On December 10, 2017, Her Network will celebrate women in diverse industries who manifest admirable zeal in their industry, identified by their ability to positively affect lives by hanging the narrative through their work while leaving a legacy for future generations.
Here are the official nominees…
ADVOCACY
Omotade Alalade – Omotade’s passion for impacting other people’s lives motivated her to found the Beibei Haven Foundation aimed at offering fertility support to women and couples. One of the goals of the foundation includes the education on conception difficulties and to provide support in partnership with fertility clinics.Her foundation also provides grants to low-income earners that can not afford to access quality treatment from fertility clinics. Her work has brought about local and international recognition as she was chosen as one of BBC 100 women who are impacting and inspiring others globally and one of 100 inspiring Nigerian women for International Women’s Day.
Esther Ijewere – Esther is the founder of Rubies Ink Initiative for Women and Children, an organization which caters to several women and girl child-related projects including Walk Against Rape, Women of Rubies, Project Capable, Rubies Ink Media and the College Acquaintance Rape Education Workshop. In 2013, she wrote a book inspired by her anti-rape campaign called “Breaking the Silence”, a book that informs about rape and its scourge. Her contributions to the Nigerian society has been recognized by several institutions and governmental parastatal. On 9 July 2016, she was awarded the “Young Person of the Year Award” at the 2016 Miss Tourism Nigeria beauty pageant.
Latasha Ngwube – Latasha is a lifestyle journalist who through personal experience and knowledge of the stigma faced by the plus-size community launched a platform for the empowerment of the African Curvy Woman. Latasha’s AboutThatCurvyLife started a National conversation on body positivity and inclusion. She premiered the inclusion of plus size models and designers on the runway of the Lagos Fashion & Design week and most recently, the Glitz Fashion and Design Week, Accra.
AGRICULTURE
Ada Osakwe – Ada is a creative food entrepreneur and advocate who is passionate about the growth of agribusiness in Nigeria. To fulfil her passion, she founded “Agrolay Ventures”, an investment firm which focuses on agribusiness startups, food-related companies, and projects in Africa. The firm has successfully made target investments in the industry including “The Nuli Juice Company“, a farm-to-table restaurant chain in Nigeria that aims at simplifying the supply chain of fresh produce to health-conscious customers while creating markets for small-scale farmers.
Angel Adelaja – Angel is an innovative agricultural entrepreneur passionate about easing the process of obtaining fresh produce through a sustainable supply chain. She is the founder of “Fresh Direct“, a local agricultural production and processing business that utilizes smart technology to supply organic produce, meats, and processed end products to local communities. Her passion for Agriculture has made her thrive in the world of urban farming where she has started making an impact by promoting the African opportunity in the sector and creating low-tech affordable technologies for simplified and sustainable farming. She plans to expand her business operations beyond Nigeria in the near future.
Ronke Aderinoye – Ronke is a passionate Agroprenuer and founder of Agrihub. Her aim is to improve Nigeria’s Economy through the provision of solutions that boost rural development, add value to
agricultural products and empower youths to run small businesses. Ronke aims to expand employment in the sector by promoting her project- a Young Farmer’s Incubator Programme designed to train youths between ages 18-26, who lack the capital and education to run a farm.
Kofo DuroSinmi-Etti – Kofo is a professional management accountant whose passion for agriculture led to the foundation of the “Next Generation Innovative Farm” in Lagos which utilizes drip irrigation and greenhouse technologies to cultivate different vegetables for sale. She aims to empower other young farmers through a blog which discusses the improvement of farming methodologies and strategies with an end goal of feeding Africa. Kofo holds a diploma in Agriculture, Water and Crop Management from an institution in Israel.
ART
Adenrele Sonariwo – Adenrele is an art curator and the founder of “RELE Art Gallery”, a contemporary art space that promotes art for public viewing while creating a spotlight for artists. Her aim is to showcase their work to the attention of a larger, global audience. The gallery emerged out of her passion for the arts and a longing to contribute to the development of the art industry in Nigeria. Pop-ups and exhibitions are the tools she uses in the promotion of art in her gallery. On a global scale, she was instrumental in Nigeria’s Art debut in historical appearance of Nigerian Arts at the storied Venice Biennale, acting as one of the curators of the country’s pavilion.
