Folasade Ambrose Medebem – is currently the Director of Communications, Public Affairs & Sustainable Development for Lafarge Africa Plc. Beyond her day job, Fola also serves on the 24 Executive Committee of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG). She is a board member of the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Private Sector Advisory Group (PSAG) and the UN Global Compact Initiative both in Nigeria. She is also on the Board of the European Business Organization (EBO) Nigeria serving as the founding female President.
She has more than 23+ years international experience delivering world-class strategic business transformation solutions with a variety of global FSTE 100 multinationals including LafargeHolcim Plc., Diageo Plc., PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Ford Motor Company – Uk & Germany, Zurich Financial Services, Learning & Skills Council UK, Nigeria Ministry of Finance and the Department for International Development (DFID) UK.
Folashade Bamisaye – Founder- My Period Kit, is a social entrepreneur who is passionate about menstrual hygiene for girls and women of reproductive age. She has close to a decades’ experience improving psycho-social well-being of girls and women at the grassroots. She is also the founder of Young Women Arise- an organization that equips girls and women with knowledge on self-worth and esteem. Folashade believes women should be empowered to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.
Funa Maduka is a creative and acquisitions executive with Netflix Original Films where she works with the world’s top global and emerging filmmakers. In this capacity, she oversees company’s global expansion, manages the launch of film offerings across 100+ countries. Her film acquisitions expertise brought Netflix its first film nominations at both the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards. She has held leadership and strategic positions at McKinsey & Company, the Oprah Winfrey Foundation, the Obama Campaign, the Clinton Global Initiative and Goldman Sachs.
Funmi Oyatogun is a travel experience designer and founder of TVP Adventures- a one-stop-shop for exciting travel experiences across Africa. Through TVP Adventures, Funmi plans and creates bespoke trips on social media where she has a huge following. But beyond that, Funmi also creates immensely useful travel infographics and materials that are useful for travelers, tourists, and those looking to learn about new places in the world.
Eziaha Bolaji-Olojo is a Food and Fitness Coach and CEO at CoachE’Squad Ltd, where she serves Jesus and Fitness to the world. Asides helping women live optimized lives through a healthy food and fitness routine, she runs a personal Faith-based blog www.eziaha.com where she chronicles her Christian walk. She is a First-Class Graduate of Sociology, holds a UK degree in Personal Nutrition and a Prenatal and Postnatal Fitness Specialist Certification endorsed by the American Fitness Professionals Association (AFPA). She is also the founder of Stayhomemomsng- an initiative setup to help stay-home-moms maximize their seasons and lead on productive lives.
Farida Kabir is a public health scientist, software developer, UI/UX designer, public speaker, trainer and tech entrepreneur with a passion for infusing health with technology. She is the Founder and CEO of OTRAC, an e-learning software for African healthcare practitioners. A strong advocate for women and girls in STEM, Farida is also the team lead for Google Women TechMakers Abuja and the co-organizer for Google Developer Group, Abuja. She’s a great example of Northern Nigerian women who are shattering stereotypes in Nigeria and the world.
Fatima Kyari Mohammed– is the Permanent Observer for the African Union. Prior to assuming her present position, she was Senior Special Advisor to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission. She has more than a decade of professional experience working with ECOWAS and its institutions in different capacities, with a focus on peace and security, regional integration and organizational development. Her corporate niche includes peace and security, conflict prevention and transformation, gender, regional integration, and socio-economic development
Denike Balogun CEO, The Tea Room is a Fashion enthusiast, Event Planner & an Entrepreneur. The Tea Room has become the preferred destination for brunch events and great food. The ambience and stunning decor also make for great IG photos. Denike also runs Diamond Incorporated Events- an events management company. Her ability to run her companies while managing multiple priorities has bagged her recognition locally and internationally.
Dupe Olushola is the Group Head Marketing for UBA groups where she provides visionary leadership with the aim development and delivery of integrated strategy for all UBA Group Bank and non-Bank subsidiaries. She is passionate about Women Affairs and empowerment, Economic Development of under-developed countries and Financial Inclusion for the disadvantaged in the society. Prior to her appointment at UBA Group, Dupe was CEO of Teragro. There, she spearheaded a partnership with Coca-Cola to produce Five Alive Pulpy Orange Juice making Teragro the sole local material source for the juice.
Eyitope Kola-Oyeneyin – is Partner at Mckinsey & Company. She is a transformation expert with over 15 years of global experience across a broad range of industries. Eyitope serves in both the private and public sectors, developing growth programs and executing large-scale transformations, with a primary focus on financial services. Prior to joining Mckinsey& Company, she was Group Head International Banking at First Bank Nigeria. During her time at First Bank, she led the bank’s foray into sub-Saharan Africa, spearheading integration across six different countries and running its international banking business. She has also led a coalition of government entities, private companies, and civil-society organizations to successfully implement Cashless Lagos, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s payments-transformation program. In addition to her success career wise, Eyitope is passionate about building and empowering young people and is a strong advocate of the ability to transform societies through capacity building SME growth
Chinyere Anokwuru is an empowerment Specialist, a poverty alleviation expert, a grassroots reformer and a multi- award winning advocate for the economic empowerment of women.
