This year, women all around the world are standing to #BreakTheBias and squash the swathes of stereotypes that have for so long denied access to relevant opportunities and much-deserved seats at bigger tables. It is in this spirit that Leading Ladies Africa has for the 8th consecutive time compiled its edition of the annual 100 Most Inspiring Women in Nigeria List.

This isn’t a fancy list of women who have settled for just enough. Rather, we prefer to see this as a chronicle of pathfinders, trailblazers and captains of industry who have chorused a defiant ‘no’ to the gaping gender divide in Nigeria and across Africa. Let’s now run through the list of these incredible women from different sectors making their mark on the world:

Abiola Adediran — She is the Group Chief Financial Officer at Coronation Group. She is the Founder of Midridge International, a pan-African social impact organisation that provides world-class business strategy and financial advisory support to growing small and medium-scale enterprises across Africa. She helps career professionals transition into entrepreneurship and coaches existing business owners to grow and scale their businesses without losing their personal freedom. She is a Chartered Accountant, a certified Management Consultant, a PRINCE2-certified Project Manager from APMG International, UK and she holds an MBA from Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University, Scotland, with a major in Finance and Strategy. Abiola consults for leading organisations and high growth startups in Nigeria, where she is known to deliver bottom-line growth, unlock unmatched value, and foster enhanced long-term success for stakeholders.

Abisola Oladapo — She is the CEO/Co-founder Agnes Health, the world’s  first AI powered multilingual midwife (Sister Agnes). She leveraged her medtech and software engineering knowledge to painstakingly and expertly co-create an intuitive technology called Agnes, designed by women, for women. Agnes is positioned to reduce maternal and neonatal deaths by providing essential health services to women and children in under-served communities. She is also the Founder of Mumspring where she employs a holistic approach to provide mental, emotional and economic support for women to create change across all spheres of their lives. MumSpring has been featured on Forbes as one of the organisations leading Femtech and Healthtech. Prior to entrepreneurship, Abisola was a software engineer and project leader at Medtronic, Microsoft and CNOOC. She is a member of the British Council – Future Leaders Connect, UK Department of Trade – Global Entrepreneurship Program and the US Department of State’s Academy of Women Entrepreneurs. Abisola is an alum of London Business School, Columbia University and Howard University.

Ada Nduka Oyom — She is the founder of She Code Africa  and Co-founder Open Source Community Africa where she’s focused on matters bordered around Women in tech and Open Source respectively. Through She Codes Africa Ada has impacted over 10,000 women members across 17 African countries with her team and driven the growth of women in STEM in Africa while championing gender diversity in tech through it.  Her expertise in Developer relations and staunch advocacy for developers within Africa has earned her roles in several top organisations globally including her current engagement as the Ecosystem community manager for Sub-saharan Africa with Google. 

Adedoyin Jaiyesimi — is the Co-Founder and Chief Communications Consultant at The Comms Avenue, a capacity-building and networking platform for Communications Professionals. The Comms Avenue currently has over 750 communications professionals from 15 African  countries in its mission-driven community. She is the Author of the book, From Clueless to Success – a collection of 20 backstories from her journey as a communications professional. Adedoyin has worked with organizations and senior executives in diverse industries to strategically communicate their brand message for impact and visibility. Developing expertise in creating and implementing communications strategy over her ten-year career, She has successfully executed projects for Project Ark, The ARK Coaching Company, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), the W Community, Heritage Bank, African Philanthropy Forum amongst others.

Adenike Ponnle — She is the Founder, The Cake Chancery, one of the biggest cake studios in Ibadan. She is a political scientist turned Baker and she is popularly known as ‘Ibadan Baker’. She was inspired to start the cake business after a baker disappointed her by baking a terrible cake and also as a way to make ends meet. She has since become an inspirational baker who bakes timeless and unique cake designs which leaves clients awed by the creativity she births and has trained several bakers to do the same. She has trained over 200 bakers within and outside Nigeria to adopt unique methods in baking, dessert making and sugar crafting. 

Adetoke Oluwo —  She is the founder and Creative Director of The SGTC BRAND. The SGTC brand is a global Afrocentric brand, that redefines the way African fashion is perceived by infusing the culture, vibrant, colourful and unbreakable spirit of Africa into the process of making her unique Ankara outfits in Nigeria. She made an unplanned switch from TV to Fashion Business in October 2016 when a Picture of her wearing an Ankara Piece on Instagram went viral and this kicked off her clothing business. She is also a TV and Film Producer, Met Film School UK Alumni(Screenwriting), International Fashion Reporter. She is  known for always sharing Business Tips to help Entrepreneurs on Social Media in Sales and Strategic Marketing.

 Aisha Gumel Farooq— She is the founder of playhouse daycare, a professional premarital coach and educator. Her professional coaching service aims to strengthen the family unit from the first set (intended couples) to newlyweds and their offspring (young adults). Through her coaching, she educates couples on how to build a marriage based on love, commitment, and spirituality.She guides young adults and children on choosing the best career path, overcoming anxiety, academic/peer pressure and discovering themselves amongst other challenges.

Ayo Awotona— She is the founder of Joy Uplifts,  an education and training company raising tomorrow’s female leaders with healthy self-esteem & well-being alongside providing professional development training for staff in Education. She is also a Digital Content Creator on YouTube and a self-published Christian Faith Author of “A Young Woman’s Guide to Seeking God”.  She is a female International Educational Speaker who specializes in confidence building for girls and young women (10-25 years old) 

Anna Ekeledo — She  is the Executive Director of AfriLabs, a pan-African network of 320 tech hubs in 51 African countries. She is leading AfriLabs to develop programmes and building partnerships that support innovation hubs and other stakeholders that raise high potential entrepreneurs that stimulate economic growth and social development in Africa.  Prior to joining AfriLabs, Anna was involved in pioneering various impact-driven projects and new business units with organisations such as the Visiola Foundation, Wild Fusion Digital Centre, Google, Lagos Business School – Nigeria, and Ingenico – a French global financial technology company. Also, she is the Regional Innovation Lead – Africa at the EdTech Hub – the world’s largest education technology research and innovation project which seeks to help improve education technology in developing countries.

Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi — She is the CEO of Above Whispers Limited, a platform aimed at providing an opportunity for women to engage in discussions about a range of issues such as politics, social justice, financial security, women’s rights, and other relevant areas. She is the co-founder of the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF), the first Pan-African grant-making organisation. She serves as a UN Women Nigeria Senior Advisor, and was appointed as a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at King’s College, University of London in 2017. She is a British-Nigerian feminist activist, writer and policy advocate. She’s also the Former First Lady of Ekiti state and was actively involved in a range of policy advocacy, grassroots empowerment and social inclusion programs in Ekiti State when her husband was the governor of Ekiti State. She led the campaign to enact a Gender Based Violence Prohibition Law , an Equal Opportunities Bill  and a HIV Anti-Stigma Bill. Bisi is the author of Loud Whispers, Speaking for Myself, and an autobiography entitled Speaking above a Whisper. She also co-edited Voice, Power and Soul.

Blessing Adesiyan — She Is the Founder and CEO at Mother Honestly, a complete ecosystem reshaping the future of women and families at home and in the workplace, ensuring that women lead happier, healthier, and successful lives. She is a trusted expert in work-life solutions for working parents and has helped transform the role of mothers in the workplace and home, engaging over 500,000 women through the Mother Honestly platform. She has nearly two decades of working with major Fortune 100 companies in operations and business roles, consulting across North America, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia, and researching workplaces, operational excellence, and gender economics.

Blessing Omakwu —  She is the founder of The She Tank: a  think-tank supporting the realization of equality for women of African descent. She is also the Deputy Director of Gates Foundation’s Goalkeepers initiative. She is a Nigerian-American women’s equality evangelist, lawyer, strategist and writer. In 2017, She was recognized as one of the top 50 emerging global policy leaders by the British Council. In 2019, she served as the Co-Curator of Melinda Gate’s session on Gender Bias at Goalkeepers New York City. Her career has been dedicated to the public sector, and she has worked and consulted for various government agencies and international organizations including the ONE Campaign, the United Nations and the Nigerian Federal House of Representatives. 

Bolanle Austen Peters — She is the Founder and Managing Director of the Terra Kulture Arena, a cultural hub for art, food, theatre and so much more. She is the CEO of BAP Productions; producing Nigerians top musicals and dramas like the Bling Lagosians.She is popularly described as “the Queen of Film and Theatre,” A veteran in the Nigerian art space, She recently directed Nobel Laureate; Wole Soyinka’s historical drama “Death and the King’s Horseman. She has been featured on Forbes Africa as one of the most influential women in Africa for 3 consecutive years. 

Bukola Adisa— She is the founder and CEO of Career Masterclass, a leading online career development platform focused on enabling the career growth of ambitious professionals by teaching the practical skills that they can use to build and enjoy a successful career. Through her annual career development conference called STRETCH Conference, Career Masterclass has positively impacted the lives of thousands of career professionals. She also sponsors the careers of high potential BAME professionals and has provided promotion opportunities for them. She is also a Risk and Controls executive who has held senior roles at some of the world’s largest financial services organizations such as HSBC, JP Morgan, NatWest and Deloitte.

Capt. Chinyere Kalu — She is the first Nigerian female commercial pilot and the first woman to fly an aircraft in Nigeria. She served as the rector and Chief instructor of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology between October 2011 and February 2014. Capt. Chinyere’s contribution to the development of the country has earned her numerous awards, amongst which includes Member of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (MFR) 2006; Member, Nigerian Women Achievers HALL OF FAME; African International Achievers’ Merit Award 2007; Rare Gems Professional Achievements Award 2007; Member, Nigeria’s 50 Greatest Women of Democratic Administration of Ghana 2012.

Capt. Simisola Ajibola — She is a hero pilot whose shrewd judgement averted a crash at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria. Flying about 133 passengers aboard the Air Peace Boeing 737 which lost its tyres after crash-landing at the Airport facility, She expertly brought the near-fatal incident under control, thus saving the lives of those aboard amid poor visibility and bad weather. The aircraft landed hard, causing the nose wheels to separate from the strut. All 133 passengers and six crew disembarked safely, although there was extensive damage to the runway and plane.

Chito Grace Mark — She is the CEO, Grace’s Hats Ltd – an international award-winning, Lagos based millinery business known for its creativity and brilliance in designing “one of a kind” hats. Chito Mark is a leading Milliner in Nigeria. She is also one of the pioneers in the industry. Chito has been in the business for over 40 years and is still inspiring a new generation of hat makers with her innovative designs and fashion flair.

Confidence Staveley — She is the Founder and Executive Director of the Cybersafe Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organization on a mission to facilitate pockets of human behavioural and capacity changes to ensure a safer internet for everyone with digital access and resident in Africa.  Confidence is also contributing to combating cyber-fraud through Cybersafe Foundation’s “NoGoFallMaga initiative” which has launched cybersecurity awareness campaigns reaching over 10,000,000 people in Nigeria. The foundation has organized cybersecurity training for over 4,500 SMEs in partnership with the UK Government. The foundation has also equipped 2000+ women and girls across Nigeria with intermediate level digital skills required to participate in the Digital Economy and launched the first truly Pan-African Cybersecurity awareness toolkit designed for senior citizens published in 8 languages spoken in Africa.  

Cynthia Chisom Ezechukwu — She is the  Founder and CEO of The Aboki Africa, a social enterprise focused on creating sustainable livelihood for internally displaced persons in Nigeria. She started with a shoe repair space in Nigeria then innovated, rebranded and redefined the value for a new target audience which allowed her to create job opportunities for internally displaced persons in Northern Nigeria.

Cynthia Obioha — She is the quiet force behind the localisation and growth of Meta’s products in emerging economies since 2017. Cynthia leads a diverse team from Africa and also the Middle East, passionate about building and bringing meaningful products to people across the region, helping them build community and leveraging the power of the internet to find value. Prior to Meta, she worked at Google Nigeria then the United Kingdom as a Technical Account Manager and Solutions Consultant, driving partner integrations with Google products. Cynthia is currently pursuing an MBA at the prestigious IESE. With a heart for constantly bringing joy to the less privileged, in 2016, Cynthia founded the Bloom Story Organisation, a charity that hosts an annual Christmas Bloom Party for orphaned and vulnerable children and offers them a complete Christmas makeover and fun experiences. Cynthia’s curiosity about various life topics and her desire to spread knowledge led her to launch and host ‘Time With Neriah’, a vibrant Instagram Live conversation where her guests based on their life experiences, provide practical tips on topics such as financial awareness, building relationships and leadership. She now dedicates her time to coaching and mentoring young African leaders, especially women, to pivot their careers and grow rapidly and steadily in their professional journey. 

Dami Elebe —  She is an award winning screenwriter who rose to fame for writing  known blockbuster web series like Skinny Girl In Transit and the nation’s favourite; The Mens Club and also Rumour Has It. Time and again Dami has proven to be the best at what she does. She is also an on-air personality, artist and sometimes, a musician.

Damilola Solesi — She is the Founder of Smids Animation, Nigeria’s foremost animation studio. Smids Animation focuses on developing creative content for kids and family entertainment meant for audiences around the world. At SMIDS, she leads a team of artists and animators who create 3D computer animation, 3D content production, motion graphics and visual effects. 

Damilola Teidi- Ayoola — She is the Director of Start-up Support at Co-creation Hub (Cc HUB) where she manages all start-up related programs at the innovation centre and works with entrepreneurs from various sectors to build and/or scale solutions that meet a real need.  She has led the implementation of over 22 startup programs and projects that have supported over 150 technology startups in Africa and managed strategic relationships with both local and international partners like Google, Meta, Airbus, GIz and more. Some of the programmes in her portfolio include: The Facebook (Deeptech) Accelerator, Africa4Future Programme III, PitchDrive Asia and The Women in Business programme. She is passionate about using technology  to solve problems and interested in the entire process involved in bringing new technology solutions to market.

Demi Samande — She is the Founder and Creative Head of Majeurs Chesterfield, one of the biggest furniture companies in Nigeria that specialises in restoration and manufacturing leather and fabric furniture. Majeurs Chesterfield also advocates young enterprise and the empowerment of the youth through its CSR programs Majeurs academy. In 2015, Majeurs Chesterfield caught the attention of Prince Charles who had an interest in creatives visited her London studio and in the same year, she was invited to showcase her work at 10 Downing Street. She also met David Cameron, the former British Prime Minister, at the event and this was a major boost for her business profile.

Denise Mobolaji Ajayi-Williams — She is the CEO/Cofounder of Silicon Valley- Nigerian Economic Development Inc. (SV-NED), an accelerator that bridges the connection between Silicon Valley and the rest of the world. Over the last decade, the SV-NED Inc. empire has acquired 1 billion reaches and built strong relationships with 50 thousand business owners and professionals with an interest in technology. She is also the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of WorkingMomin20s.com (WM 1920s Magazine). WM is described as a place where women go to gather motivation, embrace the feminist’s agenda, draw inspiration, connect with relevant cultural matters, and a forum to reflect on social, political and economic topics that impact their daily lives. She is also the Author of Akiti the Hunter, the first African Action Superhero which is being reworked into an animation series and animated motion picture movie. 

Doja Allen —  She is the MD/CEO of City 105.1 FM. Under her leadership, City 105.1 FM has grown to become a renowned radio for lifestyle information with remarkable ratings by listeners. In 2012, She became the first female CEO of an electronic media company in Nigeria. She is said to have a unique approach to journalism, which has been adopted by other media houses. She is also the CEO of City Media Academy, where she empowers individuals with or without university degrees with skills required to work in media houses.

