PEACE HYDE
Peace Hyde is an award-winning producer, TV Host, Motivational speaker and activist. She is also the Head of Digital Media and Partnerships as well as the West African Correspondent at Forbes Africa. In her current role, she is responsible for working across the company’s digital platform on revenue and audience growth initiatives as well as the editorial head for the African region.
She is the creator and producer as well as the host of two leading flagship talk shows, Forbes Africa’s My Worst Day with Peace Hyde, the only show that speaks to Africa’s billionaires; and Forbes Woman Africa’s Against the Odds on the CNBC Africa channel on DSTV reaching over 60 million households in Sub Saharan Africa.
In 2018, she was shortlisted from a pool of 30,000 African leaders to be part of the 200 Inaugural Obama Foundation Africa Leaders, a recognition that highlights her remarkable work with her education non-profit initiative, Aim Higher Africa, which has built over 3000 businesses for grassroots entrepreneurs and created opportunities for millions of unemployed youths in Africa.
Peace’s work has been featured on CNN, Forbes, Black Enterprise, Huffington Post, Ebony, Fox News, Essence and many more. She was named as one of the United Nations Most Influential People of African Decent list for 2017 and 2018. She also sits on the judging panel for the prestigious Chivas Venture Fund, which awards social entrepreneurs with up to $2 million in investment funds. What attracted you to GAIA and what impact has it had on you?
I have been living and working in Nigeria for three years now and I have grown to love the culture and warmth of Nigerians as well as the drive and tenacity in which they pursue business. Working as a journalist for Forbes Africa, I have interviewed several highprofile entrepreneurs and one thing that sticks out to me every time is, why are there not more women at the top of their game? Out of the Forbes Africa rich list, there is only one Woman from Nigeria who is a billionaire and I simply find it shocking. The answer cannot be because women are not as good in business as their male counterparts because that is simply not true. In fact, having women on boards in business has been proven to improve the entire organizations performance dramatically. So what is the reason? I believe the reason is we do not have a community and an ecosystem that supports that growth and pushes women to keep striving forward in business and that is what attracted me to GAIA. A community that places emphasis for the first time on professional women coming together to also broker the million-dollar deals that we are used to hearing from men. When women collaborate and support each other, we have no choice but to thrive. I believe now is a time to give men a run for their money, and it 18 starts with clubs like GAIA. Where do you see GAIA in the next five years?
I hope the “movement” can spread to other parts of the African continent including my home country Ghana. I think this could be a force that galvanizes the continent’s elite business women and use that power to create opportunities for younger women coming up in business. Sometimes all we need is a fellow sister showing us the ropes to let us know that everything is going to be ok. Have you participated in the Business Dining Club? What was your take on it.
I think the GAIA business dinning club is a unique experience. It does not focus on status or any superficial accolade but rather on the quality and substance of the women in attendance. There is none of the usual back biting and gossiping but instead a refreshingly open atmosphere where women can connect and relax over good food and discuss what is going on in the business world. One of the things that GAIA does really well is how they are able to select a quality group of professionals from various industries who can cross pollinate ideas and connect each other to other business opportunities.