She is the founder of Selfworth Organization For Women Development, a grassroots non profit organisation that works to eliminate the lowest form of poverty by creating employment opportunities in the fashion space ‘one stitch at a time” for low income women particularly widows.
The organisation is focused on empowering low income women by providing free professional training in fashion and design as well as access to business support tools to help them set up businesses even from the comfort of their homes, thereby helping them break free from generational cycles of poverty and becoming financially and socially independent.
Her organisation invests in local women to help them acquire life skills and start up small businesses to help ease the conflict between work and family responsibilities – one of the many reasons for women’s economic inequality and domestic violence.She believes that in order to end extreme poverty, domestic violence in homes and extreme violence across the country, local economic development activities must be strengthened by encouraging economic activities at the local level which can be achieved by empowering those at the bottom of the pyramid particularly low income women with vocational trade skills and tool kits that is necessary for their economic survival.
Cynthia Erivo is a British-Nigerian actress, singer, and songwriter. She is known for her performance as Celie in the 2015 Broadway revival of The Color Purple, for which she won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical as well as the 2017 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. She reprised the role of Celie on Broadway after first performing it in the 2013 Menier Chocolate Factory production in London .
Cynthia is also known for her performance as Deloris Van Cartier/Sister Mary Clarence in the UK tour of Sister Act. In 2018, she made the transition into film, starring in the dramas Widows and Bad Times at the El Royale.
Damilola Marcus is an Activist, Feminist and Founder of #MarketMatch an initiative created to curb bullying, harassment and unnecessary touching of women in the marketplace. The debut #MarketMarch at the Tejuoso market trended on social media for several days and generated the much needed awareness and attention that harassment of women requires.
Cherry Eromosele is the Group Chief Product & Marketing Officer, Interswitch, an expanded role she assumed in April 2018. Prior to this new role, Cherry led the Interswitch Marketing function as Chief Marketing
Officer, were she was responsible for creating and implementing innovative marketing strategies towards building the entire Interswitch brand portfolio, spanning both the corporate and consumer segments of the business; Verve and Quickteller brands, and playing an instrumental role in the seamless roll-out of Interswitch’s consistent brand identity and successful marketing programs as Interswitch expanded from Nigeria into new markets in Africa including Kenya and Uganda over the last 4 years.
In Cherry’s role as Group Chief Product & Marketing Officer, she is responsible for driving customer-led digital product leadership and innovation, provide strategic direction for end-to-end product development, as well as customer value management and product marketing functions. She is also responsible for championing the Group’s brand management, corporate communications and corporate social responsibility functions to drive key business objectives across the entire Interswitch business
portfolio.
Chinwe Bode Akinwande is the Head of Brand Quality Assurance FBN limited and the founder of Chinwe Bode Akinwande Foundation, a Lagos faith- based NGO that supports widows and their vulnerable children. Chinwe believes that Widows deserve support and the society is ill equipped with resources and knowledge on how to appropriately respond to them. Hence, her foundation was birthed to strengthen them Economically and socially.
Bukky Akomolafe is currently the Commercial Manager of Travelstart, Africa’s largest online travel agency. In this role, she manages marketing, the affiliates & partnership program, online customer service and business development. At Travelstart, Bukky has spearheaded many successful campaigns including the Virgin Atlantic co-sponsored Royal Wedding Promo, Black Friday sales in 2017 and 2018 and most recently, the 25% domestic discount to help more Nigerian fly home to vote, after the 2019 General Elections were postponed.
Bukky was also instrumental in negotiating and executing the brand sponsorship of the Nigerian Bobsled and Skeleton team to the Winter Olympics in South Korea, with partner Air France-KLM.
Prior to joining Travelstart, Bukky worked as the Head of Marketing for Pepsi Rhythm Unplugged – the largest and longest running concert in West Africa. In this role, she was responsible for sponsor-client
relationship management, press relations and branding. She started her career at Ogilvy & Mather, one of the largest marketing communications companies in the world. There, she helped to launch a $2 million growth, strategy and innovation consulting business. Her client roster included BP, UBS, BlackRock, Catholic Charities and more. She later worked at JP
Morgan Chase & Co in a variety of roles, Credit Card Marketing, a Social Media Manager.
Bola Tinubu is Partner & Head Corporate Practice, Olajide Oyewole LLP. She has over 25 years’ business experience as a corporate lawyer. She provides general corporate representation to various established and emerging businesses, including a broad pool of public companies, closely-held businesses and international subsidiaries.
She is a member of the DLA Piper Africa Group, and leads its Corporate Practice. She founded The Cece Yara Foundation, a child-centered non-profit organisation in 2016, to prevent child sexual abuse and to provide access to care, information, protection and emergency intervention for children who have experienced sexual abuse or who are at risk. She is responsible for the strategic direction of the organization.
Bola has been recognized by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and included in its list of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2018 for her work in setting up the first free child helpline and the first Child Advocacy Centre in Nigeria.
Bisola Aiyeola is a Nigerian actress, MC, TV Presenter and Singer. In 2017, Bisola became the first runner up of Big Brother Naija. In 2018, she won the AMVCA Trailblazer Award at the 2018 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards. She was also one of the contestants at MTN Project Fame West Africa in 2008 where she came 5th. From 2011-2013, Bisola was a one time TV host of Billboard Nigeria which aired on silverbird television.