Dr. Adun Okupe — She is the Executive Director of the Sahara Centre; an NGO that is committed to advancing sustainable development in Nigeria through research projects, initiatives and workshops. One of her initiatives is INDIGO; an eco-friendly coworking space that caters to the needs of creators who crave serenity amidst the hustle and bustle of Lagos. It is also the first fully solar-powered co-working space in Lagos. She has over ten years of research and advisory experience in infrastructure, tourism and sustainable development projects in sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. She is passionate about tourism as a tool for sustainable development with its focus on socio-cultural development and potential for contributing to national identity. She is also an expert at UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab and a Senior Advisor at Redclay; an advisory practice, focused on harnessing the potentials of sustainable  tourism in West  Africa. 

Dr Adrienne Tikolo — She is the Managing Director of Dyslexia Nigeria; an NGO that supports children and adults with dyslexia in school or at work empowering them to attain their full potential. She is involved with dyslexia screening, tutoring and teachers training. She has been a voice driving awareness and intervention on dyslexia in Nigeria. training for teachers in the educational system in Nigeria. She opened a dyslexia centre in Lagos where screening, tutoring and teacher’s training takes place.  In 2019, she received the Women of Merit Gold Award for her tireless efforts to quality delivery in the educational sector in Nigeria. 

 Dr Funmi Adewara  —  She is the Founder and CEO of Mobihealth International. Mobihealth International is said to be Africa’s first fully integrated telehealth start-up and has an app that utilises the services of diaspora, local doctors and medical service providers to deliver primary health care services. Through the Mobihealth International varied initiatives, they are able to serve rural communities, schools and organizations.  She received the World Bank’s  SDGs and Her Global 2020 Award for her role in promoting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).This coveted award, a first for Nigeria since its formation, earned her a congratulatory message from Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari GCFR at the celebration of Nigeria at 60, in October 2020. 

Dr. Ndijeka Udochi — She is the CEO/Board President of Summit Medical Group, a multidisciplinary hospital that harnesses technology and research to provide evidence-based culturally sensitive medical care to patients. Summit Medical Group has a staff strength that speaks over 12 different languages.  Their practises are in family medicine, paediatrics, internal medicine, nutritional medicine, psychotherapy and occupational medicine. The excellence of her work earned her the first black woman to be named  Maryland’s Family Physician of the Year 2021 by the Maryland Academy of Family Physicians in the United States. She was also listed as a Top Doctor in Baltimore Magazine, 2019. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. She has been featured on CNN and FOX News among others.

Dr. Rebecca Oluwayemisi Adeyeye — She is the Co-founder/MD, Lifefount Hospital, a leading hospital in cancer care surgery and endoscopy in Kwara state. Through its initiatives, Lifefount has educated over 3,000 secondary school students on lifestyles that ensures physical, mental and sexual wellbeing and has given clinical breast examination, mammography and ultrasound to over 1500 women in different states in Nigeria. She also cofounded Lifefount Foundation to run social impact projects that includes business trainings, peer to peer business funding and the school social impact project on emotional intelligence, genotype education and prevention of sexual and drugs abuse that has so far reached 35 trainers who have trained 3,086 in 13 secondary schools in different communities of Kwara state. She is the author of ‘Entrepreneurship  is a beautiful thing’- a book guide that teaches managerial skills to entrepreneurs. She is also a fellow of institute of management consultants and the pioneer president  of Academy for Women entrepreneurs (AWE) Alumnae which is a part of the white House led women’s global development and prosperity initiative (W-GDP).

Dr. Shakirat Gold-Olufadi — She is a consultant Physician, Dermatologist and genitourinary medicine specialist at the University College Hospital in Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria. She is a Fellow of the National Postgraduate medical College of Nigeria with expert training in clinical and general dermatology and management of sexually transmitted infections. She is the author of Medi-Thrive, a book containing pieces of advice for young minds aspiring to read medicine and on how to excel in the medical profession. She is also hugely popular on Twitter where she shares useful tips and information on how best to care for ones’ skin. 

Elizabeth Solaru —She is the Founder of Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium, one of the best luxury cake companies in the world. She is also the author of the bestselling artisan cake book; Opulencia. She has made her appearance on TV by hosting competitions such as the Cake and Bake Show and judging the Championnat de France de Cake Design, the French cake championships and the Italian Wedding Awards. As a sugarcraft expert, who is the best at what she does, she has appeared on Sky Living’s “Who’d Be a Billionaire” with her cakes appearing in films such as “My Best Friend’s Wedding” by Sony Columbia Pictures. She was also named as one of the world’s “Masterful 100”, a select list of the most excellent and masterful luxury experts and brands in their field and recently won Bridelux’s Best Luxury Cake Maker award at the first ever global luxury wedding industry awards at The Savoy, London.

Emmanuella David-Ette “Mystique Evolving” —  She is the Founder of Dynamic Initiative for Healthcare and Human Rights (DIHHR), an organisation that advances and advovates for the rights of trangenders, intersex persons and non-comforming individuals in Nigeria. She is also a transgender/intersex counselor and her work address violence on individuals based on perception of sexual orientation.

Eniola Edun —  is currently the CEO and Co-founder of Gamr, a gaming platform that helps gamers discover and  organise tournaments, build communities, increase viewership and get rewarded while projecting  Africa’s latent talents to the world.  In her previous role as a General Manager at TechPlus Nigeria, She led  the strategy development and operations of arguably, Africa’s largest tech event which connects,  fosters and enables tech inclusion among the youth population for social change and enterprise via  Events, Esports, bringing together thought leaders around the world on a centre stage annually with  tens of thousands in attendance including gamers, innovators & investors.  She is also the co-founder of AWARRI, a Robotics and AI startup whose mission is to enable the development and adoption of advanced AI & Robotics technology on the African continent. 

Eniola Mafe— She is the lead of 2030Vision- an initiative Co-shaping the strategic direction of the Forum’s thought leadership on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, global commons and sustainable development. She is the co-founder of SecureFarmer.com, a social enterprise developing the next generation farmers through precision data, mechanization and technology. She is also co-founder of The W Collective (TWC) – a platform of over 300 members changing the narrative of how gender equality is viewed in the workplace across corporate Africa. She managed the Niger Delta Partnership Initiative (NDPI) Foundation, a $90 million corporate social enterprise that applies a market-based approach to development, builds partnerships, and develops innovative projects for sustainable development.

Fisayo Longe — She is the Creative Director of Kai collective. Through Kai, she wishes to inspire young independent black women to create their own wealth. She is a fashion and lifestyle blogger at  “Mirror Me” which has been nominated by Instyle UK as Travel and Lifestyle blog of the year 2016. Kai Collective has been featured severally on Elle &  Beyonce. She was named among Forbes 30 under 30 Forbes, Europe class, 2021. 

Fiyin Toyo— is the CEO and Lead Trainer of EmpowerU Career Consulting founded in 2012. The organization is focused on helping individuals accelerate their careers and get global job opportunities . Fiyin Toyo is a woman of substance doubling as a 9-5er with renowned multinational companies with the latest being the Senior Innovation and Equity Manager for West Africa at Mondelez International as well as her pursuit for excellence and impact through the EmpowerU community where she has trained over 25,000 individuals on gaining visibility in the workplace, career mapping, acing interviews, as well as landing a job at the multinational being the unique selling proposition for the brand. 

Folake Soetan  — She is the CEO, Ikeja Electric (IE) plc, becoming the first female to hold this position. IE is the largest privately run Distribution Company in Sub-Saharan Africa and the foremost in Nigeria by revenue and innovation. She leads the improvement in the quality of power supply, from an average of 12 hours to about 16 hours daily across IE Franchise areas.  She was also in charge of the team that delivered the Bilateral Power initiative in August 2019 – a Willing-Buyer-Willing-Seller scheme, which for the first time in Nigeria, witnessed the provision of a minimum of 20 hours of power supplied through the National Grid to customers. She is a speaker on gender equality and empowerment in Africa.

Folayemi Agusto  —  She is the Co-founder and CEO of tix.africa, an online self-service ticketing platform for event organisers to list, manage, and securely collect payment for live and virtual events.She is a self-taught user interface designer, a passionate event organiser, and Co-founder of Eat Drink Media; the publishers of EatDrink Lagos, the premier food and drink guide in Lagos and host of the annual EatDrink Festival; which celebrates foods and drinks in Nigerian culture and holds in major cities in Nigeria. 

Funkola Odeleye — She is the Co-founder and CEO at DIYlaw – a legal technology company committed to empowering Nigerian entrepreneurs through the provision of accessible and affordable legal services and free legal and business resources. Funkola was the 2019 Sub-Saharan winner and Global Finalist of the Entrepreneurial Award of the British Council Study UK Alumni Award. She is a 2019 Africa 35.35 Laureate, a 2019 Obama Africa Leader; an Innovating Justice Fellow of The Hague Institute for the Innovation of Law (HiiL) and has been named as one of Nigeria’s 100 Most Innovative Persons in Technology.  In 2020, she was awarded a laureate by Cartier Women’s Initiative. 

Hauwa Abbas Hadejia  — She is the Founder and President of Silver Lining for the Needy Initiative (SLNI), an NGO that provides aid, support and training to impoverished communities to improve health and standard of living of women and children. With initiatives and programs that improve maternal and infant health, She and her team are working tirelessly to reduce mortality rate in Nigeria. In 2012, she created Pearls Act; a support group that empowers and connects  over 100+ women living with HIV. She is the Commissioner, North West region for  the Hepatitis Zero Nigerian Commision, which aims to reduce Hepatitis cases in Nigeria to zero. 

 Ifeyinwa Nasiah Okoye — She is a Senior Magistrate in the Anambra State Magistrate House, Nigeria. She has achieved this as a person with a disability. Despite the stigma associated with her condition, she never lets that put her down. The senior magistrate started her law journey after studying sociology first and instead of proceeding to NYSC, she went back to bag her law degree. Her strong desire to study law is because of her long-nursed dream to be a voice for physically challenged persons like herself and society’s downtrodden.

Ifueko Omoigui Okauru — She is the first and only female (till date) to chair the Nigeria Joint Tax Board (JTB) between 2004 to 2012. The Joint Tax Board has over the years continued to contribute to the advancement of the tax administration in Nigeria, especially in the area of harmonization of Personal Income Tax administration throughout Nigeria. In 2002, she  became one of the founding members of Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ), a non-governmental organization that aims to promote women’s entrepreneurship and advancement across all sectors 

Jackie Aina — She is the Founder of Forvr, a self care brand that encourages women of colour to embrace luxury as part of their lifestyle. She launched her candle line; Forever Mood and seeks to expand into other luxury products. She is a creator and disruptor; she is a former US Army veteran turned beauty guru. A leading beauty content creator on  YouTube. Her platform inspires confidence in women. She was a powerful voice against injustice; she is an advocate for diversity and inclusion of black enterprises in the media space. In 2020, she went viral for calling on popular brands to speak against racial discrimanation during the Black Lives Matter movement. She also used her platform to call for international donations to the EndSARS Protest in Nigeria. 

Jife William — She is the Co-founder of MN Environmental Services Ltd, where they address the problem of open defecation in high density areas like urban slums by providing clean, modern, functional, culturally sensitive toilets and showers. MN is working to reduce pollution and promote sustainable health through strategic partnership  with Local and State Govt’s. MN facilities are located in markets, motor parks and low income housing areas where the need is great to ensure maximum social impact and profitability. She was also one of the laureate winners for Cartier’s 2009 Women’s Initiative Awards, an international competition that supports women-owned and -led businesses that are driving social change.

Judith Kanayo (Judikay) — She is a gospel artist and Entrepreneur. She began her career as a backup singer and debuted with the song “Nobody Else”. Although it was her song “More than Gold” established her as a voice for hope and inspiration and an artist  to reckon with in gospel  music.  In 2021, she won African Artist of the Year in the Impact Gospel Awards. She founded Eyewear by JDK; a quality eyewear brand in Nigeria. Judikay as she is fondly called has made her mark as one of the most gifted and anointed gospel singers of our time. 

Kafayat Sanni — She is a Flight Lieutenant of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF). She made history when she became the first female fighter pilot in 2019. This record has not been held by any female for 55 years. She has a track record of being the best at what she does; she was the overall best pilot at the NAF 401 Flying Training School, Kaduna State. In 2017, she was trained at the US Aviation Leadership Program. She  was the first that went through regular combat training at the Nigerian Defence Academy to be winged for a fixed wing fighter aircraft. She was deployed to combat against the Boko Haram terrorist group in Borno State, Nigeria.

 Khadijah Okunnu Lamidi — She is the CEO and Lead Strategist at Slice Media; an international brand consulting firm. They integrate emotional intelligence, cultural inclusion and the diverse experience of the team to create a remarkable branding strategy. They have worked with prestigious brands such as Microsoft, Dangote, Coldstone, and Bouch. She started the WaterRelief NG, a social project of Slice Media Solutions; set up to provide potable drinking water in underserved areas across Lagos State and Nigeria.  So far, WaterRelief has served a total of 16 communities.  She is a Presidential aspirant for the coming elections in 2023 and was the first female to declare her interests in the 2023 presidential elections in Nigeria. 

Kike Oniwinde —  She is the Founder & CEO of BYP Network, an organisation on a mission to change the black narrative and elevate the staus of the black man. Her organisation connects black professionals with each other and with international opportunities; the platform has since grown to over 150,000 members and over 1000 corporate clients including Facebook, Burberry and Goldman Sachs. BYP members have been upskilled through mentorship, thought-leadership events and industry specific insight along with an enhanced network. Her proudest moments include the annual BYP Network Leadership Conference attended by thousands of Black professionals as well as the BYP $1m crowdfund that saw 1200 community investors. She is a Forbes 30 under 30, Maserati Top 100 Most Innovative Founders and a Computer Weekly UK Top 50 women in Technology. She is also an ex-Great Britain javelin thrower. 

Lara Rawa —  She is the Founder/CEO of Eventi Cocktails and an award-winning mixologist. She is a lawyer, entrepreneur, mixologist and Founder of the Lagos Cocktail Week (LCW); an annual event that celebrates the arts and craft of cocktail making which is the biggest cocktail festival in Africa. She and her partners have brought on board some prestigious liquor; Fayrouz, Desperados, Absolut Vodka, Star Radler, Jameson, Olmeca Tequila, Beefeater Gin, Johnnie Walker, and many others for an exhilarating experience when organising their events. She is also the owner of Smashbox cocktails, a ready to drink cocktails brand available in several stores around Nigeria. She is the first female Tales Attaché in Nigeria for Tales of the Cocktails in New Orleans, Louisiana USA. She has been a guest judge on the Baileys Bake-fest three times and many other shows. 

Lois Auta —  She is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cedar Seed Foundation, an organization fighting for the rights of People Living with Disability (PWDs). She has received awards for her role in promoting disabled sport globally in the U.S. She is also a support staff member with Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Lois has advocated for the betterment of persons with disabilities in Nigeria for over five years. She is a Mandela Washington Fellow, and Vice President of the Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni Association, Nigeria.

Lola Odedina — She is the CEO of Day Dreams Marketing Ltd, a strategic brand communications & reputation management shop with a deep bench of expertise garnered from first-hand experience leading concept development and launch of iconic Nigerian brand properties from Politics, Financial services, Fintech startups as well as transnational multinational consumer Brands. Prior to this, She served as Chief Communications Officer & Divisional Head, Communications, Media, & External  Affairs Division, GTBank.  During this time, She and her team led the development & execution of the first  GTBank Social Media & Digital Marketing programme, which today has positioned the  GTBank digital brand as the largest social media brand in Africa, and number three  globally. She also led the launch of GTBank’s lifestyle consumer engagement  programmes, NDANI, GTBank Food & Drink, GTBank Fashion Arts 635, SME Market hub &  Autism awareness CSR initiative. For over 2 decades, She served in senior roles across Nigeria’s financial services industry.

