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Transplant of 6.5 years from

Atlanta, GA

Do you have a pet? If so, what

kind & name?

No, but I do have an adorable 2-

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Do you speak another

language? If yes, which?

I studied French in school.

What is your favorite Cleveland

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The Cleveland Cultural Gardens

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Don's Lighthouse

Originally Published: October 04, 2014 4:30 AM Modified: October 07, 2014 8:41 AMJoan Curran Darkortey, 34Executive assistant to general counsel, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland By Kevin Kleps

Photo by MCKINLEY WILEYOn the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland’s website, Joan Curran Darkortey is an executive assistant, but she functions as so much more.

“The candid truth about most organizations is people typecast people in current roles,” Curran Darkortey said. “I want to be viewed as something greater than what I end up doing. I know that I’ve demonstrated leadership capacity, not only through my service, but through the caliber of work that I’ve done for the organization.”

In addition to helping William D. Fosnight, the Federal Reserve’s senior vice president and general counsel, Curran Darkortey said she has made it her “duty to be involved” in as many areas of the bank as possible — from networking groups, to planning and leadership activities.

“She’s demonstrated a very significant commitment to learning and growing,” Fosnight said. “She’s very interested in expanding her horizons and making herself a better educated person. It’s always very good when you have somebody that shows that kind of drive. It tends to work to their advantage in other things that they do.”

After she was twice rejected in applications to law school, Curran Darkortey, a Liberia native who moved to Cleveland from Atlanta in 2007, took an aptitude test that showed she was best suited to work in communications, business or law.

“I said this law thing is not my friend. Let me try business,” she said.

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Who is the most famous

person you've ever met?

Tie between Pres. Bill Clinton

and Pres. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

(Liberia & Africa's first female

president)

If fat, calories, cholesterol, etc.

were not an issue, what food

would you feast on?

Any and all seafood – snow

crabs, shrimp, oysters, calamari,

escargot…

What did you want to be in 2nd

grade?

A doctor and motivational

speaker

What are you most looking

forward to in the next 5 years

in Cleveland?

I look forward to using my legal

and business training to work in a

leadership capacity at my

employer and find new and

meaningful ways to serve my

community by sharing resources

and opportunities with others.

In May, Curran Darkortey earned a master’s degree and graduated in the top of her class at Cleveland State University’s Monte Ahuja College of Business. She envisions herself working in a management role, preferably at the Federal Reserve, in the coming years, while, as is her nature, remaining involved in many other functions.

Curran Darkortey and her husband, Rufus Darkortey, a senior financial accountant at Forest City Enterprises Inc., launched the Liberia Economic Development Initiative in 2007, the year Curran Darkortey moved from Atlanta and started her job at the Federal Reserve.

The Cleveland-based nonprofit, LEDI for short, has a simple mission: “Reduce poverty and change lives” in the husband-and-wife team’s native country.

“We’re trying to build the first modern library in Liberia,” Curran Darkortey said. “That’s our goal, because you can’t take everyone out of the country, but you can bring new ideas. You can bring innovation. Some of these people, war is all they’ve known.”

LEDI recently gave out 10 scholarships to Liberian students, including one for a student entering college. Curran Darkortey said the library project was launched in 2011, and she and her husband hope to eventually hold a fundraising gala in Cleveland. Curran Darkortey said Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf had agreed to speak at the event, but that was before the Ebola crisis struck the country.

Rufus and Joan Darkortey have a 2-year-old son, Rufus Jr. Curran Darkortey, who immigrated to Atlanta from Liberia when she was 5, serves as the public relations and marketing chair of the Black Professionals Association Charitable Foundation, and she is involved in several charitable functions at the Federal Reserve. She was also appointed to the board of the Cleveland State University Alumni Association.

“She’s very much a go-getter,” Fosnight said.

Curran Darkortey describes herself in a different manner.

“It’s education vs. homelessness and poverty,” she said. “I’m passionate about education. I’m passionate about helping people.”

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