Blondie Okpuzor – is the CEO and Founder of Africa’s leading skincare, bath and body company, BathKandy. Bath Kandy is the first handcrafted food-inspired bath and body store in Nigeria. The company creates sumptuous dessert – inspired beauty treats, utilising unconventional raw materials such as Garri and chocolate, infused into beauty and skincare products. The company also runs as a social enterprise, by focusing on sustainable environmental practices. Asides running Bath Kandy, Blondie also works as a consultant.
Bisola Adeniyi is the founder and CEO of Lady Biba, a made in Nigeria multi award winning women’s ready to wear clothing brand that caters to the Modern Corporate woman. Her love for fashion and a desire to see an off the rack indigenous brand mixed with a strong passion for women empowerment gave rise to the birthing of the brand in 2013.
In a short span of time, the brand has fast become a household name amongst “Lady Bosses” a brand niche of inspiring and aspiring women and has received numerous awards such as the Award for Fashion designer of the year by Ebony Life TV Sisterhood Awards, Future Awards Africa and ELOY amongst others.
She has worked in the fashion industry as a fashion writer and contributor for publications like This day Style, Fab magazine and Arise Magazine Fashion Daily.
Betty Abah is a Nigerian journalist, author and a women and children’s rights activist. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Centre for Children’s Health Education, Orientation and Protection (CEE HOPE), a girl-child rights and development non-profit organization that engages with and fights for the rights and welfare of the most vulnerable of Nigerian children. Through CEE HOPE, Betty runs the Girl Leadership and Empowerment Club in urban slums and rural areas, The Rise-Against-Rape-and-Abuse (RARA) school outreach and advocacy programme, The Harbingers of Hope Scholarship Scheme for indigent kids in rural areas and urban slums and a host of other child-centered initiatives. Betty has a first degree and a master’s degree in Literature in English from the University of Calabar and the University of Lagos respectively. She has also authored five books, including two collections of poems (Sounds of Broken Chains, Go Tell Our King) and a biography (Mother of Multitudes).
Bibi Bakare-Yusuf is the co-founder and publishing director of one of Africa’s leading publishing houses, Cassava Republic Press. She is also the co-Founder of Tapestry Consulting, a boutique research and training company focused on gender, sexuality and transformational issues in Nigeria. Bibi has worked as a gender and research consultant in the public, private and development sectors for the BBC, UniFem, ActionAid, eShekels, Central Bank of Nigeria, the European Union and others. She has a Ph. D in Women and Gender Studies from the University of Warwick and has published many academic papers.
Bimbo Balogun – Co-Founder, SoFresh Neighborhood Market- Nigeria’s number one premium healthy food brand, that provides fresh, good, clean nutrition and promote a healthy lifestyle. Together with her husband, Bimbo has redefined the way healthy and nutritive food is perceived in Nigeria. As well as run Sofreshng, Bimbo recently launched her online course “Building Great Teams” for small businesses.
Bimbo Ipaye is the Founder of Traditions by Bimms, known as Bimms 24 on social media. An Aso-oke and beads merchant, Bimbo has carved a niche in producing show-stopping pieces, especially for brides. She’s the one-stop destination for bedazzled aso-oke pieces in Nigeria.
Bella Disu Educated at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, with a degree in political science and international relations, Bella began her climb on the corporate ladder as a sales executive at Globacom in 2004. She currently provides strategic leadership as the Executive Vice-Chairman of the foremost multinational telecommunications company operating in Nigeria and Ghana. In 2011, she took on the additional role of CEO of Cobblestone Properties and Estates Limited, a leading property development company which has a robust portfolio of residential and commercial properties in Nigeria.
Bella also serves as a non-executive director on the board of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, Nigeria’s apex construction company, and as a director at Abumet Plc, a glass and aluminium manufacturing company. She is a member of the prestigious Institute of Directors, Nigeria and the Nigerian Institute of Management. She is the chairperson of the Bella Disu Foundation, a non-profit organization she established to improve the potential of children from less-privileged backgrounds by providing access to quality education and employment skills.
Bekeme Masade Olowola is the Chief Executive of CSR-in-Action, a group made of a consulting firm, a think tank and a training institute dedicated to corporate social responsibility, policy development, advocacy, empowerment and sustainable development in the region.
Under Masade-Olowola, CSR-in-Action has promoted sustainable measurement and reporting using the GRI framework, specifically, since 2011, and has catalysed the growth of sustainability adoption and transparency in the region through consulting, training and advocacy interventions.
Bekeme helped establish the Business Coalition for Sustainable Development Nigeria (BCSDN) in May 2014, an initiative affiliated with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), made up of a coalition of leading businesses across all sectors to drive collective development. She has engaged stakeholders throughout the economic value chain – government, business, civil society organisations and communities – and recently spearheaded the design and development of a Community Engagement Standards framework to facilitate the Federal Government agenda for promoting peace through equity in Oil and Gas communities in Nigeria.