Maryam Augie- Abdulmumin — She is also the Founder and Executive Director of the Illmi Children’s Fund (ICF),  which focuses on advocacy and outreach programmes for child education especially in the most remote regions in Northern Nigeria. Through its projects and initiatives, ICF provides scholarship programs, community cluster learning model centres, livelihood and psychosocial programs.  Since its inception, ICF has provided access to basic education for about 24.8% of the children on its database. It’s mobile and web app leverages technology and grassroots driven crowd funding to reduce the number of Nigeria’s more than 10 million out-of-school children. In Kebbi State, the organization’s micro finance scheme aimed at empowering and inspiring financial literacy in women has had encouraging results. Furthermore, the organization, via its Gift basket outreach programme provided literacy opportunities for 150+ internally displaced children in Abuja and Adamawa. 

Mirabelle Morah — She is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of BlankPaperz, a digital publishing platform that amplifies the voices of young African writers working to address issues in their communities. Through BlankPaperz, Mirabelle and her team published Z’axis Magazine to remind young, African social entrepreneurs that they are not alone in their changemaking journeys. In 2021, she also started the BlankPaperz GC Fund to support the education-based needs of several individuals and organisations in Nigeria. Her honours include Ashoka Changemaker and Youth Champion, an Obama YALI Alumni, and 2018 British Council Study UK Ambassador. She was also selected as one of the thirty three 2018 Global Teen Leaders for her contribution to peace and education.  She has been featured on BBC and the UN foundation spotlight.

Molara Wood — She is the author of Indigo, a book of stories that represents a myriad of ideas which include feminism, tradition and modernity, urban and rural interactions, diasporic realities amongst others. She is currently the Chief Editor at Ouida Books and the One Read Africa Initiative. She also hosts ART for the People podcast; through which she tells stories of art and culture in Nigeria. Molara is an international journalist and critic, who is described as “one of the eminent voices in Nigeria’s Art space.” She previously served as a judge for the Etisalat Prize for Literature.She is on the advisory board of the Aké Arts and Book Festival, a participant at many literary events including the Lagos Book & Art Festival.

Morenike Fajemisin — She is the co-Founder Whispa; a  mobile application that allows young people to privately access sexual and reproductive health information, products and services. She is also a Pharmacist and the 2016 winner of the BMGF/Bayer 120 under 40 award and in 2019. She also won the Ingenuity fund grant and her innovative mobile app WHISPA was selected by World Health Organisation Africa as one of the Top 30 Innovations to look out for. 

 Nicole Chikwe — She is the  Founder of the Mummy Summit and Creator/Host of Mum’s Worst Day Podcast. The Mummy Summit is a community that empowers, connects, and serves African millennial mothers. It currently holds the biggest online conference for mothers in sub-saharan Africa, hosting over 1200+ attendees from over 14 countries.  On Mums Worst Day Podcast, Nicole hosts honest conversations where African mums share stories and trials of motherhood and also encourage other mothers. Her podcasts have hosted celebrities like Stephanie Busari and Osas Ighodaro, where they share their experiences of motherhood. 

Nkechi Idinmachi — She  is the Founder of Machi Earth Foods, an allergen free food company that is on a mission to create healthy and tasty allergy free foods that provide great nourishment for everyone using only African super foods such as Bambara and Egusi. She was inspired to start her company after her first child landed in the hospital on several occasions due to severe allergic reactions to some other foods. She decided to help other mothers and families who are experiencing the same by producing safe alternatives they can feed their children with. Her products such as the Gusi seed butter and Grounded Malted Bambara are very unique, innovative and highly nutritious. Her brand is giving children and families dealing with allergies a chance to enjoy all kinds of food recipes without missing out on foods they can’t eat. 

Odion Oseni  — She is the Creative Director of Odio Mimonet (OM),  a brand that serves as an inspiration to others in  the Nigerian fashion industry. Odion Mimonet is an established brand with over 18 years of relevance under the belt. As the Creative Designer of the label, she exhibits finesse in each of her collections. Her work has been mentioned on Women’s Wear Daily (WWD), featured on Vogue and walked the runway at the Canex Presents Africa @ Portugal Fashion Week 2021. Her work was worn on the cover of Essence Magazine by Ciara, Teyana Taylor & Iman.

Ofunne Kate Osamor —  She is a British Labour Co-operative politician who has served as Member of Parliament for Edmonton since 2015. In 2016, she was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for International Development by Jeremy Corbyn. She was an active campaigner for the Remain campaign during the EU referendum and a prominent member of the ‘Love Socialism, Hate Brexit’ group. Osamor has served as the chair for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Nigeria since 2015. She is also an advocate for funding for women to close the gap of inequality and poverty.

Ogochukwu Maduako — She is the  CEO of Igenious Farm (iFarm) Group, an agricultural waste recycler company that repurposes agricultural waste into bio fertilisers with the goal of ensuring safer food and cleaner environment. Her fertilisers provide plants and animals with calcium supplements for healthy growth. In her commitment to sustainable development, she began recycling eggshells and launched ISCOUR, an all purpose cleaning powder for pots and pans. As a business development expert, she keeps pushing the bar and created IFarm- You Eat; where she processes and exports food products from Nigeria to the UK and the USA. 

Ogholi, Alero Sandra — She is the Founder of Rural Development and Reformation Foundation (RUDERF), a nonprofit organization committed to investing in women and children towards ending extreme poverty. She is also an experienced gender equality and social development professional with over 7 years of full time experience leading diverse teams to implement and manage social innovation. Alero also founded a social enterprise called OLEJU;  a fast rising FINTECH company committed to bridging existing financial and digital inclusion gaps for rural entrepreneurs by developing tailored finance resources to accelerate economic growth, and providing access to loans and grants. Through OLEJU’s work 1250 MSME’s have been equipped.  She is currently serving as a Beijing champion with UN Women in the Intergenerational Dialogue Program and a steering committee leader for the National Youth GEWE Network in Nigeria.

Ojy Okpe — She is a co-host on the Morning Show with Arise TV, where she analyzes diverse socio political, cultural and economic issues of the day. Ojy is also an international model who was discovered at the age of 17 by talent scout Jan Malan who entered her into the Face of Africa competition. She was once the face of L’Oreal Mizani.  She created Third Mainland Productions, a film production company after working on multi-million dollar films such as The Devil Wears Prada, Spiderman 3 and Confessions of a Shopaholic. 

Olayemi Wonuola Keri — She is the Chief Executive Officer of Heckerbella Limited, a technology business transformation company that enables African businesses to simplify their processes and define the future. A Chair, Non-Executive Director and Advisory Board member of  various organisations and an award-winning commercially minded  technologist with 20 years’ experience in the Information Technology  and Telecommunications industries, operating at CEO and C-suite level across the public and private sectors.  She is the co-founder of Rising Tide Africa, a women’s movement initiated with a vision to  increase women’s participation in angel investing as an asset class and promote education,  cross-border investing and investor-mentoring across Africa. She is a Director of the Lagos  Angel Network and serves on the Board of Africa Business Angel Network (ABAN) as well as the  Investment Committee of Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF); managed by Acumen  Capital Partners. She is a mentor to various digital and technology-enabled start-ups.

Olorunfunmi Adebajo Olafimihan — She is the founder of Kindle Africa Empowerment Initiative, a non-profit organisation aimed at improving educational access and outcomes as a tool to promoting equitable economic advancement and ultimately eradicating intergenerational poverty for women and children in vulnerable communities In 2017, she built her first school named the Center for Women’s Integrated Education and in 2018 she founded the Waterfront Adult Education Center in Makoko, Lagos. In 2021, Kindle Africa established a digital literacy center to provide females in the Isolo community with free digital literacy skills in preparation for their final examinations and post-secondary school employment.  In 2016, she was selected as one of the 100 outstanding young leaders from Nigeria to participate in the Mandela Washington fellowship for Young African Leaders. She works from her office on a dumpsite in Makoko- the World’s largest floating slum. 

Oluremi Martins-Areola — She is the Founder of Natural Girl Wigs. She started this brand with the sole aim to help black women embrace their true texture and live the best authentic life. Oluremi started her business with an Instagram page where she built a community of black women who wanted to care for their hair and also get access to wigs made just for them. In 3 years of production, Natural Girl Wigs has now reached $1million in revenue.

Olivia Onyemaobi —  is the CEO of Pad-Up Creations Limited, a social enterprise that produces Nigeria’s first certified washable and reusable sanitary pads as a sustainable solution for girls/women in rural and low/no income in Africa. With over 3.5million distributed through over 18,000 women sales agents, her company currently employs 232 permanent staff with products distribution across 18 African countries. Her products won the 2021 African quality achievement award for reusable pads. Her company supplies across 18 African countries with existing partnerships with international organizations. She currently employs 232 Nigerian youth with focus on the ones at the lower pyramid of education, who may not have qualifications to get formal jobs, but have previous experiences to get jobs. She also founded Kommmb innovations, a company that recycles fabric waste from Pad-Up Creations Limited into educational toys and soft furniture. She is committed to seeing that every girl irrespective of economic class or location, finds pride in their period

Oluyemi Orija — She is the founder of Headfort Foundation, a non-profit that  creates access to justice to indigent members of the Nigerian Society and victims of police brutality across Nigeria.  In less than three years of the foundation, it has helped secure the release of 265 inmates from prison, it has created an App that connects victims to pro bono lawyers and it has expanded its presence to three states in Nigeria. She was named one of the 100 BBC most inspirational and influential women across the world in 2021, and she was recently given an award for creating hope, freedom and safety net to Nigerians by Macaulay Heritage Foundation. She is a legal practitioner with a broad spectrum in general civil law, corporate and commercial law, personal injury matters and real estate.She is a goal getter and is enthusiastically efficient in rendering her service to all clients irrespective of their economic or social status in the society. She also  founded the Headfort Chambers, a law firm in the heart of Lagos Nigeria. 

Omawumi Ogbe — She is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief at GLAZIA – a lifestyle digital magazine that tells authentic African and global stories, creating holistic experiences for its teeming readers across the globe. She is also the Managing Partner at one of Nigeria’s fastest growing PR & Communications agencies, GLG Communications. Ogbe currently serves as an executive member of congress and head of PR, Branding and Communications at the Life Coaches Association of Nigeria (LCAN). She is also the co-founder of highly acclaimed events platform, 10X  Thrive – a global initiative that brings world class speakers from across Africa,  America, Europe, Asia and Australia to one spot, to equip career professionals,  entrepreneurs, and organisations with practical tools that will help them thrive in  their personal and professional lives. 

Omowunmi Akinnifesi — She is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ellepoise International and Omowunmi fashion stores. She is also the founder of Global Women Africa, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) focused on young women empowerment through entrepreneurship training and skill acquisition. She is a businesswoman and an environmental ambassador for Lagos State Government. She was also appointed tourism and environment ambassador and represented Nigeria in Jordan where she promoted Nigeria’s tourism and launched a waterfall in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Tourism, Ghana. 

Onome Ebi — She is a Nigerian football player currently playing for FC Minsk in the Belarusian Premier League and the Nigerian national team, Super Falcons. She is one of Nigeria’s most accomplished and famous female footballers, a model and an influencer. She became the first African footballer to play in 5 FIFA World Cup Tournaments in 2019. She played for Bayelsa Queens FC in the Nigerian Women’s Championship before moving to Piteå IF and Djurgårdens IF in Sweden’s Damallsvenskan. She then played for Turkish sides Düvenciler Lisesispor and Ataşehir Belediyespor at the First League. She made her Champions League debut in August 2012 while playing for Ataşehir Belediyespor. In both club and international competitions, she plays as the number five in the team due to the significance it holds for her. She currently plays for Chinese second division side Henan Jianye.

Ore Runsewe — She is the founder of Founder Arami Essentials, a natural beauty brand that not only offers simple beauty solutions but is centred on beauty with integrity. She encourages people to make better decisions for their body, being mindful of it as a sacred place. Despite the repeated challenges she faced with accessing trusted beauty essentials in Nigeria, she was resilient and quick to adapt to build on some of her existing DIY routines which amazingly led to the discovery of a whole new world of natural, African beauty solutions. With Arami, she is positioning Africa at the forefront of the global beauty industry and promoting other thriving African brands. Additionally, the brand aims to boost awareness around locally sourced ingredients, change Africa’s underpaid labour challenges and make lasting impact within disadvantaged communities through their CSR initiative ‘Mind Body Soul’. Prior to founding Arami, she served as  Digital Marketing & Online PR specialist at FBNQuest and as a Communications Officer at Women In Management, Business & Public Service (WIMBIZ).

Owen Omogiafo — She is the President and Group Chief Executive Officer of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp), a diversified conglomerate with strategic investments in the Power, Hospitality and Oil and Gas sectors. She is  the youngest and first female to occupy the position at Transcorp. Before her appointment, she served as the MD/CEO of Transcorp  Hotels Plc where she was responsible for driving positive transformation both in  Transcorp Hilton Abuja andTranscorp Hotels Calabar.  Also, she was once the Chief Operating Officer at the Tony Elumelu Foundation, before joining theTranscorp group, where she oversaw the $100m Programme aimed at identifying, mentoring, and funding 10,000 entrepreneurs over  10 years. She seats on the Board of Avon Healthcare Limited in a Non-Executive capacity and  is a member of various notable organizations including the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, UK; Institute of Directors, (IoD) Nigeria; and the Board of Trustees of the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC) Nigeria. 

Ozinna Anumudu —She is the Founder Ozinna.Com, a home-grown, independent social enterprise with focus on fashion, lifestyle and culture. She offers new and exciting ways to experience the best in fashion from West Africa. She also founded a communications agency, TSC Agency, which caters to creatives & businesses in the fashion & lifestyle industry. She was also the costume supervisor for the popular movie “Lara and the Beats”. Her unique taste in fashion has positioned her as a style icon just as she continues to inspire a community of individuals to be confident, creative and their most authentic selves. 

Princess Modupe Ozolua — She is the Oyimizé of Ososo Kingdom and founder of Empower 54 Africa Countries Initiative, a non-governmental organisation which offers humanitarian programmes to underprivileged women and refugees in various countries including Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo. She is actively working to rehabilitate women and children survivors of Boko Haram insurgency in North Eastern Nigeria, through self-employment and education for the children at the Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps. Over the years, she has received several international awards such as “Humanitarian Recognition” Official Proclamation, City of Atlanta, Georgia and “Princess Modupe Ozolua’s Day” Official Proclamation, City of Houston, Texas. She is also the Special Adviser on NGOs (including People With Disabilities) to The Deputy President of the 9th Senate, National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and an Alumni, Alpha Pi Epsilon, Phi Theta Kappa district (Honorary Students Society), USA. She pioneered plastic cosmetic surgery in Nigeria, West Africa. 

Salt (Abimbola) Essien-Nelson —  She is popularly referred to as the “Chief Errand Girl” at the Shola Adefolalu Gaska Foundation aka the Sholly Smile Factory, a nonprofit organization in Lagos bringing smiles to the faces of people in need (especially women and children) by providing financial, emotional and spiritual support. In June 2021, the Foundation opened the doors of the Sholly Serenity Place, a safe home for vulnerable women and survivors of domestic abuse/violence. This shelter also known as Sholly’s Safe Home provides temporary accommodation and feeding totally free of cost for its residents. It seeks to create an enabling environment where residents feel loved and cared for in a way that re-ignites hope in them for their future. She also hosts “Salt Talk” a weekly podcast via which Salt talks about her life, her journey as a woman desperately seeking to be an Authentic Christian.She is a blogger and author of the Desperate Naija Woman Diaries; a blog-to-book series about her life and relationship with God. 

