Impact-Stories ·

Episode 9: The Story of Audrey

Foreword Hendrik

Having a career and being a mother at the same time? For many women in Ghana, this is still very difficult to reconcile. A lack of structures, little understanding - and in the end it is often a decision between family and career.

Audrey has managed to combine the two.
Today, she is head of quality management at fairafric. But her path there was anything but easy: she had to quit her job twice because her employers did not take pregnancies into consideration. It was only at fairafric that she found a place where her role as a mother is not seen as an obstacle, but as a strength.

In our new Impact Story, we tell Audrey's story - of setbacks, new beginnings and the courage to never give up.

We hope you enjoy reading it!
Hendrik

A promising start

Audrey Marmon-Halm is a scientist, mother and committed advocate for the rights of women in the workplace. Today, she heads the quality team at fairafric - but her path to this position was anything but easy.

Audrey developed a deep curiosity for science and how things work at an early age. She attended the prestigious Aburi Girls' Senior High School and later graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. Due to her outstanding performance, she was offered a job as a quality analyst at a private cocoa processing company straight after graduation.

But despite her promising start, Audrey's career was interrupted by something that had nothing to do with her performance: Her motherhood.

After marrying her boyfriend from her university days in 2013 and becoming pregnant in 2015, she had to quit her job because her employer offered no support during her pregnancy. Unfortunately, the same story repeated itself in her next job at a plastics company. Although Ghanaian labor law provides for maternity protection, this right is often not enforced - and so Audrey had to leave the company again against her will.

Meet Audrey

Audrey Marmon-Halm was born in 1986 in the Greater Accra Region and grew up in Dansoman. Her love of science and her eye for detail earned her the nickname "Analytical Audrey". She studied chemistry at KNUST and is now head of quality management at fairafric.

No challenge too difficult

Then she heard about fairafric. In 2020, Audrey joined the company as Quality Lead - just as fairafric was starting to build the first solar-powered chocolate factory in rural Ghana .

Just a few weeks after her start, she suddenly took on full responsibility - when the then Quality Manager left the company unexpectedly. Audrey stepped in and led the team through the demanding certification process for one of the highest food safety standards, FSSC-22000: FSSC-22000. Under her leadership, fairafric received its very first food safety certification - even faster than planned.

Since then, Audrey has been promoted to Quality Manager, is part of the management team and has successfully led four more audits. Her scientific understanding, attention to detail and calm, confident leadership make her a central figure in the development of fairafric.

It is thanks to her that the topic of quality plays a central role and that new standards are set for "Made in Africa".

During one of the last audits, one of the auditors even said that the factory of fairafric isone of the best managed he has seen in a long time.

For Audrey, however, it's not just about professional success - it's about values. fairafric offers what many companies in Ghana still fail to do today: a system that truly supports working mothers. With nine months paid maternity leave, three months working from home after giving birth and comprehensive health insurance, Audrey can finally balance her career and family - without compromise. Because, as she puts it:

"Here, a company has given me the chance to shine again."

Identification figure for other colleagues

Audrey has long been more than just our quality manager - she is a figure of identification for many colleagues at fairafric. She leads her team with expertise, clarity and empathy - and passes on her knowledge to the next generation. Her goal: to help shape fairafric strategically and show that management responsibility and family are not a contradiction in terms. We are proud to be on this path with her.

In 2023, alongside her full-time job, Audrey took the bold step of enrolling in the MSc in Food Quality Management at KNUST. For a whole year, this meant packed weeks – working during the weekdays and studying on weekends. Between online lectures and in-person classes at the Accra campus, she showed tireless commitment, perseverance, and determination. In 2024, she proudly held her Master’s degree in her hands – a testament to her discipline, passion, and unwavering will to actively shape her future.

Watch the video now where Audrey talks openly about her journey, the hurdles of being a working mother and what it means to her to have found a place at fairafric where both family and career are possible.

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