She is on the board of the Global Reporting Initiative in Amsterdam as well as other non-profit and for-profit organisations. She is convener of the annual Sustainability in the Extractive Industries Conference, the largest development focused gathering for extractives now in its eighth year, and producer of The Good Citizen Radio Show which has over 500,000 listeners every month.
Ayo Mairo-Ese is a Broadcaster at Smooth FM, Lagos. She began her career in Radio in 2014, co-hosting the primetime Breakfast Show on Nigeria Info FM. In the same year, she began her career in TV with Cool TV. Passionate about women, she is an advocate for Nigerian women and hopes to continue to use her media influence to empower women across Africa. While at Nigeria Info FM, she was the host and Producer of The Woman – a weekly show that featured women with inspirational and motivational stories. She is an Ambassador at War Against Rape initiative and Founder of Praying Women Circle (PWC). She is also a sought-after Speaker at seminars and conferences. In recognition of her work, she has won a number of awards, most notably The Future Awards Africa Prize for Radio Personality of the Year.
Audrey Joe-Ezigbo is the Co-Founder of Falcon Corporation Limited, a wholly indigenous midstream and downstream Gas outfit. A seasoned entrepreneur with 25years experience in the Oil & Gas industry, she is Group Managing Director of other companies within the Falcon conglomerate. Audrey is currently President, Nigerian Gas Association (NGA) – the umbrella association and voice for businesses and professionals in Nigerian’s Gas industry; the first female President in the NGA’s 20-year history.
She is on the Executive Council of Women in Management, Business & Public Service (WIMBIZ). She is the founder of The Barnabas Widows Support Foundation. Audrey is an author of four published books and Promoter of the Double Impact Platform, an organization through which she delivers business and relationship-building training and support to couples who are in business together.
Awuneba Ajumogobia is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria. She has extensive professional experience in audit, taxation. Prior to joining Multistream Energy Limited where she serves as Executive Director, she was at Accenture where she worked for over a decade. As well as serving as ED for Multistream, she serves on the Board of University of Ibadan Research Foundation and Finance Committee of Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON), chairs the Governing Council of Grange School, Lagos and also sits on the Board of Directors and is an associate of WIMBIZ (Women in Management, Business and Public Service).
Ariyike Akinbobola is the Founder of the Ariyike Arise Initiative, she is a television presenter, talk show host, model, blogger, author, trained lawyer and occasional actress. Her book: The Cost of Our Lives has garnered wide readership and endorsement from Authors, Bloggers and Social Entrepreneurs in Nigeria. Ariyike has advocated for several social causes in the past years including ‘Female Genital Mutilation Campaign’ and ‘Stand to End Rape Campaign’ an offshoot of the Stand to End Rape Foundation. She uses her social media platforms to actively call out social ills whilst giving visibility to youth cutting their teeth in entertainment industry.
Amarachi Nwosu is the Founder of Melanin Unscripted-a movement set to dismantle stereotypes and blur the racial lines by exposing complex identities and cultures around the world. She’s also a Nigerian-American self-taught photographer, filmmaker, writer and speaker based in Tokyo, Japan. Her brilliant directorial debut- Black in Tokyo showcases experiences of black people living in Tokyo, Japan. Her work has been featured on CNN Africa, Huffington Post and other choice media networks.
Anita Alaire Afoke Asuoha is a Standup comedian, MC/Actor/influencer, Award winning Dancer- Maltina Dance Hall S4, Glo Rock & Rule winner and Ex Glo Ambassador. Anita is a “Jill of all trades” – Entertainment related. Asides entertaining others with her dance which interestingly has a unique ring to it, she also inspires through humor. She currently uses social media- Instagram to project her skits and clips under the name ‘realwarripikin’.
Anita Kouassigan– As Founder of Investing In Women’s social impact initiative (powered by live media events), Anita seeks to empower women with greater economic opportunities so that they can help build economically secure and healthier communities. She aims to achieve this through partnerships and collaborations with organisations pushing for the economic, social and political empowerment of women. Anita is also the Founder of Minerva Recruitment and co-Founder of Time Out Nigeria, where she served as Managing Editor.
Adesua Dozie is General Counsel of GE Africa. As General Counsel, Adesua has advised on over $10 billion of transactions across the continent, in turn facilitating regional growth, strengthening corporate governance and compliance cultures across diverse business communities, and serving as a guardian of the complex dynamics between purpose, profit and risk.
Adesua is a passionate advocate for empowering diverse talent, and is proud to act as Co-Chair of the GE Women’s Network in Africa.
Prior to joining GE in 2013, Adesua worked in senior legal roles for the Coca-Cola Company, where she also supported the growth of the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation as Legal Adviser and Secretary to the Board. She previously served as Legal Counsel to Elf Petroleum Nigeria, and Associate Counsel for the Nigerian law firm Ajumogobia & Okeke. She holds an LL.M from Cornell Law School and is admitted to the bar in New York and Nigeria.
Aderoju Ope-Ajayi is the Founder of Dolphin Aquatic Centre and Dolphin Swim School which trains families and mostly women and children in swimming skills while also helping young athletes achieve their professional goals. She is a FINA-certified swimming instructor and Lifeguard instructor. The Dolphin Aquatic Center provides an enriched, safe, fun and diverse learning environment where women of all ages, and children can get exceptional swimming and training programs.