Serah Kassim —She is the CEO of Serah Kassim Clothing Brand Made in Africa Retail Brand that uses Afrocentric clothing to promote African Textiles for Women. She is a Pattern Maker who came into the spotlight In 2017 when the Serah Kassim brand was listed amongst the 1000 successful business ideas selected from about 100,000 applicants in Africa by the Tony Elumelu foundation. She launched the Free Yearly “Learn a sub skill with SerahKassim”- a yearly empowerment initiative which inspires and supports young vulnerable women living in slums by providing free fashion creative and design training opportunities for informal education towards employment to young women. This initiative has empowered about 500 women and partnered with Kindle Africa in 2019, a women Empowerment Integrated Education Center, Makoko Lagos, Nigeria to empower more women yearly. . 

Seyi Oluyole —  She is the founder and Executive Director of the Dream Nurture Foundation, focused on transforming the lives of girls experiencing homelessness, abuse, neglect, and economic hardship by providing them access to free quality education, a safe place to live (a home), welfare, arts education, life skills and leadership skills to equip them for financial independence. In 2020, She and her team at the Dream Nurture Initiative began building the first free educational and arts academy in Nigeria. This academy will provide free education and housing to 100 indigent girls. Through her works, has supported over 200 women and girls in suburban areas of Lagos, Nigeria. Her work at Dreams Nurture Foundation has caught the attention of several celebrities like cardi B, Naomi Campbell and Rihanna. She has also been featured on prestigious media outfits like Al-Jazeera and CNN among others. Her short film ‘Gbera’ won the Eko international Festival award in 2018. 

Sharon Ooja — She is an award-winning Nollywood actress. She came into the limelight after she played the role of ‘Shalewa’ in the web series- Skinny Girl in Transit. She has gone on to act in more award-winning Nollywood films. She received a special recognition award from The Eko Star Film & TV Awards in March 2021. She was the lead actress in the movie “Oloture”, a movie that addressed the difficult realities of women who are sexually exploited while looking for opportunities that would earn them more money.

Simi Esiri— She is the Founder and  Editor-In-Chief  of the Award Winning SCHICK Magazine, a Pan-African fashion, beauty and lifestyle publication. She is an Intellectual Property Lawyer turned Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. She started her career in Fashion over 10 years ago, whilst in University through her fashion and style blog – RubysView.com. Her view was famously liked on Twitter by La La Anthony and Kim Kardashian West’s long-time stylist Monica Rose. She then went on to style celebrities such as Rihanna and Alexandra Burke to name a few. The one time ‘Fashion Magazine of the Year’ recipient boasts of highly-acclaimed, global talents such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Bonang Matheba, Pearl Thusi, Asa and Maria Borges as cover stars. 

Solape Akinpelu — She is the Founder of HerVest, a women-focused and  inclusive fintech platform for the underserved and excluded women in Africa. HerVest  enables women to participate in savings, impact-investments and credit, credit  particularly for small holder women farmers in Nigeria. She is also a Certified Financial Education Instructor and a member of the Personal Finance Speakers Association (USA). Solape is the Nigerian chapter director of Women in Tech® an international organization with a double mission: to close the gender gap and to help women embrace technology. She is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK). She has attended impactful executive programs at prestigious institutions including The Lagos Business School and INSEAD, France.

Tari Taylaur —  She is currently the Secretary of a Lekki subzone and an active member of the Environment Committee for Lekki Estate Residents Association (LERA).   Last year, Tari was a Councillorship Candidate for Ward A, Eti-Osa Local Govt (2021). She was appointed as the party Ward Chairman of Youth Party, Eti Osa Local Government Area effective November 10, 2021. 

She is also a media professional and TV producer with fourteen years’ experience serving clients in the private sector, social development and government. She is passionate about improving the welfare of young people and has served as a volunteer in projects across education, food security, voter enlightenment and environmental advocacy. 

Temi Marcella Awogboro — She is the Executive Director and a member of the Founding Management Team & Founding Board of Directors at Evercare Hospital in Lekki, Lagos State. She is also Co-founder and Partner with Kairos Angels, where she works with visionary entrepreneurs to build scalable businesses and sustainable innovation ecosystems. Temi sits on the Nigerian Health Sector Reform Committee under the Chairmanship of the Vice President of Nigeria. She is a Kauffman Venture Capital Fellow; an African Leadership Institute Tutu Fellow; and previously a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and Alumni Ambassador. She was the recipient of the Future Awards Africa Prize for Professional Service, M&A Advisor’s European Emerging Leaders Award and has been recognized as the Female Lead’s Top 20 Women under 20; and, Management Today and The Telegraph’s 35 Women Under 35 in the UK. She has committed over half a billion dollars of private partnership capital in addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

Temilade Salami —  is the Founder of Ecochampions, one of Nigeria’s largest networks of professional environmentalists leading change through planting trees and waste management. She is constantly advocating for tree planting,ocean conservation and environmental education. She is the author of MamaDunia kids, a book that educates kids on the environment and climate change.  She is a Chevening scholar and is currently the Deputy chair of the University of Sussex Student sustainability committee. 

Timi Edwin — She is the Founder and CEO of Crimson Bow Sickle Cell Initiative. She is a sickle cell warrior  with 15 years experience in the corporate field that cuts across HR, Finance, Business Development, Procurement, Administration and Consular duties. She is the PR Head of the Coalition of Sickle Cell NGOs, the NCD Alliance non communicable diseases Ambassador, the editor-in-chief of “Our Views, Our Voices” Newsletter for People Living with Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs.) She has tirelessly worked to ensure that thousands of sickle cell individuals are medically, emotionally and financially impacted. 

Titi Ogufere — She  is an exceptional Nigerian interior designer, critical design thinker and publisher at Essential Media Group. She is the Creative Director at Essential Interiors Consultancy, a pioneer interior designing company in Nigeria.  President of the Interior Designers Association of Nigeria. She recently produced a documentary series for Netflix worldwide on African design called Made by Design. The documentary series highlights the impact and work of architects, interior and product designers in Africa.

Toju Oluwatoyinbo— She is a relationship mentor, vlogger and speaker and has been invited to speak at various events and conferences. She popularly known as “The Preacher’s wife”  hosts online sessions on ‘Understanding Marriage’, and has authored a book titled ‘Zero to Ten, Rate Yourself: 10 Reasons You Might Be Wrong About Mr.Right’. Toju has a community of over 40,000 followers on social media where she teaches marriage values. She counsels young women on topics ranging from handling Godly Relationships, heartbreaks and rebounds. She is the creator of “How to be a lady” She is also a certified marriage relationship Counsellor.

Tokunbo George-Taylor— She is the Managing Director of Hill+Knowlton Strategies Nigeria. Tokunboh draws upon over 25 years of experience in public relations and corporate communications to guide the office in providing strategic insight and counsel to clients. She was Director of the Oando Foundation, establishing the foundation in Nigeria, US and UK and developing its framework and partnerships. Whilst at Oando Plc, She led the communications team for local and international fundraising and the listing on the Johannesburg stock exchange. She is one of Nigeria’s female amazons in the Public Relations space in Nigeria. 

Tola Onigbanjo— She is the Co-Founder of Women4Africa, ‘one of the largest gatherings of African Women in Europe’ a platform created to celebrate ordinary women who are doing extraordinarily well and excelling in their different fields. She is also the Founder of The Listeners101, a non-profit organization designed to help young people (11-26) by giving them a place to talk without judgement. She is also the founder of The Solid Woman, a platform empowering, inspiring, and encouraging women. She is a Visibility Coach and Author of ‘STEPS – it’s time to quit stepparenting and become a parent’.

Tolulope Olorundero —  She is the Founder and Principal Consultant at Mosron Communications, a boutique public relations consulting practice in Lagos, Nigeria. Amongst their impressive clientele, she has led the Mosron team to sign on and consult for Landmark Africa, Flying Doctors Healthcare Investment Company, Outsource Global, The Sahara Centre, and many others. She is also the  Founder and Chairperson of Nigerian Women in Public Relations, registered as the Public Relations Women Foundation, an organisation set up to advocate for, and support female PR professionals of Nigerian descent across the world.Tolulope is an adroit public relations and communications consultant for c-suites as well as board advisor. 

Tolu Micheals — She is a Digital Entrepreneur, Best-selling Author, and Educator committed to helping young women show up purposefully, persuasively & profitably, without losing themselves.  She trains thousands of entrepreneurs through her training series, with over 10,000 email subscribers weekly, and a wider audience of over 50,000 across several digital platforms. She is also the author of “Show Up,” a book she published to help women create a profitable brand doing work they love.

Tomilola Adejana —  She is the Co Founder and CEO of Bankly, a fintech company that digitizes cash and provides micro businesses/individuals working in the informal sector a safer path to savings. Bankly is the “bank to the unbanked,” meeting the needs of the financially excluded by providing the personal and technological touchpoints they require to digitize their cash and grow their income in a safe and simple way. 

Tomi Otudeko — She is the Director at Itanna, a venture investing platform for tech-enabled Nigerian startups. The Itanna’s accelerator programme prepares cohort companies for business. She is also the Head of Innovation and Sustainability at the Honeywell Group where she is responsible for Honeywell Group’s CSR strategy and oversees corporate services for the company. She joined the Honeywell Group in November 2017 to help set up Itanna, Honeywell Group’s corporate venture investing platform. 

Prior to joining Honeywell Group, she led the implementation of integration activities for First Bank of Nigeria across 6 African countries and was Head, International Banking Coordination for its International Business: coordinating the implementation of strategic initiatives, business development and group management activities across multiple regions.

Tomisin Ogunnubi — She  is the Founder of an app called  My Locator, a mobile tracking app which she developed at the age of fifteen in 2016 . The mobile app, which is available on the Google Play Store, has already been downloaded more than 1,000 times since its debut. My Locator is a mobile tracking app that helps lost children find their way back home. The app allows kids to share their current location with friends and family for meetup purposes or browse the map around their location. More amazingly, My Locator App’s alert button is connected to the Lagos State Emergency Service number (767). When that button is pressed, the emergency number is called and a message showing the child’s current location will be sent to them for help. The app is compatible with all android phones which is another comforting feature that stands out.

Tope Omotolani — She is the co-founder and CEO of Crowdyvest, an impact-driven community focused on creating interdependence between individuals and businesses. She is one of the co-founders of Farmcrowdy, Nigeria’s First Digital Agricultural Platform that launched in November 2016. Under Tope’s leadership, Crowdyvest has raised over $35 million through savings and investment for multiple businesses from a community of over 100,000 members in over a year.

Tosin Adefeko — She is the Founder/Managing Director of AT3 Resources, a Lagos, Nigeria based specialised consultancy with expertise in strategic communications, special events, media interventions and training. An award winning company with key clientele such as META (formerly Facebook), local conglomerates like NIBSS and influential private clients using strategic communications. A corporate executive and entrepreneur with over 25 years of multi-sectoral experience in Nigeria, she has led and delivered outstanding business results in financial services, print/broadcast media and marketing communications industries.

Toyosi Etim-Effiong — She is currently the Global Director for Media Content, as well as Head of Films and Series Production at Most Influential People of African Descent (MIPAD) – another testament to her outstanding work producing for film, TV, radio, and digital publishing platforms. She is also an influential media executive whose expertise reverberates across the media space with a wealth of experience garnered across 3 continents. Her NGO, The Good Friends Zone is a real and relational platform dedicated to helping young people build healthy lasting friendships necessary for a truly wholesome life. She also heads her own boutique Media company, That Good Media, a company that specialises in offering excellent Media and public relations services to public figures in Africa. 

Weruche Opia —  She is a Nigerian film and stage actress and entrepreneur. She is best known for the roles she played in I May Destroy You (2020), a series, which aired at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, triggered a crucial dialogue on the way Race and ethnicity contribute to the perception of trauma, within the context of assault; as well as thoroughly dissecting the ambiguous aspects of consent in a way that had not been seen on-screen before. She is also known for Bad Education (2012) and Sliced (2019). She currently serves as CEO of her clothing line – Jesus Junkie Clothing, a brand she built after her recovery from cannabis addiction.

Yetty Williams — She is the Founder of Nigeria’s premier and first parenting blog, LagosMums.com she has grown from passion, purpose to profit and built a brand from scratch by following her passion and using digital media to create an engaged following. She is the convener of the LagosMums Parenting Conference which is an annual gathering of thousands of parents and experts discussing pertinent topics relating to parenting and family matters. She is a social entrepreneur, parenting and abundant living for mums coach and neuro linguistic programming practitioner. As a life coach she helps women live their most abundant lives. Through her brand “Slay with Digital” she helps businesses grow with digital media using her proprietary “7C’s”. 

For the 7th consecutive in a row, Leading Ladies Africa presents its annual 100 Most Inspiring Women in Nigeria List — in recognition and celebration of the impact and contributions Nigerian women have made in the fields of business, art, politics, sports, advocacy, medicine, media, fashion and many more sectors. 

“As we continue to advocate and push for gender parity and equality, it’s also important that we do that through the lens of Diversity and Inclusion — especially as it pertains to women of African descent” says Francesca Uriri, Founder Leading Ladies Africa. It’s important to us to have a variety of voices recognized and amplified in this compilation of phenomenal women — because that is a true representation of the Leading Ladies Africa community. Whether they are activists, scientists, poets, doctors, coaches, teachers, members of the LGBTQIA community, actors, politicians, etc — every single one of them is welcome at the table, and their contributions matter. Deeply.” 

On this day, as we join the entire world in celebrating International Women’s Day, we choose to seek out and celebrate the achievements of these women — (some of who have passed on), demolish stereotypes that seek to limit women, and promote gender diversity and inclusion. These women are notably making impactful contributions to their communities, changing the narrative in their space and are consistently pushing the frontiers of excellence. In no particular order, join us as we celebrate their impact and power:

Adedoyin Odunfa is the CEO, Digital Jewels Ltd. She is an IT professional with over 20 years’ experience, focused on enhancing the strategic value of IT in organizations. She has led industry initiatives to strengthen and enhance IT Governance, Risk and Compliance processes, practices and skillsets.

Over the years, Adedoyin has gained deep competencies in Business Management, Strategic Business/IT Alignment, Information Security, Information Assurance, Risk Management, Project Management and e-Business. She previously worked at the Lagos Business School and at Phillips Consulting, where she resigned as Executive Director in charge of the Information Systems and e-Business Practice in 2008 to establish Digital Jewels.

Adeola Ogunmola Sowemimo is the first Nigerian female pilot at Qatar Airways and the first Nigerian female pilot to fly the Boeing 787 Dreamliner across the Atlantic. She started her aviation career at the US-based Sunrise Aviation Academy where she graduated in 2011.

She joined Medview Airlines in 2013 till October 2018, first as a First officer on Boeing 737 classic, and was later upgraded to Boeing 767-300ER. She joined Qatar Airways in October 2018 on the Dreamliner Boeing 787.

Ade Samuel is a celebrity stylist and she started her career by assisting fashion editors at Teen Vogue and W magazines before training with stylists Cher Coulter and Simone Harouche.