Peju Alatise – Peju can be described as an artist that transcends barriers. Her sculptural works are unique and representative of her perspective of African beauty as she discovered her love for art from a very young age. Her early years were spent shadowing artists and now she incorporates the use of cloth, beads, wood, and resin in her artwork. Peju’s resilience caused her to venture into a world beyond typical paintings and into a world where she creates art pieces that are reminiscent of Yoruba mythology. She is also a published author of two fictional works and has combined her love for written, spoken and physical art in an exhibition called Wrapture
Tokini Peterside – Tokini is the Founder of Art X, an annual art fair designed to broaden the scope of Nigeria’s presence in contemporary art in Africa and the world. The second edition of the fair held early November 2017 welcomed over 9,000 visitors and exhibited exclusively curated works of over 65 artists from 15 galleries over 3 days. The event successfully promoted visual arts as an important part of the creative industry in Nigeria, and also positioned Lagos as a budding cultural African hub.
Chiamanwu Ifeyinwa Joy – Chiamonwu is a hyper-realism graphite and charcoal Artist. She creatively uses charcoal and graphite pencils to create images that look very real. Her latest series focuses on our iconic Igbo culture which features the royal hand fan and the sacred kola nuts amongst other representations. She emerged last year as the only female being featured at the Insanity Art Exhibition – an annual two-week exhibition of hyperrealistic art.
Rewa – Rewa’s love for art dominates the celebration of femininity as she hones her craft alongside having a fulltime job. Her impact in the art scene includes the showcase of iconic female deities of Nigerian tribes, represented with a modern day twist. Rewa’s work was recently exhibited at the Gallery of African Art; an Art gallery in London which focuses on 20th century and contemporary art.
BEAUTY
Joycee Awosika – Joycee is the CEO and founder of ORÍKÌ, a luxury grooming brand that fuses all-natural ingredients primarily sourced in Africa with scientific research. She formed the brand out of her passion to create personal grooming items from all-African ingredients while being able to change the lives of the people who locally supply nuts, plants and herbs for the finished products. Her brand has arranged of 32 products including oils, creams, soaps, and toners for men and women.
Janada Ajeroh – Janada is the creative mind behind Mint Organic Care, a natural skin-care range made of only pure ingredients sourced globally and free from chemicals and toxins aimed at making your bath experience a pleasantly unforgettable one. The skin-care range focuses on the maintenance of healthy skin which is targeted towards the treatment various skin ailments and skin types in line with their objective of achieving healthy skin for clients without sacrificing comfort and luxury.
Leslie Okoye – Leslie is the founder of L’Okoye Cosmetics Inc and the CookieSkin specialist skincare range created predominantly for women of color. Her motivation for creating her range of cosmetics was to cater to African women and women of African descent with natural and holistic products to be incorporated into an easy daily regimen.
Kanyinsola Demola-Seriki – Kanyinsola is a budding beauty entrepreneur with a passion for all things natural. She founded “Shea Tribe“, a skincare brand that uses locally sourced and organic ingredients to produce all natural products with shea butter as a predominant ingredient. Her brand aims to cater for varying skin types through soaps, creams, and oils. The brand boasts of products that are created by nature and handmade with love.
BROADCAST/JOURNALISM
Adenike Oyetunde – Adenike is a passion-led broadcast journalist who is currently an on-air personality on Nigeria Info FM. She has used her influence to create a show on radio that projects and showcases small businesses and entrepreneurs every Friday while inspiring and motivating through her Sunday programme called “Refresh”.
Amina Yuguda – Amina is a fearless woman who presents the news on a North-Eastern network in Nigeria called Gotel Television. Amina’s passion for her career has led her to report high-profile stories including the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northern-Eastern part of the country.
Mercy Abang – Mercy is a freelance journalist with a flare for covering issues facing vulnerable populations. Mercy’s passion has driven her to raise awareness for communities under siege from the Boko Haram terrorists as well as tell stories on mental health, displaced persons, and biodiversity. Mercy’s work has taken her across various states in Nigeria and a few West-African countries documenting under-reported stories of communities that receive little or no media attention.
Osasu Igbinedion – Osasu is a humanitarian whose career in broadcast and journalism also meets with her passion to promote sustainable development in Nigeria. She is the Host and Executive Producer of The Osasu Show, a wholistic programme that focuses on the promotion and implementation of sustainable development in Africa, especially Nigeria.