Adesewa Hannah Ogunleyimu is a Nigerian broadcast journalist who covers both national and international news. She began her career with Nigerian cable news network, Channels TV. The former host of the Emmy nominated UN documentary, 21st Century working as a news correspondent with TRT World News in 2017.
Adesewa is a critical thinker, asking why and why not, looking at multiple perspectives, digging beneath the surface, challenging conventional wisdom, discerning patterns, and finding context
She founded Project Smile Africa in 2013 to address some of the issues she has reported on over the years.
She has won the Xceptional Women in Media Awards in 2014 for her reporting on community development issues in Africa. She has also been nominated for the Future Awards Africa 2017.
Adenike Macaulay – is the General Manager Sales, Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea at Lufthansa. Under her watch, the brand has flourished and launched a set of innovative initiatives. A strategic Sales and Operations Manager with a deep understanding of the Sub Sahara African market environment, Adenike also shows a good understanding of European and Middle Eastern business cultures.
Adeola Fayehun became a prominent media figure following an interview she co-anchored with TV Journalist- Omoyele Sowere asking former Zimbabwean president- Robert Mugabe when he was going to step down from office. Adeola is known for delivering trending geopolitical, social and economic issues that affect the daily lives of Africans living on the continent dramatically and candidly. Her satirical show- Keeping it Real with Adeola is hosted on Sahara TV YouTube Channel.
Adebola Deji-Kurunmi fondly called DDK, is President at Deborah Initiative for Women, a ministry in 5 countries, raising other women for God’s Kingdom Agenda. She is also the Curator of Supernatural Marriage Course, a Scriptural Curriculum for activating marriage miracles which has trained over 1, 500 women so far. Debola is an author of 13 books including her recent work, FIREBRAND. She’s the Founder of IMMERSE Coaching Company, a Personal Transformation Bootcamp which has graduated almost 3,000 women across 9 countries from its suite of Programs.
As Founder and Executive Director at Ideation Hub Africa (a social profit accelerator), Debola hosts Nigeria’s leading conference for NGOs leaders, Social Entrepreneurs and Changemakers. Debola is a 2012 Girl Child Ambassador, 2013 Coca-Cola Scholar at Pan Atlantic University, 2014 Crans Montana Global Young Leader, 2014 GAME Champion of Change, 2015 Amani Ambassador, 2016 and 2017 Queen Young Leaders’ Program UK Mentor, and currently sits as a Youth Representative at the Nigerian Economic Summit Group.
Ade Balogun is the CEO and Founder of Locitude- a hair studio for people with locs and natural hair. Locitude provides a wide range of services adapted to the care and maintenance of locs whilst also providing a wider community that addresses natural hair concerns. An Architect by training, Ade is a visionary who has put the fun back in for women who want to rock their natural hair with attitude and panache!
Adenike Akinsemolu– is a social entrepreneur and environmental educator reputed for her advocacy for the inclusion of green education and sustainability in the Nigerian academic curriculum. Adenike is also the founder of the Girl Prize, which provides financial and mentorship support for young Nigerian secondary school girls with an interest in the sciences. She is currently an Associate Fellow of the Royal Commonwealth Society and recently appointed as a member of the National Steering Committee of the Sustainable Energy Practitioners Association of Nigeria under the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing.
Dr Adanna Steinacker
Popularly known for the Adanna vlogs on YouTube alongside her husband – where they share on family, travel and lifestyle, Adanna is also a digital Influencer and a Motivational Speaker with a passion for female empowerment and humanitarianism. She’s the Founder and CEO of Medics Abroad, a global platform that provides a unique all-inclusive career altering work experience and humanitarian opportunities in Africa.
Adaku Ufere-Awoonor is an award-winning energy professional with over a decade’s experience leading multicultural and multilingual teams across Africa in the structuring, negotiation and implementation of natural resource projects in Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, South Sudan, Senegal, Nigeria, South Africa, Sao Tome & Principe, Cameroon, Uganda, Congo and other Sub-Saharan countries. Her primary capacity is in the field of oil & gas, power, mining, energy policy and gender; she is particularly committed to working towards finding solutions that address and lead to the eradication of energy poverty experienced by women in rural and low-income urban areas, in developing countries.
Adaku is currently an Independent Legal Consultant in the field of Energy, Gender and Development and the Founder/CEO of DAX Consult, a firm providing advisory services on major transactions for international and indigenous energy companies and governments. She provides services to companies and governments to mainstream gender into energy regulations, policies and programs, in the form of training, strategy and action plans.
Abosede George-Ogan– is the Founder of Women in Politics- a platform that engages, encourages, equips and empowers women in Nigeria to get involved and participate in Politics. She’s also the author of ‘Building a conscious Career’- a book that equips career enthusiasts with necessary knowledge and resources to build a career that not only excites and rewards, but also positively affects the lives of others. She is a tri-sector leader with over 14 years’ experience working across the non-profit, private and public sectors as a development professional. She began a career in development over a decade ago with Actionaid International Nigeria. She has led Corporate Citizenship for Samsung Electronics West Africa and now sits as Director of Strategy, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund.