She has dressed the likes of Michael B. Jordan, Justine Skye, Yara Shahidi, Angela Rye, and Cynthia Erivo. Bringing flair to Hollywood red carpets by teaming up with designers like LaQuan Smith and Pyer Moss, Samuel is known for working with new and rising designers of colour. In 2018, she was part of Essence magazine’s iconic cover featuring Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira and Letitia. She was named one of “The 25 Most Powerful Stylists in Hollywood” by The Hollywood Reporter in 2019.

Aisha Salaudeen is a multimedia journalist and producer of editorial sponsorships currently based out of the CNN bureau in Lagos, Nigeria. She scripts and produces sponsored CNN TV shows such as African Voices Changemakers, Inside Africa, and Market Place Africa. She also writes feature stories from across the continent.

Her work has appeared in The Financial Times, Al Jazeera English, Okay Africa, and TRT World where she covered thorny issues like alleged police brutality, sexual abuse and surviving Boko Haram.

Aisha Yesufu is a socio-political activist and co-convener of the Bring Back Our Girls campaign, launched in response to the 2014 abduction of more than 200 girls from a secondary school in Chibok, Nigeria, by the militant group Boko Haram.

She was also a prominent participant in the #EndSars protests, during which saw Nigerians take to the streets to demand greater accountability from the Nigerian Police Force, beginning with the dissolution of the controversial Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) members of which have been accused of the murder, rape and robbery of civilians.

She is the founder of Citizens Hub a not-for-profit organisation that seeks to build a financially independent, active and responsible citizenry through a solutions-driven and dynamic approach.

Amin Ameen is an engineer with over ten years of experience in management. While working full time as an Engineer, Amin has been able to build, reach, and teach a community that has grown to over 30,000 ambitious creatives and professionals both on the continent and in the diaspora. With the hashtag, #EverythingNaArt, Amin has built a movement through her personal brand that turned into a call to action. A call to action that continues to fosters entrepreneurship, ingenuity, innovation, and intellectual growth.

Over the years, Amin has continued in her humanitarian pursuit of helping and connecting people to their purpose and to other people. She is an exhibitionist of beauty in Nigerian–African–art.

Amy Akudo Iheakanwa is the Creative Director of Shekudo, sustainable Women’s footwear and accessories brand founded in Sydney Australia relocating its manufacturing base across to Lagos Nigeria in 2018. Amy aims to contribute to the footwear manufacturing sector in Nigeria while shedding more light on the often overlooked artisan and craftsmanship scene.

With a major focus on sustainability and circular fashion principles, Shekudo looks to integrate some of the age-old techniques and underutilised local resources into its contemporary aesthetic, such as weaving, silver and woodwork.

Iheakanwa plans to expand her production and incorporate community through training and capacity building for destitute women with limited options and skills available to them.

Anne Adams is a clay bender and ceramic artist. She started off her artistic journey by creating functional art and 2-dimensional works on canvas. In 2020, she mastered the potter’s wheel and evolved to experimenting with clay to create works that take the form of vases, distorted figures and the feminine form.

She explored various mediums, including canvas paintings, murals and functional art. She is a member of the Female Artists Association of Nigeria and has participated in several group exhibitions in Abuja and Lagos. She won the Under 30s CEO Awards for the Category of Creativity and Innovation in 2019. She is focused on using her medium and style, to change the narrative surrounding the quality and potential of ceramic as an art form in Nigeria.

Aramide Akintimehin is the Founder and CEO of Talent Mine Academy, a school dedicated to helping out-of-school children at no cost. Aramide is a first-class graduate of Economics from Covenant University. While undergoing her undergraduate degree, she began tutoring and she has not for once relented in pursuing her dream to teach with zeal and enthusiasm.

She is a Fellow at Teach for Nigeria; a leadership program with the sole objective to transform the education system in Nigeria by equipping their fellows with leadership skills needed to influence positive changes beyond the classroom. She is the author of the ebook ‘20 lessons I learned at age 20’ and she runs a mentorship program for female teenagers known as “Lady with a Difference”.

Banke Alawaye (Posthumous recognition) – She was the Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder at aCubed Limited, a business management firm and the author of “The Warrior Within”. She was also the pioneer program manager CodeLagos – an initiative to train 1 million Lagos residents to code.

During her lifetime, she sat on the advisory board for Girl Code Academy and was also the Co-Founder, SheProfitsAfrica – a program that provides training, mentoring and connections for women entrepreneurs. She was a passionate advocate for women in technology and was recognised as Digital Frontier Woman by DecadeOfWomen – an initiative of the United Nations.

Banke was a Sickle Cell warrior, and supported the sickle cell community by volunteering, taking part in fundraising activities and speaking about her experience, as a means of inspiring others.

Beauty Kumesine is the Founding Executive Director of Blazing Heart Autism Center (BHAC), an organisation providing the highest quality therapy for autistic children as well as support for their families. She’s also a public advocate for the identification and rehabilitation of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other related developmental disorders.

Beauty spent 2 years understanding people living with ASD and qualified as a therapist in that time. Since then, she’s been a voice for kids with special needs and never ceases to advocate and drive conversations around ASD and special needs in Nigeria. She’s the organiser of PortHarcourtWalk4Autism and also plays host to seminars spreading the word about ASD.

Bodam Taiwo is the Founder of the Be-You-Ti-Ful Movement and a Coach for women through an exclusive and goal-oriented MasterMind. She’s also a Senior Marketing Executive, Event Entrepreneur, Author and Lifestyle Coach. She provides a variety of avenues and resources for equipping women to thrive, including through her book Be-You-Ti-Ful, Be-You-Ti-Ful Sessions and Hangout with Single Sisters.

A former Beauty Queen – the first Miss Malaika UK 2005, Bodam who is also known as The Etiquette Queen is a strong advocate of proper etiquette and a role model to women across different age-groups. She is the founder of a Signature Etiquette, Grooming and Hospitality Course called The Esther Curriculum. Bodam founded EBB Wedding & Events Designers Ltd – a full-service boutique planning and events design company.

Bolanle Banwo Osadolo is the Founder of Geneza Brands, a branding agency based in Lagos and also the Lead instructor at Geneza School of Design. She’s also the Founder and Lead Creative at the Female Designer Movement, an initiative she launched with a mission to train and equip women with design skillset and thereby help increase the number of women in the Nigerian Technology ecosystem.

As a brand identity designer/design advocate, she helps brands tell compelling stories via creative designs. Much of her work is centered around helping small and medium businesses create strong identities via good communication designs.

Brenda McWilson-Okorogba (Moments with Bren) is the Founder of Moments With Bren, an organization that provides a suite of helpful academic opportunities, career development tools and free resources for individuals to connect with their communities, support a culture of innovation, and promote a vision for self-determined learning that is student-centred, empathy-based, forward-thinking, and designed to meet the vast needs of today’s learners. She’s also a Learning Experience (LX) Designer, Grant Writer, Problem-Based Learning Facilitator.

Brenda purposefully creates opportunities for the growth of those around her, both personally and professionally. She has worked with students around the world throughout their career pathways and college admission with a record of $80.4 million fully-funded scholarships and tuition-fee waivers and also securing over 800 jobs for youths.

Cassandra Oma Ndulue is an entrepreneur and Founder of Ndulue Farms and Fisheries. After graduating from the university in 2011, she decided to venture into fish farming, in the process of creating jobs for people. She also went for training in the aquaculture business and started off with a few fishponds in Anambra State in 2012.

Her fish farm experienced a flood disaster in 2018 which led to a loss of over 70,000 catfishes and 110,000 juveniles with an estimated loss of over N30 million. As a resilient and determined entrepreneur, Sandra bounced back from this tragedy with no institutional support and currently operates a thriving fish farming business in Anambra.

Catherine Uju Ifejika is the first and only woman to become chair and CEO of an Upstream E&P Company in Nigeria, Brittania-U Nigeria Limited. Holding a Diploma in Law and an LLB (Hons), she is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association, a fellow of the Institute of Arbitration and Conciliation and a member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.

She joined Brittania-U Nigeria Limited in 2007 as Chair /CEO and has since made impressive contributions to the sector. The company, through her guidance, has boasted incredible achievements, among which its Ajapa Floating Production Storage Unit produced its first oil from drilling in 17 months.

Chichi Igbo is a footballer, singer and fitness coach. Chichi started her career in 2000 with FCT Queens of Abuja. In summer 2002, she graduated with her team the Capital Queens a youth tournament in Denmark which one could win. Igbo herself was named the best player and moved a year later to Fortuna Hjørring in Denmark.

Since 2004, she has played for the Nigeria women’s national football team. She represented her country at the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup in China.

Chief Temitope Ajayi – Popularly known as “Mama Diaspora” is the Chairman & CEO of Silicon Valley Nigerian Economic Development Inc. She is also the honourable chairman and co-founder of Global Connection for Women Foundation a U.S non-profit organization with a mission to create new opportunities for women and youth in communities around the world.

She is a US-based Nigerian business consultant who is an accountant by training, a social entrepreneur and an ardent community activist. She was the former president of All Nigerian-American Congress (ANAC). She has played a crucial role in the advocacy of the Nigerian diaspora issues and also well known for promoting women empowerment and poverty eradication in Africa through agri-business.

Chinedum Peace Babalola is a Pharmacist and Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry/Pharmacokinetics. She is the first female Professor of Pharmacy at the University of Ibadan and the incumbent Vice-Chancellor of Chrisland University, Nigeria.

She was appointed the Vice-Chancellor, Chrisland University, Abeokuta in November 2017. Her research focuses on pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics, pharmaceutical analysis, pharmacogenetics and bioethics as tools for studying drug disposition in Nigerians in order to guide therapeutic optimization in Blacks.

In 2011, she led a multinational/interdisciplinary team that won a MacArthur Foundation grant (approx. $1 million) to set up a Centre for Drug Discovery, Development and Production (CDDDP), UI – first of its kind in Africa, for building capacity for Africans to make their own medicines and improve access to quality medicines.

Dame Elizabeth Anionwu is a British nurse, healthcare administrator, lecturer, and Emeritus Professor of Nursing at the University of West London. In 1979, Anionwu became the United Kingdom’s first sickle-cell and thalassemia nurse specialist and contributed to the establishment of the Brent Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Counselling centre.

In 1998, by then a Professor of Nursing, Anionwu created the Mary Seacole Centre for Nursing Practice at the University of West London. She holds a PhD, was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). She retired in 2007, and in 2016 she published her memoirs, Mixed Blessings from a Cambridge Union.

Damilola Bode-Ogundipe is a Fitness Communicator, Wellness Coach and Founder of The Fit Mum Hub. She is passionate about helping women live fit and healthy lives. Through her Premium Personal & Group Coaching programs, Books, Webinars e.t.c worked with over a thousand women from all over the world. She also teaches women via social media how to harness the power of Mindset, Movement & Nutrition to become the fittest, healthiest version of themselves.

Damilola Oke – Also known as Madame Modish, Damilola is a Style & Brand Consultant and Costume designer. She is the CEO of Fierce & Modish, where she provides artistic and styling services to over 200 clients; including consumers, celebrities, corporate brands and tv and film production companies. She authored the first fashion & style book in Nigeria – Modish Maxims: A Set of Style Rules.

She is the recipient of the “Stylist of the Year” Award – AFWN 2015 and has been recognized every year by different bodies. She has multiple degrees in communications and worked as a Personal shopper and Fashion stylist with global fashion stores within Scotland and in London and moved back to Nigeria to work as a Corporate Communications Executive and later, an Advertising Senior Executive till July 2013 when Fierce and Modish was birthed.

Data Oruwari is the Experience Design Director at IBM Interactive Experience. She is a Brooklyn based visual artist of Nigerian descent who is a designer and energy healing enthusiast. She is a contemporary sacred artist who creates unique iconographic representations of afro-spiritual identities. Her influences include the decorative arts, the visionary art movement, byzantine iconography, and natural law.

Dehlia Umunna became Harvard’s first Nigerian Law professor in 2015. Umunna serves as deputy director and clinical instructor at Harvard Law School’s Criminal Justice Institute (CJI), where she supervises third-year law students in their representation of adult and juvenile clients in criminal and juvenile proceedings in Massachusetts Courts, including the Supreme Judicial Court.

Her teaching interest and research focus on Criminal Law, Criminal Defense and Theory, Mass Incarceration, and Race Issues. In addition to her work in academics, she also spent several years as a public defender and worked as a trial attorney. Umunna served as faculty training attorneys under the District of Columbia Criminal Justice Act.

Diamond Okoh is the CEO of HelloFounder, a platform created to help aspiring entrepreneurs to navigate launching and building new businesses and to also to achieve this goal with less risk of failure, setbacks and pain.

After launching her second business in 2016 right out of university, she hit her first million in sales within 6 months and later had shut down the business to shut down the business. She was inspired to make starting a business easier for aspiring entrepreneurs. She created a community for early-stage entrepreneurs to find information, resources, guidance that will aid them in starting their business and growing their new business.

Doyinsola Ogunye is the Chief Executive Officer of Mental and Environmental Initiative for Children (MEDIC), the founding organisation of Kids Clean Club, an environmentally and socially conscious non-governmental organization established to cater for the physical mental and environmental cleanliness of the Nigerian child and to create awareness amongst children to be socially responsible at a young age.

In May 2014 she began the 50k Tree campaign which is an on-going planting campaign in Lagos state, Endorsed by the Lagos State Government. In June 2015 she also spearheaded the creation of Nigeria’s first-ever Kids’ Garden (a haven for kids to come together and learn while they have fun); which has been a nature preservation centre where children are taught recycling, tree planting, horticulture, agriculture, aquaculture and cleanliness. Project HELP (Help Educate the Less Privileged) is another campaign she started in 2016.

Dr Abimbola Banu-Ogundere is a medical doctor and Canadian certified Montessori teacher. She is the founder and C.E.O. of Kids’ Court School, a renowned world-class elementary school in Lagos, Nigeria. Due to her enthusiasm for improving the quality of education received by the African child, in 2018, she founded the Learning As I Teach (LAIT) Foundation, a non-profit teacher training organization dedicated to improving access to quality professional and personal development for educators and parents with the ultimate goal of ensuring quality education in Nigeria and Africa.

She is the founder and director of The Knowledge Cocoon, a Coaching and Business Strategy Development Company. Abimbola is also the convener of The Connected Ladies (TCL), a platform geared towards supporting women in entrepreneurship to achieve greatness. She is an avid promoter of women in the workplace and the marketplace.

Dr Adaeze Oreh is a Family Physician, Public Health Specialist, Researcher, Health Systems and Policy Analyst and Manager. She is the Founder and CEO of Kaibeya Care Foundation, Africa – a non-profit organization she recently founded to improve health, education and empowerment of women and underserved populations in rural communities.

She’s currently the Country Head of Planning, Research and Statistics with Nigeria’s National Blood Transfusion Service. She works with health and development policymakers to create blood policies that reduce maternal mortality and reduce the transfer of infections such as HIV through unsafe blood transfusions as well as improving the distribution of safely screened blood to hard-to-reach areas especially in times of terror and conflict.

Dr Chioma Nwakanma (Dr Zobo) is a practicing medical doctor who is passionate about preventive health practice and has been an advocate using social media as a tool to influence healthy living by combating health misinformation. She started Medically Speaking using Twitter where she shares vital information educating the masses on good health and preventive practices and she has thousands of followers.

In 2017, she founded SMILE with ME foundation which educates school students, women and men on health preventive practices and held screening and testing on breast and cervical cancer during its campaigns. Her love for writing propelled her to write on medical issues addressing and correcting wrong health practice and rendering help to many through national newspapers alongside her personal platforms. She believes educating the ignorant will serve as a good way to prevent diseases such as cancers and early screening.

