Yaw Sarpong-Kumankuma

Yaw Sarpong-Kumankuma is a multi-faceted Ghanaian born Executive with vast expertise in Project Management, Creative Direction, Arts & Culture. Early in his professional career, he worked as an Executive for Delta Airlines and Metropolitan TV. He later joined Africa 1 Media and worked in three successive roles from Client Services Manager to Head of Operations to Creative Director. He is also the founder of a design firm, DecoRate LLC.

Yaw has a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Art from KNUST, MA Design Management from SCAD and a certificate in Music Business Management and Leadership from Berklee Online. He has a proven track record and a strong network of A-list talent and professionals across the world.
Yaw has actively been associated with music talent since he co-founded "The CUE" with his friends Lloyd "Peewezel" Baffour and Kojo Amankwaa. CUE is a non-profit organisation which was coined out of the phrases "Can U Entertain?" and "Can U Educate?". The main goal was to provide a hub to help creatives sharpen their natural gifts and use them as their careers. To maximize the purpose, Yaw and his colleagues set up an incubator in Kumasi-Ghana which was later moved to Accra-Ghana in 2014 after the organization grew bigger. Many creative careers have been realized from “CUE” till date.
Music plays an integral part of Yaw’s career. To him, quality music has no regional, sound or language limitations but rather has everything to do with good sound, cohesive melodies, top-notch production, engineering, and marketing. His musical influences grew stronger from the diverse nature of his parents’ playlists during his childhood which contributed immensely to his great understanding of the “sound of music”. As an Executive, He has contributed to the careers of an enviable list of talent which he still does till date. He currently works with Universal Music Group as A&R Executive under two different divisions, Island and Polydor, where he works with globally acclaimed music talent.
In April 2022, Yaw became the Production Manager for one of the biggest annual music festivals in the USA, SummerStage Citywide, where he’d contribute to the curation of up-to 40 music and dance shows within the 5 boroughs of New York every year. He also doubles as the Stage Manager for all the events. In the same year, Yaw became the Talent and Concert Manager for the 5-6 city music tour in Australia and New Zealand called Fridayz Live, the biggest series of music and Arts expo in the two countries. He has also consulted creatively for Afrochella (as stage manager), Mo Ibrahim Freedom Concert, Afrobeats to the World Festival, Beasts of No Nations (The Movie by Idris Elba) amongst others.
Traveling across six continents whilst wearing his native Asante royalty on his sleeves, Yaw has built strong international connections and has literally become an ambassador of culture for Ghana and Africa. His mission is to “Inspire Positive Change” in any place and capacity he finds himself through Art and the Arts.