Abisoye Ajayi-Akinfolarin – is the Founder of Pearls Africa Youth Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organization aimed at educating young girls in under-served areas in Nigeria with technology skills. On November 1, 2018, Abisoye was named one of ten CNN Heroes of the year. She was also recently listed as one of BBC’s 100 Women. A Nigerian women’s rights activist, Abisoye was recognized by ONE as Woman of the Year 2018.
She is an astute professional, gender advocate and change-maker; with a decade of cross-geographical experience spanning various fields including Agribusiness consultancy, Policy Advisory, International Trade Facilitation, Investment Promotion, Pan-African Media Management and International Business Development.
In 2017, she led the very first bi-lateral agri-focused dialogue between the UK and Nigeria in London, which attracted over 100 delegates from Nigeria including the Agric Minister, eight State Governors and multilateral bodies such as the Africa Development Bank in a bid to promote opportunities in Nigeria’s growing agric space. She also currently co-chairs the Women’s Network at the High Commission.
Prior to this, she worked with The Africa Report, Groupe Jeune Africa: a Paris-based pan-African media group as Regional Business Development Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa.Her passion for driving social change and touching lives led to the recent creation of The Social Change Network (TSCN), Africa – a non-partisan, non-profit civic engagement organization focused on promoting social change and inclusion across Africa.
Ifedayo is also an associate member of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON). With her passion for women and children, she launched Parliamo Bambini and Philos and Zoe, startups disrupting the baby and child industry through locally manufactured furniture and clothing for children with the aim of reducing poverty, empowering the youth and promoting access to quality education in Nigeria and Africa. She is also very passionate about women and youth contributing to national development, so she launched a platform called the AGS Tribe to democratise opportunities for entrepreneurs across Africa and the AGS Enterprise Challenge, to empower female entrepreneurs through funding, mentorship and training.
Ife Diary of a Naija Girl – Editor of Diary of a Naija Girl- a personal website that houses her contemplations on various issues including lifestyle and social commentary. She is also the Executive Director and founder of DANG Network- a revolutionary storytelling company that specialises in solid content creation and media production.
Ifeyinwa holds a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Wales, Cardiff and is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. She holds a post- graduate degree in Business and Executive Coaching from the Integral Africa Institute, Cape Town. She possesses significant expertise in youth entrepreneurship development and has recorded great achievements in negotiating and closing partnerships between the Tony Elumelu Foundation, and global partners including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the German development agency – Deutsche Gesellschaft für InternationaleZusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ).
Ivie Martins Ogbonmwan serves as the Human Resources Manager, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie Law firm. Prior to her current role, she was responsible for strategies to attract, develop, and retain talent for ACT Foundation. Ivie was also an experienced analyst with OutsideIn HR, a management consulting firm which focuses on human resource business partnering, global talent development, and organizational effectiveness. In the course of her HR career, she successfully managed the overall provision of Human Resources services, policies, and programs and has helped various organisations boost overall performance through effective HR, strategy building, fair and coherent compensation & benefits, and employee engagement.
She is also a Chevening Scholar. In the build up to the February 2019 general elections, she moderated the town hall meetings for presidential candidates and their deputies, specifically that of President Muhammadu Buhari and his vice, Professor Yemi Osibanjo. Kadaria is currently a member of the judging panel of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism and sits on the Board of Trustees of Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism and the Promasidor Quill awards. In 2017, she founded Daria Media Limited, a company designed to promote public service journalism.
Beyond working with its clients, GHA embarks on bi-monthly community outreaches to disadvantaged communities to provide free medical checkup, assessment and education. These outreaches allow for early detection and prevention of disease as well as prompt intervention in form of referrals to healthcare institutions when needed. Through these outreaches, Kemi and her team has reached over 1000 people in the Mushin, Surulere and Oniru communities. She graduated with a Bachelor of Physiotherapy degree from the College of Medicine, University of Lagos and has practiced in the field of health journalism for 7 years working with different media organizations including Nigezie TV and Unilag 103.1fm. She has been recognized by WIMBIZ (Impact Investment Competition winner 2018), Her Network (Nominee, Woman of the Future 2017), Benola Cerebral Palsy, Young Physiotherapist Group among others for her contribution and impact in healthcare.
Kemi also sits on the board of non-governmental organizations including Neuromuscular Support Group Nigeria and hold certificates on Healthcare management and Health Financing from the World Bank Group Laja Adedoyin- The brain behind Hearts of Gold Children hospice. After 25 fulfilling years of operating facilities that took care of people with various types of disabilities in the United Kingdom, Laja relocated to Nigeria in 2003 and established the first hospice in Nigeria – Hearts of Gold, a home for the care and management of children with mental and extreme physical disabilities which also offers home care services to children with disabilities living at home.
She has also presented and co-produced the news show EL Now, “With Mikel,” a docu-reality show on Nigerian football player Mikel Obi, a documentary on Rwanda focusing on tourism and life post-genocide, and anchored/participated in Political specials, interviewing former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, President Buhari as well as Lai Mohammed and Babatunde Fashola. As a freelancer, Lamide produced, presented and co-wrote two seasons of the talk show “Classic Moments: True Stories” on Ebony life TV. She also worked with CNN in 2018, producing features for African Voices, Inside Africa, Marketplace Africa and the Profit Point, and was the Season 2 presenter for the interview show “Church Culture” produced by Red Media for Channels Television. Lamide has also served as a producer/co-ordinator on independent documentaries and as a project/content acquisition manager for TV channels.