Dr Ijeoma Kola is a historian of public health with a special interest in the history of 20th-century urban Black health and medicine, as well as cultural understandings of health and disease within the Black diaspora.

Ijeoma is the founder and executive director of Cohort Sistas, a non-profit organization created to improve access to mentorship, resources, and community for Black women pursuing doctoral degrees. She is a seasoned beauty, fashion, and lifestyle blogger with a decade of experience blending authentic storytelling with visually appealing digital content.

Dr Khaalisha Ajala is an assistant professor of hospital medicine at Emory School of Medicine/Grady Memorial Hospital. She created HeartBeats and Hip-Hop, a non-profit organization that seeks to erase health disparities in urban communities by using the culture of hip-hop.

As an assistant professor of medicine at Emory University/Grady Memorial Hospital and a DJ, she brings both of her passions to the forefront of her work with HeartBeats and HipHop. For her creative (and life-changing) efforts, she has been awarded the 2018 Emory Division of Hospital Medicine Humanitarian Award, the 2019 Medical Education Award, and the 2020 Excellence in Humanitarian Service Award.

Dr Nneka Mobisson-Etuk is the Co-Founder and CEO of mDoc, a social enterprise that integrates proven methodologies in quality improvement and behavioural science with web and mobile-based technology to optimize the end to end care experience for people living with chronic health needs such as diabetes, hypertension, and cancer.

Prior to mDoc, Nneka was Executive Director for Africa at Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), a leading global health organization focused on healthcare quality improvement and building sustainable change in healthcare delivery systems in priority African countries. A pediatrician by training, Nneka was previously Vice President of Community Health and Population Health Management at the Connecticut Hospital Association, where she provided leadership to hospitals in population health management.

Dr Olutoyin Ajala is a Consultant Geriatrician currently working in the UK’s National Health Service and she has been working at the frontline of the COVID-19 response as a frontline senior Physician since March 2020.

She is also CEO of JBS Medicare Services in Nigeria, a specialist elderly medicine, nursing and therapy service, the only Geriatrician led private healthcare service in Nigeria. She is the CEO of IBS Elderly Health & Wellbeing Foundation Africa, an organization that focuses on enhancing the care and quality of life of the underprivileged elderly persons in Nigeria and Africa.

She is passionate about mentoring younger medical professionals and has participated in several mentoring schemes. She is the editor of “The Healthier Daily Digest”, a quarterly newsletter on Healthy Aging and also the convener of “The Healthier Aging Conference”, which had its first event on 1st October 2019 in Lagos.

Dr Orode Doherty is a Harvard-educated Public Health Physician and US Board Certified Pediatrician with a special focus on Children, Youth and Women. She is the Founder, Managing Director at Ingress Health Partners.

As a pioneer Pediatrician at the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment (ICAP), Columbia University, she led teams that established over 100 maternal and newborn care clinics for mothers living with HIV in several states in Nigeria, creating curricula for training health providers and tools for supervision. She pioneered the well-baby clinics at St. Nicholas hospitals in Lagos.

As Country Director for Africare Nigeria, she provided thought leadership around enhancing the capacity of women and their families to improve health and livelihoods through behaviour change, education, and enhanced access to resources and technology.

Dr Toyin Ajayi is the Chief Health Officer of Cityblock Health, a New York-based health and social services company focused on enabling a path to healthier communities through a digitally-enabled, integrated medical, behavioural health and social service delivery model for low-income Medicaid populations with complex needs.

The company, which was co-founded by Dr Toyin Ajayi, has become the latest Black-led company to achieve unicorn status — that is when a privately-owned start-up company achieves a valuation of $1 billion or more.

Prior to this, Toyin served as Chief Medical Officer of Commonwealth Care Alliance, a nationally-renowned integrated health plan, and care delivery system for individuals dually-eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. In this role, she led clinical operations, spearheaded care delivery innovations and oversaw multi-disciplinary teams of clinicians, community health workers and administrators serving more than 20,000 beneficiaries across the state of Massachusetts.

Elisabeth Akinwale is a CrossFit Athlete, Social Media Celebrity, Gymnast, and CrossFit Coach. She started to take part in gymnastics at the age of 4 after she became inspired by her older sister who’d made a name for herself in the sport.

Elisabeth soon became a success in her own right, when she earned several honours as a competitive gymnast. Consequently, Elisabeth was forced to wave goodbye to gymnastics for good due to several knee injuries. During her recovery, Elisabeth turned to the weights room to gain strength in her knees. Weightlifting quickly turned into a passion for Elisabeth, leading her on the path to a full recovery.

Ever since then, Elisabeth has gone on to make her mark in CrossFit and Olympic weightlifting. As a result of her success, she’s gained the support of fans from all over the world – becoming an internet sensation and CrossFit trainer in the process

Erica Nlewedim is an actress, model and entrepreneur, who discovered her talents quite early. In 2014, she participated in the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria (MGBN) pageant where she quickly became a fan favourite which earned her the MBGN Miss Photogenic award, a year later, her acting career kicked off with a lead role in Secrets and Scandals.

She founded Erica Nlewedim Foundation in 2018; a non-governmental Organisation geared towards catering to underprivileged children. In December 2019, the Foundation launched its Hunger Heroes Campaign which successfully fed 1000 less privileged individuals on the streets of Lagos, Nigeria. She became a fan favourite during her Big Brother Naija (Lockdown Edition), debut where she was unafraid to be authentic, original and relatable to the millions that tuned in.

Esé Azénabor-Grembowski is a bridal designer and Creative Director at Esé Azénabor Couture. She designs for clients that love art and understand the craftsmanship that goes into each haute couture and bespoke garment. Esé Azénabor is known for her hand beading with fine crystals, stones and pearls, hand embroidery on fine French lace and tulle, her structuring with hymo, hard tulle, boning and attention to detail. The Esé Azénabor brand has produced a total of 21 different collections. She is now one of the world’s sought-after designers.

Esther Agbaje is an attorney and member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. She graduated from George Washington University, Washington D.C., with a degree in Political Science. She currently works as an attorney in Minneapolis with a focus on general civil litigation and medical malpractice.

She once served at the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Affairs Officer, charged with managing the rule of law projects in the Middle East. Her priorities as a lawmaker include affordable housing, environmental justice, police reform, public safety, and racial equality.

Ezinne Kalu-Phelps is a Nigerian-American Professional Basketball player, Model and Entrepreneur. Kalu led Nigeria to a historic place in the Quarter-Finals at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in 2018 and in 2019, she was crowned MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the FIBA Women’s AfroBasket.

She is also the CEO of Kalu Kosmetics, a brand that seeks to keep up with the latest cosmetic trends and create new ones, while at the same time show a strong representation of style, beauty and versatility.

Fade Ogunro is an on-air-personality, radio and TV presenter, film producer and fashion designer. She is the founder and CEO of Bookings Africa, a pan-African on-demand digital marketplace that allows professionals and service providers from Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa to sell their services and skills online.

She co-founded Film Factory Productions and Executive Produced TV adverts and documentaries for multinationals such as General Electric, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Lancome and MTN. She was recently appointed as a member of the Global Campaign Board for The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, making her the first African and Nigerian woman to become part of the organization’s board.

Feyikemi Abudu – Popularly known as “FK Abudu” is an entrepreneur, screenwriter, content maker and influencer. FK Abudu is also the co-host of the Podcast channel “I Said What I Said”. She is one of the Founding members of the Feminist Coalition, an organization that champions equality for women in Nigerian society and also played a huge role in supporting the #EndSARS movement. She was at the forefront of the #EndSARS protests, providing legal, medical, and financial aid and assistance to protesters and victims of police brutality in different capacities through the group, Feminist Coalition alongside other youth movements.

Flo Ngala is a New York-based photographer with a passion for authentic image-making and photojournalism. Ngala’s innate love for creativity and her culture has always been a theme within her work.

From impactful campaigns for Nike and Facebook, to uniquely constructed self-portraits, she continuously maintains integrity and humanity in her subjects while creating what she calls “powerful moments with people”. Flo has worked for a variety of publications and commercial clients across documentary, music, portraiture and fashion.

Hassana Umoru Maina is an advocate against gender-based violence and currently a student of the Nigerian Law school. She became a strong voice in the MeToo movement in Nigeria, subsequently transitioning into North Normal, which seeks to break the culture of silence around rape and other forms of SGBV in Northern Nigeria.

During the lockdown due to COVID19 in Nigeria, she started an Instagram Live series titled ‘ABC’s of Sexual Violence’ where she hosts conversations to help people of all ages learn the basics of GBV and also discuss different and subtle ways each person may be complicit in perpetuating rape culture, by helping people understand rape, sexual violence, feminism and consent.

Imisi Owolabi is a seasoned international speaker, Minister Prophet to the Nations and an extraordinary woman of many parts. She is currently the President of Hope365 ministries a platform that daily propagates the gospel of hope and houses a portfolio of other ministry expressions. Notable expressions of Hope365 are:  the every evolving WhenFriendsPray events which has held over 200 meetings in the past 15years with tremendous exponential growth in both number and territories covered.

She is also the CEO of the Imisioluwa International Ministries (IOI), an expression which incubates the renowned evangelical platform – Intercession and Revival Academy (IARA)with a mission to raise 100,000,000 intercessors for Christ through evangelism, teaching, equipping and prophetic guidance under her leadership. The Hopeline Call -Center is also a noteworthy expression under the IOI umbrella which was established to provide succor, counsel, ignite hope and encourage people in distress through prayer and counseling sessions. Other remarkable expressions of her gift and service to God are:

Rekindle Platform– Where she serves marketplace apostles (Entrepreneurs, Corporate Executives and Governmental leaders) raising kings and priests in the marketplace for Christ through discipleship, mentorship and coaching with a central theme to transform lives and nations, expand the kingdom culture and birth new policies and accelerate kingdom agenda that can shape our world.

Sarah’s shower– A community where waiting mothers encourage and love each other while conquering in the place of prayer. It is an expression of joy to help them navigate their waiting season, with the understanding that a testimony beckons. 

SheIsNetwork- A platform that seeks to educate and equip women on enterprise, empowerment, discipleship, charity, ministry, and relationships.

ImisiOluwa is also a seasoned Entrepreneur and she expresses her gift as Co-Founder of the I-Nest Hub a resource center with creative ideas & spaces for work, research, events, trainings, and corporate events.

Her mandate is to raise, equip and disciple revivalists, intercessors, and transformational leaders in the 7 mountains of influence through intercession, prophetic insight, apostolic assignments, strategic sessions and teaching of the word. She has a distinct voice on all social media platforms and you can find her on Instagram hosting the popular Live session “Kini Big Deal” where she articulates and lends her voice to practical Christian living in the Generation.

ImisiOluwa is a lover of music, radio, art and media and she has authored various books including When Prayer Becomes A Lifestyle, Prayer looks good on you; Untold Stories; Life Lessons I Learnt From Swimming; and Psalms by Imisi (an audio compilation of thoughts, poems, prayers, expressions and conversations with God) 

ImisiOluwa is armed with a degree in Political science from the University of Lagos, a student of the word and has been nutured under the tutelage of the diverse prophetic instituitions around the world. She is married to her best friend, Olumide Owolabi, with whom she co-pastors the Fountain of Life Church – Hope Center, Yaba. 

ImisiOluwa, through speaking, transforms lives, businesses, and nations. 

Ivana I. Osagie is the Founder/Convener of the Professional Women Roundtable (PWR) – a non-profit focused on building female leadership capacity and accelerating gender parity towards achieving the UN SDG5.

After a long and varied business career culminating in the C-suite, Ivana is now focused on supporting women in leadership and making workplaces more gender-sensitive. Her background includes significant strategy, corporate development, project development & project finance expertise across a number of sectors.

She sits on a number of boards and is also an angel investor. She is a member of the board of directors of Rising Tide Africa – a female angel investors’ network and a mentor/adviser to entrepreneurs and start-ups.

Jessica Anuna is the Founder and CEO of Klasha, a fast-fashion online retailer specifically designed to bring exciting and affordable fashion to millennials in Africa. Before the launch of this e-commerce platform, she had already worked for Net-A-Porter, Amazon, and started RestockChina, a product sourcing company exporting Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs) to the UK and US in 2015.

Her background in e-commerce, fashion, and manufacturing came in handy with the launch of her online clothing store, which caters to women aged 18–28 in Nigeria, Ghana, Francophone countries, and additional emerging markets.

Jessica O. Matthews is the Founder & CEO of Uncharted Power, an award-winning sustainable infrastructure company. She’s also a Nigerian-American inventor, CEO and venture capitalist. Her career started at the age of 19 with her invention of the SOCCKET, an energy-generating soccer ball. At the age of 22, she founded Uncharted Power as a power solutions company before expanding to integrated infrastructure solutions.

Jessica’s research and career center around the intersection of disruptive technology, renewable energy, human behaviour, and the psychology of self-actualization. Her list of accolades includes Fortune’s Most Promising Women Entrepreneurs, Forbes 30 Under 30, Inc. Magazine 30 Under 30, and Harvard University Scientist of the Year.

Jola Ayeye is a screenwriter, storyteller and the Head of Development at Salt and Truth, a production company based in Lagos, Nigeria. She also co-hosts “I Said What I Said”, a hilarious social commentary and pop culture podcast.

Jola runs the blog “Happy Noisemaker”, a social commentary, humour and lifestyle blog where she creates amazing content that sparks joy and encourages conversations. She is one of the Founding members of the Feminist Coalition, an organization that champions equality for women in Nigerian society and also played a huge role in supporting the #EndSARS movement.

Josephine Effah-Chukwuma is the Founder and Executive Director, Project Alert, which provides medical assistance to injured female victims through public fund sourcing and also provides legal services to victims. Josephine Effah-Chukwuma is a Nigerian Development Specialist and advocates against domestic violence who founded the first battered women’s shelter in Nigeria – Sophia’s place.

Jumoke Dada is the Founder of Taeilo, a brand that makes exquisitely crafted furniture using Aso Oke and Ankara fabrics. She is a Lagos based designer and a graduate of Architecture. She is passionate about incorporating Africanism into her own style of architecture. The ‘Ikea-styled’ Taeilo brand is quickly becoming a favourite of the young, upwardly mobile groups because of its style, affordability and quality.

Dada was also featured on the Nasdaq Tower at the New York Times Square as a Milestone Maker of the Fall 2020 cohort of the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial centre. By using furniture as a medium of expression and her love for Africa, she has built a platform where all Africans can shop for their furniture and lifestyle needs.

Kaosarah Abdulrasaq Adeyi-ABK is an Agropreneur, Creative Designer and SDGs Advocate. She is the executive director of ABK Farms and ABK Concept, a creative designing and printing company. She combines both apiculture with fish farming. She started a farming business because she believes that it’s a sustainable business that can contribute to the GDP of the country. She is a graduate of the University of Ilorin and has served in different capacities one of which is organizing empowerment schemes for students in the University.

Kehinde Kamson is a Nigerian entrepreneur, business leader, and philanthropist. She is best known as the Founder and CEO of Sweet Sensation Confectionery Limited – one of the strongest brands in the fast-food industry in Nigeria.

She is one of those credited with changing the competitive outlook of the Quick Service Restaurant industry in Nigeria. She is an advocate of women ‘leaning in’ and has showcased this creed through her role as a mentor for the transformative program; African Women’s Entrepreneurship Co-operative (AWEC), where she provided business guidance and mentorship to women entrepreneurs and founders across Africa.

