How It All Started

Peter F. Yobo and Pichon P. Duplan started the iStandAbove Organization on December 21st 2007. The vision of iSA was caused by the experiences they had up to that point in their lives. They firmly believed that one’s determination and ability to convert what seems to be an insurmountable obstacle into a stepping stone is the first step of standing above.

The spark that ignited this idea occurred when Peter and Pichon moved to the United States to further their education after growing up in the city of Accra, Ghana. Peter attended the University of Southern California (USC), while Pichon enrolled at Babson College in Massachusetts. At school they were faced with the clash of two cultures; the Ghanaian culture they knew so well and the American culture they were being immersed in.

Upon arrival in the United States, it became apparent to Peter and Pichon that being well spoken was a skill required to rise up the rungs of the ladder of success in both their personal and professional lives. In order to achieve this, together they decided to merge the valuable aspects of both cultures - respect, patience, and humility from the Ghanaian culture and creativity, teamwork, and individualism from the American culture - to form a distinct union of cultures that enabled them to stand above the adversity of cultural conflict in reach of prosperity.

Equipped with the combined benefits of the two significant cultures, they approached life knowing that nothing could deter them from their short and long term goals. It had become apparent that to achieve success in the corporate world, they had to surround themselves with the necessary educational, social, and professional resources that would allow them to stand above any challenges they encountered.

With a passion to give back to their community both in Ghana and the USA, both gentlemen concluded that sharing their outlook with the global youth would be the most rewarding endeavor for both themselves and their communities at large.

Through their initiatives and the recruitment of likeminded people, Peter and Pichon have been able to carry out projects and programs in both Africa and the United States under the iStandAbove organization and are slowly but surely helping young determined individuals in Ghana to achieve the same level of success.