Also as a Nigerian in Diaspora, a gay woman who publicly identifies with the LGBTQ Community, Margaret has risen to senior leadership position in the Global Healthcare industry despite the peculiar challenges she has faced.
In 2015, Njoku became Chief Content Officer at IROKO Partners, same year she held her first world premier for her film Thy Will Be Done at the BFI IMAX London, the first ever Nollywood film premiere in IMAX. In 2013, Njoku launched a $2 million investment vehicle for Lagos-based Internet start-ups called Spark to support Nigerian Technology and Internet Entrepreneurs.
A Fellow of the Forbes Africa under 30 African tech entrepreneurs, ecosystem architect tech investors and the Africa entrepreneur ecosystem. She is a Nigerian-American committed to promoting entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa by working with new generation African innovators and supporting their pursuit to scale.
She also runs a social enterprise called “Scale My Hustle” which is focused on providing resources to enable entrepreneur’s better structure their business. Moe has a Master’s degree from Columbia University where she graduated as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, a David Leebron Human Rights Fellow, a Salzburg Lloyd N. Cutler International Law Fellow and a recipient of a fellowship from the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment. Moe has since worked in the United States, the United Kingdom and Kenya.
She has also advised startups across five continents and worked on startup investment deals cumulating to over 20 million dollars. Moe is passionate about gender equality and is a strong advocate for access to finance for women run businesses.
She has toed the path of the great and proven to all that an educated northern woman wields tremendous strength to stir change and bring value to the nation.She reflects this in her academic pursuits, shattering the glass ceilings that have deterred women from the north from pursuing academic goals; bagging a degree in Sociology, a diploma in Educational Management and a Certification in Leadership management, Women in Leadership and Managing Government’s Relations.
Each from prestigious institutions; University of Abuja, Bayero University, Kano, Lagos Business School, and Harvard University, respectively. With her recent project; “Books over Trays”, which she embarked upon through her NGO, Green Heart Impact Foundation, to liberate the girl-child from illiteracy, she has empowered 64 girls academically, including their mothers; establishing businesses to sustain their families.
Ngozi is renowned for continuously growing products and brands via marketing, brand management, decisive business strategy, public engagement, and cultivating industry relations. She also possesses superb interpersonal abilities, and is skilled at communicating, influencing, negotiating, facilitating, presenting & getting others excited about implementing new ideas. From advertising communication with superstars like Jidenna, to family dance shows, to planning international football trophy tours and executing movie reality shows, the consumer is kept at the center of it all. Ngozi takes her passion for development and entertainment beyond the 9-5 borders. She hosts her own video blog “The Ngee Show” which covers everyday human interest topics from hygiene, etiquette, fashion fads & music to even the youth and technology.
Mrs. Ajene holds a degree from the University Of Chicago, Graham School of General Studies in Integrated Marketing Communication. She received her Bachelors of Commerce in Marketing Degree from DePaul University in Chicago. She currently serves on the board of the Lagos Food Bank Initiative.
Her writing has been published in different languages, notably English, Japanese and Norwegian. Adegbeye was one of the speakers at TEDX Lagos 2017 and was picked as a speaker for TED Global in 2017. In what was one of the most moving talks of TED Global 2017, on who gets to belong to communities, Adegbeye made a case for why cities must have consciences. This talk has garnered over two million views. She is a prominent figure among Nigerian and African feminists.
She is a writer, and design consultant. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from Temple University and a degree in design from Parsons, the New School for Design in New York City.
She is also an established writer who covers a range of topics about gender, feminism and culture, with published work in publications such as The Huffington Post, Genevieve Magazine, True Africa Magazine & Bella Naija. She was named one of Medium/s top 10 writers in 2017. She is a passionate feminist and an advocate for women and children’s rights in Nigeria.
She is changing the narrative of lack of proper culinary education in Nigeria with the UCCA Lagos by the crop of students she is equipping with knowledge and skills that puts them at par with other culinarians across the world and graduating.
She also consults for hotels and restaurants across the country and has been widely acclaimed as the first Nigerian female chef to be internationally certified.
As a Chevening Scholar and an Archbishop Bishop Tutu Leadership Fellow, she recently published her debut book, To My Younger Self, to share valuable lessons and insights in life, career and business with the younger generation.
The book is a collection of letters from business leaders and leading professionals in Nigeria, which has inspired the #ToMyYoungerSelf movement on social media where individuals are beginning to reflect and share letters to their younger selves.
She also attended Caprigiani Gelato University in Italy, has an MBA from Webster University, London and a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from the University of Sunderland.
Temitope Jemerigbe- Chief Executive Officer of DKK Nigeria- an Integrated Marketing Communications company based in Lagos, Nigeria. Under Temitope’s leadership, DKK has grown in revenue exponentially, which has also resulted in a remarkable growth in the company’s profile and equity.