Kikelomo Olanrewaju Atanda-Owo is a Journalist, On-Air personality and entrepreneur. She is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Z-Edge Limited. She is an Agile Marketing Communication Executive with diverse capabilities within marketing, advertising, communication, public relations and client account management. She previously served as the Vice President (CRM & ACC), Peculiar People’s Management (PPM) in Lagos.

She is also the Proprietor and Host of Real Talk With Kike, a radio and TV show and franchise from the corporate body of Z-Edge Limited. On her show,, she invites stakeholders of institutions, decision-makers of relevant industries, and government principal officers to address and proffer solutions to burning local and international issues that affect Nigerians.

Laila St. Matthew-Daniel is the founder and President of Acts Generation GBV, a non-governmental organization that combats domestic violence and child abuse in Nigeria. She is a transformational Growth & Development Strategist, Executive Coach, Emotions/Mental Health Therapist, NLP & CBT Counsellor. She is the Principal Consultant of Jacinta Lifestyle Re-engineering Firm.

She has organized various protests for the rights of women and the girl-child, some of which are the Buni Yadi Massacre of February 2014 and part of the initiating group that organized the first protest against the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by the Boko Haram sect. She has organized various sensitization seminars and workshops to empower women on the issues of self-mastery, self-awareness, and self-actualization.

Laju Iren is an author, book-writing coach, and filmmaker. She is the author of the critically acclaimed “Selfies With Bible Girls”, which retells the stories of over twenty-two female bible characters. She authored “Girl-Cyclopaedia”, a compendium of questions young ladies ask and answers they actually need, “Dating Intelligently” and Mirror, Mirror. Her recent Christian novels include Loving Amanda and Finding Miriam.

As convener of the Dauntless Conference, she teaches men and women how to live above fear and fulfil God’s purpose for their lives. She wrote, directed and produced her debut film, “Love is a Star” and also “During Ever After”. She is the Founder of the Christian Story Teller Prize, Africa’s premiere prize for Christ-centred stories.

Laju has translated her passion for writing into a superpower that teaches others to tell their own stories. Her company, Laju Iren Publishing empowers clients with the skills and resources they need to write, self-publish, and sell their own books through online courses as well as professional private coaching.

Lola Akinmade Åkerström is an award-winning Nigerian photographer and travel writer based in Stockholm, Sweden. She is the editor-in-chief for Slow Travel Stockholm. Her works have been featured in the National Geographic Traveler, BBC, and CNN, among other publications. She founded Geotraveler Media – a multimedia and travel consulting agency.

She worked as a field journalist on the web team during Eco-Challenge Expedition Race in Fiji and have volunteered as a photojournalist with the Swedish Red Cross and World Hope International, documenting their projects in countries such as Nicaragua, Sweden, and Cambodia, and C.H.I.E.F – an NGO based in Nigeria that promotes grassroots health development, HIV/AIDS awareness, and the empowerment of women.

Lola Ogunnaike is a seasoned media veteran, with a career as a writer and television correspondent, covering key events in entertainment, popular culture and politics for the New York Times, CNN, NBC, MSNBC, BET, MTV, VH1 and Al Jazeera. She’s interviewed First Lady Michelle Obama, George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Lupita Nyong’o, and Oprah Winfrey.

Lola currently hosts “Entertainment Weekly The Show,” a series that explores the biggest stories in pop culture. After nearly six years at the New York Times, she joined CNN as an entertainment correspondent for the network’s flagship show American Morning.

Lotanna Igwe-Odunze is a software engineer, artist and writer who developed a new system for Igbo writing called the Ńdébé script. Her book, Ńdébé: A Modern Igbo Writing System, is finally available for purchase after 10 years in the making‬. The Ńdébé Project book, YouTube channel, t-shirts and bi-monthly writing contest on Twitter gives learners a sense of pride and shared ownership in Igwe-Odunze’s mission to expand Igbo usage in the digital and global space.

Lotanna Igwe-Odunze, also known as sugabelly, is also the creator of the SexyIgbo, the easiest way to learn Igbo online, and was named in YNaija’s 2020 Power List as one of the most powerful young Nigerians in Culture for inventing the Ńdébé Script.

Mabel Segun is a Nigerian poet, playwright and writer of short stories and children’s books and is considered one of the great matriarchs of Nigerian literature. Her first book, My Father’s Daughter, has been widely used as a literature text in schools all over the world, and her books have been translated into German, Danish, Norwegian and Greek.

Segun has championed children’s literature in Nigeria through the Children’s Literature Association of Nigeria, which she founded in 1978, and the Children’s Documentation and Research Centre, which she set up in 1990 in Ibadan. She is also a fellow of the International Youth Library in Munich, Germany.

Maggie Ebunoluwa Aderin-Pocock is a British space scientist and a science educator whose acclaimed work has ranged from making novel scientific instruments to co-hosting the BBC mainstay astronomy program The Sky at Night. She is the founder of Science Innovation Ltd and has engaged over 350,000 school children both in UK inner-city schools and also around the world.

She credits her deep passion for science as the tool that allowed her to break through social mobility barriers. In 2009 Maggie Aderin-Pocock was honoured as a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) for her work as a science communicator, breaking down complex scientific issues into simple information that everyone can understand, and for her outreach to young people.

Maiden Alex Ibru is the Chief Executive Officer of Guardian Newspapers. Before becoming the publisher of the Guardian newspaper, she was the CEO of Guardian Press Limited for 11 years.

Maiden Alex Ibru is also a director of Trinity Foundation, a philanthropic foundation that provides financial and infrastructural support to institutions and civil society organizations which promote democratic and open society principles.

Mercy Abang is an international Journalist from Nigeria and also a Media Entrepreneur. She has been a widely syndicated Journalist in Nigeria – She has worked as a freelance Journalist and Producer with Al-Jazeera Media Network She is a Television Host, Matasa Da Imani TV Debate Show from Berlin Germany, she is skilled in both Television, Print and Social media – She has founded two media companies and She is an ambassador at Host-writer – A berlin based non-profit,  organization that serves as an open network to help journalists to easily collaborate across borders.

Mercy is the 2017 United Nations (Dag Hammarksjold) Journalism Fellow and the founder of NewsWireNGR. While at the United Nations, she reported activities and media briefings on world leaders at the General Assembly and followed the various proceedings at the United National Security Council.

Mercy started her career on Television with the Independent Television Abuja where she worked as a Political Correspondent for many years, Presenter and Producer at various times . She has been a media stringer and fixer with International news outlets like the BBC World Service Trust, Sunday Times of London and the Associated Press (AP) She has gone on several election observation missions on the West African sub-continent, Volunteered as a digitrends member of the African Union (AU) Communications Team. She has an interview series, “Conversations with Mercy Abang”, which has had to interview high profile guests across Nigeria on public affairs and news commentaries in the country.

In 2017, she was named the woman of the Year in Journalism. In 2012, she was named as one of 10 Young Nigerian Women to Watch.

She is from Boki, in Cross River State Nigeria, and she grew up in Abuja Nigeria, she studied Journalism, has a Post Graduate in Advertising and Public Relations and MBA with the Berlin School of Business – Mercy is versatile on issues not limited to international diplomacy, Public policy, Journalism, communications and elections.

Miss saHHara is a trans and human rights advocate, beauty queen, fashion model, singer/songwriter, and influencer who uses her various platforms to advocate for the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community in Africa. In 2011, Miss saHHara was the subject of a Sky Living documentary exploring the lives of transgender women participating in beauty pageants in Thailand.
As part of her advocacy, she founded a global transgender awareness news curation organization called TransValid She is also a vocal critic of the 14 years imprisonment law of LGBTQI+ people in Nigeria. Miss saHHara is also a strong advocate for education and female empowerment and uses her experiences in media to utilize positive media campaigns for the transgender community. She hopes to further her education in Gender & Sexuality studies in the nearer future.

Morenike Olusanya is a visual artist and her favourite mode of expression is digital art. She currently works as a graphic designer and a freelance digital and traditional artist. She has, over the years, built expertise and gained recognition, both locally and internationally, as an illustrator. She graduated from the University of Lagos with a Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Arts.

She is inspired by anything and everything African including hair, skin, fabric, and so on. She started art professionally and began her entrepreneurship journey between 2016 and 2017. Her art can be expressionist, realist, surrealist or abstract, depending on her inspiration at the particular period of time when the idea springs up and is often inspired by emotions, environment, one-minute experiences or occurrences and mostly, Africanism.

Mowalola Ogunlesi is a Nigerian-born fashion designer working and living in London. She is known for working with a wide variety of textiles such as leather and PVC to produce non-traditional silhouettes inspired by Nigerian and London youth culture.
Ogunlesi has attracted the attention of artists like Drake, Solange, Steve Lacy, Kelela and Kanye West. In October 2020, Ogunlesi was named by Elle as one of “10 Trailblazing Women Changing The Future You Need To Know”,
Mowalola designed the Nigeria national football team’s World Cup uniform for Nike in 2018. The following year, she created outfits for Skepta’s “Pure Water” music video and was one of six designers approached by British Vogue to style Barbie dolls for the brand’s 60th anniversary. On June 26, 2020, the Yeezy GAP 10-year partnership was officially announced, with Mowalola appointed by West as Design Director.

Nancy Umeh is the founder of Radiance Cookware, a safe cookware company in Nigeria and co-founder of Cium Current Nigeria, Nigeria’s leading warehousing, supermarket and shopfitting company.

When she’s not setting up warehouses and shipping out safe cookwares; she films and shares healthy family recipes on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. She has helped hundreds of families reverse picky eating, prevent and cure illnesses by sharing tips on healthy and safe cooking while using locally grown fruits, vegetables and produce. She is also a registered nurse, public health consultant (England) and a professional chef.

Nicole Asinugo is a Nigerian managing editor, storyteller, producer and screenwriter. A multidisciplinary creative, Nicole has built a career harnessing the power of storytelling, spanning the fields of advertising, editorial, film and media. She is currently working as a storyteller and content creator at Expo 2020 Dubai – a global platform for International Cooperation and Innovation that will bring together 190+ nations in October 2021.

Her debut as a screenwriter with “Living in Bondage: Breaking Free” saw her win Best Screenplay at the 2020 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards. She has since written her second feature, Rattlesnake: the Ahanna Story, to critical and commercial acclaim. Having realised storytelling’s capacity to build communities of creativity and expression, she has launched two platforms: ‘The Stories We Tell’, a podcast designed to showcase African stories; and ‘The Writers Room Nigeria’ a creative community nurturing and connecting local writing talent.

Nneka Onyeali Ikpe is the Managing Director of Fidelity Bank where she has been an integral part of its transformation team in the last six years. She led the transformation of the Directorate to profitability and sustained its impressive year-on-year growth, across key performance metrics, including contributing over 28% of the Bank’s PBT, Deposits and Loans.

She is a consummate professional with over 30 years’ experience across various banks where she has held several management positions in Legal, Treasury, Investment Banking, Retail/Commercial Banking, Corporate Banking. She has been involved in the structuring of transactions in various sectors including oil & gas, manufacturing, aviation, real estate and exports. As an Executive Director at Enterprise Bank Plc, she received a formal commendation from the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) as a member of the management team that successfully turned around Enterprise Bank Plc.

Nwando Achebe is the Jack and Margaret Sweet Endowed Professor of History, is also the Faculty Excellence Advocate for the College of Social Science and is an award-winning historian, whose research interests involve the use of oral history in the study of women, gender, and sexuality in Nigeria.

Her book, The Female King won three book awards and was funded by a grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation. Achebe’s work has also been funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, the World Health Organization, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, among others. She has served as an expert consultant for “Roots” on the History Channel and has been featured in documentaries and news programming on three different continents.

Obianuju Catherine Udeh (DJ Switch) has earned her place in the hearts of Nigerians and beyond as the heroine who turned on her Instagram live video to show the world the aftermath of the horror in the form of bullets that was unleashed on unarmed peaceful protesters at the Lekki tollgate on Tuesday, 20th October 2020.

Prior to this time, she has been known in the entertainment industry as a Disc Jockey, songwriter, and musician. Her popularity leaped upwards in 2013 when she grabbed the whopping sum of N24 million as she emerged the first winner of the Glo X factor talent show, which also gave her a record deal with Sony Music and Peter Okoye’s P-Classic record label.

From that time until now, DJ Switch has remained a phenomenal sensation among her colleagues (both male and female) in Nigeria, across Africa and the world especially with her bravery and commitment to the physical and virtual #EndSars protests which were geared against police brutality and gun violence in Nigeria.

Olabanke Subair is the Founder of Cyrus45 Factory, an art-inclined home decor company that focuses on up-cycling waste into bespoke and ultra-modern furniture pieces while also contributing to the reduction of environmental pollution, facilitating a greener future for the next generation. The innovation to up-cycle tyres was inspired by her sister’s neighbours who were ready to dispose of 20 tyres. As a creative, with a passion for the environment, Olabanke had a light bulb moment that has birthed today a company that is creating Art& solving economic problems.
Olabanke Subair has been recognised by the BBC, Financial Times UK and Al Jazeera among many other international and local media organisations. In 2018, she was chosen to speak at the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for her innovativeness.

Olori Boye-Ajayi is the founder of the Katie Wang Company, a growing global export fashion trading company with operations in four continents. She is an International Trade Consultant, and staunch advocate for female entrepreneurs. One of her major objectives over the years is to make African indigenous products renowned by connecting and creating opportunities for local designers in the global market. She is also co-founder of Ark Coaching Company, a global firm focused on human potential and enablement across Africa.

Olori is passionate about sustainable development in Africa, she founded the ROC Girls Club to empower secondary school girls from low-income communities, aged 14–19 in Lagos. The ROC Girls Team mentors the girls on career development and personal development, helping them gain clarity about their future goals and charting a course towards achieving those goals. Olori also mentors young fashion entrepreneurs in Nigeria through “The Business Side of Fashion by Olori” community where she helps fashion entrepreneurs network, build their competence and grow their businesses to export capacity.

Oluwabukunmi Oyebisi Adeaga-Ilori – Popularly known as “Kie Kie”, Bunmi is a TV personality, content creator, model and fashion icon. As a content creator, she drops regular videos on Instagram and YouTube where she talks about life issues in a funny way. She is the brain behind Kie Kie TV on YouTube.

She is the creative director of the fashion brand, Accost Collections. The brand deals mainly in female apparels such as bridal wears and ready to rock wears. She is one of the biggest fashion stylists and has achieved fame for always wearing fashion pieces that soon become trends. She is the brand ambassador to the real estate firm, Perfection Real Estate Group.

Oluyemisi Falaye is an Entertainment Lawyer. She works with the law firm of Adepetun Caxton-Martins Agbor & Segun and heads the Entertainment Law Group of the firm. ‘Yemisi has over the years garnered in-depth experience in providing premium legal advice and representation to individuals and organisations in the entertainment industries in Nigeria, which include film, music, theatre, art, television, radio, publishing and digital media.

Asides from entertainment law, Yemisi also has a wide range of experience in Intellectual Property, Immigration and Company Secretarial matters in Nigeria. She focuses on the prosecution of trademark, patent, copyright and design on behalf of clients. She manages the immigration status of several expatriates in Nigeria and is involved in general corporate and commercial matters in the firm.

Osaremen Okolo was recently appointed by US President-elect Joe-Biden as a member of his Covid- 19 Response Team. She graduated with high honours from Harvard College in May 2017 where she concentrated primarily in History of Science (Medicine and Society focus) with an allied, joint concentration in African-American Studies. She also obtained a secondary in Global Health and Health Policy.