Oluwatoyosi Ogunseye – Oluwatoyosi is an investigative journalist who specializes in reporting crime and has made a widespread impact locally and internationally through her career. She is the first and youngest female editor of a reputable newspaper in Nigeria – The Punch Newspaper. Toyosi dreams to be involved in the intricate workings of our government and become the President of Nigeria one day.
CAREER
Chinwe Egwim – Chinwe Egwim is a seasoned Economist with the principal, focus on sub-Saharan Africa. She currently works in the macroeconomic and fixed income research unit at FBN Capital. Chinwe has over 100 published economic notes under her belt and has co-authored multiple macroeconomic and fixed income reports. Prior to joining FBN Capital, she had similar roles at Fitch Ratings Milan and the Central Bank of Nigeria. She holds a Master’s degree in Financial Economics from Kingston University London, a BA in Economics from Kwame Nkrumah University Kumasi Ghana and is an alumna of the European School of Economics. She is an associate member of the Nigerian Economic Society and also WIMBIZ (Women in Management Business and Public service).
Foluso Gbadamosi – Foluso’s passion for IT propelled her towards co-founding and sitting on the board of a technology company called 8191 Solutions which caters to SMEs digital needs focused on helping them work smarter. She is also the co-founder of a non-profit organization called “Serving with Love”, which believes that true love is manifested by the actions of people. Such actions spearheaded by the organization’s aim of providing for the basic physical needs of less privileged children across different communities.
Juliet Ehimuan-Chiazor – Juliet is the Google Country Manager for Nigeria who has proven her worth as a top-rated technology and business leader with a long list of achievements under her profile. She is responsible for representing the company in all its business development projects and partnership opportunities in the region. Through her leadership, the company has launched a series of innovative products and services aimed at building the online ecosystem in Nigeria.
Timipre Wolo – Timipre is an Oil and Gas lawyer who transformed her passion to reality by founding The Centre for Gender Equality Education and Empowerment (CGEEE) and co-founding the Greener Nigeria Initiative. She led the first ever Helicopter pilot training Programme for the petroleum industry in Nigeria with the training of indigenous youths as internationally certified commercial helicopter pilots to take over opportunities dominated by Expatriates. With the success of their training, Timipre was involved in the initiation of a job-creation partnership between the Fund and the private sector leading to the employment of the fresh pilots in the industry, upon completion of their internship.
CREATIVE
Akwaeke Emezi – Akwaeke is a visual artist and talented writer in the Igbo and Tamil languages. She creates self-portraits that examine the process of navigating embodiment and within her work, is interested in transgressive stories that challenge idealistic perceptions of humanity. Akweke is the author of “Freshwaters” a fiction novel which is centered around a young Nigerian woman and explores the surreal experience of having a fractured self.
Omolara Ayodele – Omolara is a talented young woman who started out with a background in philosophy but chose to pursue her dreams of being a singer and songwriter. Her talent has afforded her the opportunity of writing and co-writing memorable songs for the likes of Asa and Chidinma, having written songs for over a decade. Omolara derives joy from singing and song writing as heartfelt expressions are freely manifested in the words of her songs in which she uses to convey emotions of happiness in people. She is currently on a journey to expand her music career. Omolara finds joy in both songwriting and singing despite her newfound yearn to start taking the latter more seriously.
Titilope Sonuga – Titilope is a poet, writer, and performer who has showcased her creativity across various Nigerian states and abroad. Her love for written and spoken poetry originates from her ability to recreate an intentional and wholistic form of expression which she uses to elaborate on societal, economic, and political issues; with her craft, she intends to inspire change from these peculiarities. Titilope is the ambassador for Intel’s “She Will Connect” Program across Nigeria.
Wana Udobang – Wana is a poet and film maker whose poems have been featured at various festivals across the continent. She has produced and directed documentaries on issues that affect health, beauty, and the human psyche; her works include “Sensitive Skin” a documentary film about the autoimmune disease Psoriasis, “Nylon” a short documentary on grief and the docu-series Warriors exploring the lives of people with sickle cell disease. Wana recently released her sophomore spoken word album, In Memory Of Forgetting which successfully brings to the fore relevant issues like molestation, abuse, and neglect as they affect the female gender.
