well as providing development coaching, both in person and by phone, to senior executives from companies including Shell International, Diageo Africa, Cisco Systems, Aston Martin, IATA, the African Foundation for Development, and the African Capacity Building Foundation.

She has worked at senior levels for leading private sector companies in the UK and her career has included experience across a diverse range of sectors including international development, advertising, media, banking and financial services. Her experience of working in Africa includes working with the Central Bank of Ghana before taking up the position of Director of Human Resources for Cal Bank, one of Ghana’s leading banks.

Frances has written extensively on issues relating to people development, careers and Africa and is a guest columnist for several publications. She has spoken at numerous conferences and forums on skills development, Africa and the African diaspora and was a speaker at the December 2014 TEDxEuston event in London.

She is also the author of the novel ‘From Pasta to Pigfoot’ and the non-fiction titles ‘I Want to Work in Africa: How to Move Your Career to the World’s Most Exciting Continent’ and ‘Everyday Heroes: Learning from the Careers of Successful Black Professionals’.