Since graduation, Osaremen has continued to explore the intersections between medicine, policy, and service through working as a health policy aide for the Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Outside of all things health, you’ll often find her writing creatively, fanatically cheering on her Boston sports teams or craving Nigerian foods.

Otegha Uwagba is the founder of Women Who, where she connects and supports creative working women through various forms of content including a newsletter, website and podcast, as well as live events is the author of the Little Black Book: A Toolkit For Working Women published in 2017 and Whites: On Race and Other Falsehoods in 2020.

She is also a speaker, brand consultant and founder of Women Who, a London-based multi-media platform aimed at creative women.
Pearlena Igbokwe is the first Ibo-Nigerian/Black Woman To Head Universal Television and was named President, Universal Television in June 2016. Most recently, she was Executive Vice President, Drama Development for NBC Entertainment and prior to that, Igbokwe was Executive Vice President, Drama Programming for NBC Entertainment. In her previous role as Executive Vice President, Drama Development, she oversaw the development of all NBC dramas.

She began her career at Showtime as Manager of Direct Response, Television Marketing, where she was responsible for all media planning and spending, agency creative development, video production and telemarketing for a $13 million general and Hispanic market acquisition campaign. Igbokwe came to NBC from Showtime, where she worked closely with Robert Greenblatt, Chairman of NBC Entertainment, for seven years.

Peju Ugboma is the Founder/CEO of I Luv Desserts and also runs a blog, The Service Critic where she reviews restaurants. She was the Head of Business Strategy at First Independent Global before resigning and setting up her business and wants to launch a training school for aspiring chefs, baking enthusiasts and home cooks.

In her spare time, you can find Peju an ardent Manchester United fan watching a football match or a movie, reading a book or exploring a new city. She dreams of one day launching an online desserts training school for aspiring chefs, baking enthusiasts and home cooks. Peju is also a member of the BTS welfare Hub – A platform where the less privileged in the society are taken care of. She also supports two organizations that help screen women for cancer.

Precious Gaza is an Emotional Intelligence Coach, a Sickle Cell Advocate and also the founder of ‘Train A Girl Initiative’, a nonprofit that provides learning opportunities for women and girls beyond formal education. Her vision is to democratize Emotional Intelligence (EI) as a means of igniting personal and global agency. She offers solutions-focused and results-oriented, executive coaching that revolves around organizational and professional goals to improve business results, improve business performance, elevate operational effectiveness and boost personal performance.

Precious Gaza has been instrumental in developing workshops for young adults, parents and professionals that are geared towards creating a better understanding of emotional intelligence and how to sustain all-around healthy relationships. Precious is a strong voice on social media, and has in the past year, trained, coached and taught over 600 individuals.

Regina Askia-Williams is a Nigerian-born, American-based family nurse practitioner (FNP), healthcare and educational activist, television producer, writer, and public speaker, who found fame as an actress and model. Regina Askia Williams Foundation advocates for Skills acquisition and employment drive for young people. Askia sits on the board of AfricanViews as Vice President where she hosts a radio program to highlight the health problems of African communities in the Diaspora.

She also made history by becoming the first Nigerian at Miss International in Japan, where she made an impact with the most outstanding traditional costume. Askia-Williams still works on promoting greater collaboration between Africa and its diaspora with her fashion shows as well as medical missions to Africa. She co-hosts an Internet broadcast discussion program, African Health Dialogues which covers such topics as the effectiveness of mobile medical clinics in Africa.

Rinu Oduala is a Media Strategist who rose to prominence as one of the young women who made history by pushing for the virtual and physical protests against police brutality that swept the country in October 2020. Fearless and courageous, Rinu continues to show what being a leader and visionary means.

She was also the convener of Operation Sanitise movement during the heat of the pandemic, sharing hand sanitizers to Nigerians. Rinu also joined the protest against rape, after the murder of UNIBEN student, Uwavera Omozuwa and Lagos lady, Tina Ezekwe. She was recently honoured by the United Nations with her picture being featured on the cover page of their website as an advocate of peace for the nation.

Samira Isah Madibbo founded the Village Debbo Care Initiative (VDCare) Project, which has educated more than 8000 women and young girls in the Rigasa community of Kaduna State and has enrolled over 100 girls back to school on full scholarships. The organisation has also reached out to over 20,000 people in Villages in Kaduna state, raising awareness on the importance of educating and empowering women and girls including facilitating the arrest, prosecution and conviction of sexual abuse perpetrators.

Samira is also a Kaduna State Kainuwa Gender Ambassador, a member of the United Nations Population Fund´s northern Nigeria Youth Advisory Group, and the gender coordinator of SimmonsCooper Advocacy Development (SCAD) Initiative, a community service effort of SimmonsCooper Partners. Samira has more than seven years of experience volunteering with many non-governmental organizations in the areas of women’s empowerment, child protection, gender equality, maternal health, peace, and family planning.

Sofiyat Ibrahim also known as Oddity, is a Nigerian-based American blogger, influencer and content creator. She’s popularly known for videos that focus on body positivity for women through engaging content and conversations. According to Sofiyat, the idea behind her blogging is to create a community for women to feel inspired, confident and for them to celebrate their uniqueness.

She was recently signed as an ambassador for Savage X Fenty, a global lingerie line that celebrates fearlessness, confidence and inclusivity.

Solape Hammond is the Co-Founder and CEO of Impact Hub Lagos, an innovation hub for entrepreneurs which provides workspace, offices, consulting services and capacity building programs. She is also the Special Adviser on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Investments to the Governor of Lagos State, Nigeria as well as the acting Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment.

She is a business executive with over 19 years’ experience in Management Consulting, Risk Management, Banking and Financial Advisory. She is also the Founder and CEO of Ten Talents Limited, a business advisory firm. She is passionate about social change and serves as Secretary to the Board of Trustees for the Handicapped Education Foundation (HANDEF) and is a member of the International Women’s Society (IWS), Hospitals for Humanity (HFH) and the Nigerian Leadership Initiative (NLI). She also serves as the Chairperson of KHAN Regenesis.

Tabitha Abimiku is the Founder of Virtuous Pads, a company that produces reusable, eco-friendly sanitary pads and aims to provide affordable, healthy, biodegradable and sustainable sanitary pads to young girls in low-income communities.

She is also a Medical Microbiologist with over 7 years of leadership and management, community advocacy and social intervention program. Her foundation tackles the stigmatization of menstruation and has reached over 30, 000 young girls, by empowering them not only with sanitary pads, but taught them techniques to make reusable ones.

Temitope Olagbegi is the Founder of Sixth Sense Ltd, an interior design and furniture company that specialises in the design, decoration and enhancement of living spaces. She has well over 9 years of experience in interior design, event management and contemporary furniture design.

Tope is the visionary behind the Orange Butterflies Foundation, a virtual Christian ministry designed to serve as spiritual support for today’s multi-dimensioned woman through prayers, sharing of life’s experiences and networking. She is also the convener of the TOCI movement, a group of women who desire to make an impact in every sphere of human existence, through spiritual insight, self-discipline and fostering a strong network to effect changes in their lives, families, sectors, nation and ultimately globally.

Thelma Ekiyor is the Managing Partner of SME.NG – Nigeria’s Impact Investment Platform. She has over 19 years of experience working in the development sector, as an impact investor, donor, philanthropic advisor, non-profit practitioner, and social entrepreneur.

She is the Co-Founder/Chairperson of Afrigrants Resources and also served as its pioneering CEO. At Afrigrants, she led the establishment of “Market Women’s Quick Cash” – a financial inclusion solution to provide micro-loans to women in disadvantaged communities.
She also led the conceptualization of “The Ebi Fund” – an impact fund for women entrepreneurs. She is also the Founder & Co-Convener of The Funding Space–a mentoring and access to finance platform for social entrepreneurs in Africa.

Tito Ovia is the Co-founder of Helium Health, a Nigeria-based health tech company that is building the technology infrastructure driving African healthcare. In her role as Head of Public Sector Growth at Helium Health, she is fostering public-private partnerships that accelerate Africa’s transition to technology and data-driven healthcare system.

Her work in African healthcare has helped make her a Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient and a winner of the Future Africa Award for Disruption. When Tito is not working on fixing healthcare in Africa, she is occupied with Feminist Coalition, a women’s rights advocacy group that she co-founded that is promoting equality for women in the Nigerian society, with a core focus on education, financial freedom and representation in public office.

Tokunboh Ishmael is Co-founder and Managing Director of Alitheia Capital, investment management and advisory firm focused on channelling private equity investments into businesses and real estate assets to enhance access to finance, energy and housing for the excluded at the base of the economic pyramid.

Her previous roles include Managing Director of Avante Capital Ltd where she advised on a number of acquisitions in the oil and gas sector including the acquisition and financing of a government-owned refinery and led the first secondary listing of a Nigerian company on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Prior to Avante, she was the Nigeria Country Partner for Aureos Capital where she successfully raised funding to complete a US$50mn fundraising exercise for the Aureos West Africa Fund and sourced private equity investments. Other previous roles include M&A banker at Salomon Smith Barney. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst, a member of the CFA Institute and a panellist on the TV show Dragons Den Nigeria.

Tolulope Arotile (Posthumous) was the first-ever female combat helicopter pilot in the Nigerian Airforce. Arotile was commissioned into the Nigerian Air Force as a pilot officer on 16 September 2017 and held a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from the Nigerian Defence Academy. She was winged as the first-ever female combat helicopter pilot in the Nigerian Air Force on 15 October 2019 after completing her flying training in South Africa. Two years into her career, Arotile had acquired 460 hours of helicopter flight, which was an outstanding performance for a combat pilot. Arotile held a commercial pilot licence and also underwent tactical flying training on the Agusta 109 Power attack helicopter in Italy. In the fight against ISIS, she was called effective, deadly and “fearless”.

Tolulope Adeleke aka “Tolu The Midwife” is the founder of Tolu The Midwife Healthcare Solutions and The Maternity Hub Nigeria. Through both platforms, Tolu educates, informs, empowers and supports expectant parents for the transition to parenthood through childbirth classes for mums and dads. She is an internationally trained, dual-qualified, experienced and passionate healthcare professional working hard to drastically reduce Nigeria’s maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity rate.

Despite the pandemic, Tolu has continued to support pregnant women virtually and offered childbirth classes to employees of corporate organisations. Recently she created “Labour with Confidence” a preparation course to ensure all expectant parents have access to evidence-based maternal health information.

Tomie Balogun is the Founder and current CEO of Vestract, a financial education, and technology company that provides financial education to millennials in Africa through the Green Investment club (TGIC) and connects them to vetted investment opportunities through Twelvevest, a Fintech platform.

She is a Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI) and the leading expert on how to start, manage and grow investment clubs. She created the Investment Club Framework (TM) to help young working professionals take advantage of the power of money and build wealth in the process.

She has successfully facilitated the company’s educational initiatives to educate at least 50,000+ millennials online courses. TGIC has grown into a 1,600 member community of millennials who have invested-$14m in multiple business sectors. She has also implemented crucial investment interventions for businesses in core sectors such as agriculture, real estate, microcredit, and banking.

Toyin Abraham is a Nigerian film actress, filmmaker, director and producer. Over the years, Toyin Abraham has produced, directed and featured in several Nigerian films, one of which is “Fate of Alakada” a popular Nollywood movie that was acquired by Netflix. In 2020, NCDC featured Abraham in a campaign where she educates the public on how to protect themselves and prevent the spread of COVID-19. She won the Africa magic viewers’ 2020 choice Awards as the “Best Actress in a Drama”.

Tracy Batta is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Smoothie Express, a Food and Beverage company in Nigeria. Tracy Batta was determined to live her life like a healthy fruit basket in 2014. The company has now grown to launch three modern stores with headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria. They currently employ a team of 35 while the produce comes from over 15 farms across the country. Last year, they received a loan from a women empowerment program sponsored by Access Bank. She is also a contributor to The Guardian Nigeria. She plans to grow Smoothie Express to an international brand with locations across Africa by 2025.

Uyaiedu Ikpe-Etim is a Nigerian film producer, screenwriter and filmmaker, who creates works that tell the stories of Nigeria’s marginalised LGBTQ communities. In 2020 the BBC included her in its list of the 100 Women of the Year. In 2020, Ikpe-Etim, along with film producer Pamela Adie came to prominence in Nigeria due to their production of the film Ìfé. The film was Ikpe-Etim’s directorial debut and tells a love story between two women. Ìfé is not the first lesbian-themed film to be produced in Nigeria, but it is the first to show such a relationship normally, without prejudice or stereotypes.

Uyaiedu’s TEDx talk: Becoming Free of the English Box in which she questions where the desires for wanting to drop her African identity came from. In August 2017, Uyaiedu gave a talk at Eastern Mediterranean University on the importance of asking questions.

Vivian Nwakah is the CEO of Medsaf. She is a serial entrepreneur and strategist that has created and innovated around execution in the healthcare, pharmaceutical and energy space. She is an award-winning Founder having received recognition from Forbes, the British Royal Family, Women in Africa, Seedstars and many more, as a high impact entrepreneur.

She brings an innovative approach learned from earlier moments in her career. She has won a myriad of awards for being a leader in sales. She was one of the youngest in her region to manage a multimillion-dollar per year Wells Fargo Mortgage branch. Also, she led a political campaign on Chicago’s south side and gained endorsements and funding from powerful unions. She has been covered in Reuters, CNN, Forbes, Financial Times, and AFP.

Yinka Jegede-Ekpe is a Nigerian HIV/AIDS activist. After being diagnosed as HIV-positive, she became the first Nigerian woman to publicly announce her status. She experienced discrimination and set up the Nigerian Community of Women Living With HIV/AIDS organisation to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria.

Jegede-Ekpe became a consultant for UNICEF where the organisation later helped her to access antiretroviral drugs for her own health. In 2004, Jegede-Ekpe won a Reebok Human Rights Award for her work on HIV/AIDS awareness.

Zainab Usman is the inaugural Director of the Africa Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Previously she was a Public Sector Specialist at the World Bank where she worked on the governance and institutions of natural resources management, energy sector reforms, service delivery as well as south-south economic relations.

Zainab has worked on policy reforms and social sustainability in Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of Congo, Serbia, Tanzania, and Uzbekistan. She is also the co-author of the book, The Future of Work in Africa: Harnessing the Potential of Digital Technologies for All. She also contributed to the World Bank’s flagship report on Rethinking Power Sector Reforms in Developing Countries. Zainab has also published book chapters and research papers on energy sector reforms more broadly.

Her written and broadcast commentary has appeared in Al-Jazeera English, African Arguments, CNN and The Washington Post, among others. Zainab received her DPhil (PhD) from the University of Oxford, successfully defending her doctoral thesis titled, The Political Economy of Economic Diversification in Nigeria. She currently sits on the board of Premium Times in Nigeria.

Zaynab Alkali is regarded as the first woman novelist from Northern Nigeria. The Stillborn, perhaps Zaynab Alkali’s best-known work, was published to critical acclaim in 1984 and was quickly followed by The Virtuous Woman which was published by Longman, Nigeria. Zaynab Alkali’s books have been translated into many languages such as German, French, Arabic and Spanish and three of the six books have won prizes.

Zaynab Alkali has occupied various roles in the educational sector and continues to serve as the Board Chairman of various organizations such as Zayba Educational Resources Development, Keffi, Capital Science Academy, Kuje- Abuja and the National Library of Nigeria (NLN) Abuja. Ever the Educator, Zaynab is the proprietress of Zyba Model Nursery and Primary School, Keffi.