ENTREPRENEUR
Bukky Asehinde – Bukky is the founder of “Bellafricana”, a platform that aims to link Afrocentric businesses in Africa to their consumers worldwide. Bukky acts as an intermediary between Afrocentric businesses (African crafts) and their consumers by supporting these small businesses with strategic marketing to increase sales, hiring and training of local content to increase their employability. Her end goal is to make a provision towards the growth of the Nigerian economy while helping to decrease unemployment. She has put together an initiative to showcase small, creative Nigerian businesses with the vision of upgrading their business outlook to global standards through the African Creative Exhibition and Awards.
Bunmi George – Bunmi is a very determined woman who overcame obesity and has successfully used her lifestyle change to build a purposeful fitness- driven community. Through “Shredder Gang”, she shares her passion for helping women attain healthier weights, especially after pregnancy. Her weight loss and nutrition company offers meal plans and fitness accessories to aid the fitness journeys for women of all ages.
Misan Rewane – Misan is the founder of WAVE (West Africa Vocational Education), a platform created to alleviate the problems of youth unemployment by identifying and training deserving West African youth on employability skills and connecting them to good entry-level jobs. Her aim is to transform young talent into employees that are valuable assets for local businesses thereby inspiring positive change in employer attitudes in a fairer and more inclusive labor market. Through her platform, she has trained in marketable skills – helping them attain their primary career goals.
Toyin Onigbanjo – Toyin is the founder of “August Secrets”, a food solutions company for babies and toddlers geared towards aiding Nigerian mothers feed their babies with healthier meals from organic produce including vegetables, grains, and tubers. She began producing her range of local baby cereals last year and has gradually expanded her customer base to locations outside Nigeria.
Toyin recently released a recipe book including meal plans for toddlers which is an absolute lifesaver for new Nigerian mothers who opt for healthier meal options.
Uche Pedro – Uche’s passion for blogging arose out of a need to fill time; BellaNaija was born and predominantly became a fashion blog before other segments like music, career and popular culture were featured. BellaNaija.com has now become more than just a blog, it is a website aimed at managing, innovative and exciting online media content which generates over one million viewership on a monthly basis. The award-winning site has propelled Uche to the heights of becoming a TEDAfrica fellow, where she has been accorded the position of Nigeria Leadership Initiative Associate.
FILM/TV
Mary Njoku – is a Nollywood actress, producer and head of ROK Studios. Since its launch in 2013, ROK has produced over 150 films and 13 original television series. In 2016, Mary, who’s married to Iroko TV’s Jason Njoku, launched two Nollywood TV channels in the UK and on DStv. Mary was nominated in 2016 for The Future Awards and EbonyLife Prize for Screen Producer.
Ifunanya Maduka – Ifunanya “Funa” is a Nigerian-American film writer, producer, director, and actress. She recently teamed up with the author of “Beasts of No Nation”, Uzodinma Iweala, to make her directorial debut in a short documentary called “Waiting for Hassana” based on a true-life story of a formerly kidnapped Chibok girl. The documentary is the first of its kind which tells the candid story of a Chibok girl; it has premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and has played at over 25 film festivals.
Kemi Adetiba – Kemi is an outstanding storyteller who has the ability to transform the phenomenal features of a simple story into an elaborate production. She recently created an online series which features women from various industries narrating the evolution of their career difficulties, successes, and personal lives. The series “King Women” (2017) can be best described as a visual source of mentorship and inspiration for women.
Nadine Ibrahim – Nadine is an exceptional Nigerian producer and filmmaker whose experience has been influenced by her international training in the UK and New York and seeks to make an impact in her industry. Till date, she has gained a wealth of experience in film and TV working for companies like Ebony Life, FilmOne, and Fictionless Films. Nadine’s passion and experience in film influenced her to create awareness of Nigeria’s struggle with youth abduction and terrorism in the creation of a short film called “Through Her Eyes” which tells the story of Azeeza, a young girl abducted by a terrorist group and forced to embark on a life-changing journey of overwhelming and unspeakable experiences.