With over 20 years of practice in Marketing Communications, she has built a strong reputation as a well-rounded professional, driven absolutely by a mission to seek out uncharted territories. She’s also an Executive Director and mentor at Lighthouse Network – a women empowerment platform.
At LLA, we love Teni because she’s a living, breathing, wonderful example of how women can succeed in the entertainment industry especially, by breaking through and overcoming stereotypes.
She is also the author of Royalty Book, where she shared candidly about losing her first child after giving birth, and the after-effect in a bid to educate, help and inspire countless women with similar experience.
The film adaptation rights to the book was purchased by globally-recognised film makers. In addition, Tomi runs a blog and teaches creative writing to her subscribers at tomiadeyemi.com. Her website has been named one of the 101 best websites for writers by Writer’s Digest.
She is also the Head of Customer Experience for Wholesale Banking at Access Bank PLC and is known to be a strategic manager and that grew from being a brand manager in DDB Lagos, a full-service Integrated Advertising and Communications Agency where she was responsible for lots of campaigns and sponsorship of major projects such as FIFA 2010, Project Fame, Who Wants To Be a Millionaire etc. to Regional Marketing Manager West Africa for three years.
Before joining Green House Lab, Tosin worked as the Director of Strategic Partnerships at Framework – an edutech company focused on affordable housing and based in Boston, USA.
Tosin has more than 14 years of experience in both the public and private sectors. She served for eight years at Neighbor Works America – an NGO founded by the United States Congress. In her role, she managed training programs and special projects for over 250 network organizations and managed grants totaling over $10 Million. Tosin is also the Founder of The Bloom Africa, an initiative that curates engagements and spaces for ambitious African women to connect, speak, learn and grow within Nigeria and across Africa and the Diaspora.
With a love for painting walls, making spaces beautiful, inviting, warm and cozy, Uju is creating a legacy and disrupting the status quo.
Go girl!
Mostly focused in Northern Nigeria, due to the high rates of insurgency, illiteracy and poverty rates in that part of the country, she has continued despite challenges such as insufficient funds and inaccessibility of some victims, to reach out to women in these groups.
Yagazie helps other women create images that empowers, transforms and change the way they see themselves. She recently did a very successful partnership with Lady Biba to photograph corporate/professional women in a bid to encourage and empower more female bosses to own their stories (failures); she also mentors upcoming female photographers.
See below the list of 100 women who are making great strides in their diverse spheres of enterprise.
Abisoye Ajayi-Akinfolarin
Abosede George-Ogan
Adaku Ufere-Awoonor
Adanna Steinecker
Adebola Deji-Kurunmi
Ade Balogun
Adenike Akinsemolu
Adenike Macaulay
Adeola Fayehun
Adesewa Hannah Ogunleyimu
Adesua Dozie
Aderoju Ope-Ajayi
Amarachi Nwosu
Anita Alaire Afoke Asuoha
Anita Kouassigan
Ariyike Akinbobola
Audrey Joe-Ezigbo
Awuneba Ajumogobia
Ayo Mairo-Ese
Bekeme Masade Olowola
Bella Disu
Betty Abah
Bibi Bakare-Yusuf
Bimbo Balogun
Bimbo Ipaye
Bisola Adeniyi
Bisola Aiyeola
Blondie Okpuzor
Bola Tinubu
Bukky Akomolafe
Cherry Eromosele
Chinwe Bode Akinwande
Chinyere Anokwuru
Cynthia Erivo
Damilola Marcus
Denike Balogun
Dupe Olushola
Eyitope Kola-Oyeniyin
Eziaha Bolaji-Olojo
Farida Kabir
Fatima Kyari Mohammed
Folasade Ambrose Medebem
Folashade Bamisaye
Funa Maduka
Funmi Oyatogun
Gbemi Adefuye
Glory Osei
Habiba Ali
Ibijoke Faborode
Ife Durosinmi Etti
Ifedayo Agoro
Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu
Ivie Martins Ogbonmwan
Jade Osiberu
Julia Oku Jacks
Kadaria Ahmed
Kemi Olawoye
Laja Adedoyin
Lamide Akintobi
Omolola Salami
Maimuna Yaya Abubakar
Margaret Mary-Wilson
Mary Njoku
Maya Horgan Famodu
Modupe Odele
Munira Suleiman Tanimu
Nere Teriba
Ngozi Nkwoji
Nky Iweka
Nwando Ajene
Odunayo Eweniyi
Ogochukwu Ekezie- Ekaidem
Okwui Okpokwasili
Oladunni Obata
Olamide Agunloye
Olutimehin Adegbeye
Oluwaseyi Banigbe
Omotayo George
Onyedikachi Ekwerike
Oseyi Etomi
Oyinkansola Alabi
Renee Chuks
Ronke Onadeko
Shalom Blac
Simi Fajemirokun
Sinmisola Hughes-Obisesan
Stella Fubara-Obinwa
Tayo Bolodeoku
Temitope Jemerigbe
Teniola Apata
Tito Bez-Idakula
Tomi Adeyemi
Tomilayo Aluko
Tosin Durotoye
Toyin Adesola
Uju Udoka
Ukinebo Dare
Wadi Ben-Hirki
Yagazie Eguare
Yemi Chukwurah