Episode 299: Creating Ecosystems at the Intersection of Artistry and Technology with Derrick Ashong

Season’s Greetings Glocal Citizens! I met this week’s guest, Derrick N. Ashong, earlier this year in Nairobi at the Charter Cities Institute, 2025 New Cities Summit. At the summit, we connected as storytellers that share Ghanaian heritage and formative years spent in Brooklyn, New York. In a glocal citizenship twist, we later came to find that we met virtually years prior through mutual connections in the media and arts spaces. Derrick’s work leverages his international upbringing which informs his company’s vision for Turning Culture into Currency for creators and fans worldwide. He does this as founder and CEO of TBTM, a media fintech that uses content to onboard global audiences to inclusive financial solutions, with partners like Mastercard. While still a student at Harvard, he played a supporting role in Steven Spielberg’s Amistad, and went on to top charts with his band, winning a Billboard Songwriting Award. As a host and producer, he pioneered multi-platform interactive content with Oprah Winfrey, and major media platforms including ABC-Disney and Univision, earning three Emmy nods and a Royal Television Society Award. His original Take Back the Mic television series has won seven major international awards and achieved 1.1 Billion media impressions worldwide. He has delivered electrifying speeches on issues of Youth Culture and Tech for UK Parliament, the United Nations, and the world’s most elite business schools, including Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Wharton, Cambridge and London School of Economics. He has interviewed celebrities and global luminaries ranging from Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Kofi Annan, to Zoe Saldaña, Kevin Hart and Steven Wozniak, among others. Most recently, he has delivered keynote speeches for Mastercard, Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and Kigali, as well as SuperReturn Africa--the continent’s top investment forum. In this conversation we get to know even more about the next phase of Derrick’s vision for flipping the script on creative industry infrastructure in Africa. #Listenandlearn more! Where to find Derrick? On LinkedIn On Instagram On YouTube What’s Derrick reading? Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Series Lord of the Rings by J.J.R Tolkien Other topics of interest: About Larteh in Ghana Where are Dansoman and Adabraka in Accra? What was music streaming like in the early 2000’s? Soulfege performs Sweet Remix About Uechi-Ryū Martial ArtsSpecial Guest: Derrick N. Ashong.