Jade Osiberu – Jades is a Computer Systems Engineer who followed her true passion for Film and TV. She put her true passion into play by contributing to the Digital Marketing team at GTBank, creating Ndani TV, a unique content marketing project that propelled the bank’s position as one of the most innovative Nigerian Banks online. Her Ndani TV portfolio includes shows that she has created, directed and produced including: ‘GIDI UP’ and ‘The Juice’. She recently launched a production company, TRIBE85 PRODUCTIONS, with the vision of telling African stories to a wider global audience. She made her directional debut with her movie “Isoken”.
FUTURE
Chidera Okolie – Chidera is a young Nigerian lawyer and writer whose exceptional ability to share stories is shown in her crime-fiction style of writing as she uses creativity to spark emotions. This is shown in her book “When Silence becomes too loud” and her most recently released collection of Psychological thriller stories called “Not Forgiven“.
Kemi Olawoye – Kemi is a Physiotherapist and Health broadcaster who is passionate about managing healthier lifestyles. She currently runs a healthcare brand called “CareBay Physiotherapy” and hosts a 30-minute health show every Tuesday on Rhythm 93.7fm Lagos called ‘Health Vibes’. Her brand is focused on introducing physiotherapy and associated products to a wide spectrum of potential beneficiaries by using health promotion and advocacy initiatives as tools for awareness. Through this platform, Kemi hosts and gets involved with initiatives geared towards reducing the risk of Non-Communicable diseases (NCDs) in Nigeria.
Mary Love Edwards – Marylove is a young and vibrant Tennis player who has been recognized for her sporting talent and has taken the step towards participating in international tournaments and championships. One of her notable achievements includes winning her first trophy in America in the USTA Celsius Level 6 Girls’ 14 and under tournament. The 12-year-old has also been recognized to handle the unique double-fisted hand grip, a technique not very easily managed by many professional players.
Wadi Ben Hirki – Wadi is a vibrant young woman who is passionate about impacting her community through a variety of avenues including charity, business, and a motivational outreach programme. In order to reach her goal, she simultaneously runs a charity – Wadi Ben-Hirki Foundation, a business – Sapphire by WBHF and an empowerment initiative – SHEROES by WBH. Her key projects; Street2School, GirlsNotWives and LITMOW (Love In The Midst Of War) are geared towards achieving sustainable development goals. Her projects have helped over 1000 children get new shoes, clothes, stationery, and access to primary education. She has also raised awareness on the importance of education and vocation to young girls and victims of the Boko Haram insurgency. In general, Wadi is an advocate for gender equality, education, and poverty alleviation and takes up public speaking engagements and memberships in youth and organizations to share a message of hope on behalf of victims and the less privileged.
HEALTHCARE
Adedayo Joseph – Adedayo is a Clinical Radiation Oncologist who through her initiative, “The Dorcas Care Foundation” is dedicated to improving early cancer detection, ensuring accurate diagnosis and enabling prompt and proper treatment of childhood cancer in Nigeria. Her initiative creates awareness as well as procures, funds or directly provides treatment and social support to children made vulnerable by limited resources. Adedayo has sponsored the treatment of children and recently, launched a Childhood Cancer handbook series – a book which seeks to dispel the stigma associated with the disease and provide information about cancer in general to the parents and physicians, with a good understanding about facts and myths surrounding cancer. She is also the Medical Director of Visiting Medical Services Ltd, a convenience health care service aimed at providing off-site and accessible patient care experiences in Lagos area.
Jenny Idam – Jennifer is a dental therapist and the executive director of a mobile dental outfit – Smilesdotcom. She has been consistent in her dedication to promoting healthy dental and oral hygiene and periodically providing free dental care by organizing outreach programs which include diagnosis, treatments, and education to less privileged children and people living in rural communities.
Adepeju Jaiyeoba – Adepeju is passionate about changing lives of women and girls on a global scale as well as contributing towards the improvement of Nigeria’s stance towards healthcare for women and children. Her passion is fuelled by a personal experience of losing a friend to childbirth because of delays in immediate medical care and expertise. She is also a skilled community development advocate who believes that the only way forward in the health sector is a shift towards education and skilled practices rather than traditional methods of birthing with no proper facility and use of care.
HOSPITALITY
Gozie Coker – Gozie is a firm believer that each curated experience should be a unique one.This fueled her passion to start “Coker Creative”, a boutique experience company that specializes in designing experiences from every client’s conception. Her clients range from individuals to international companies and government bodies and have succeeded in growing her brand by providing excellent service irrespective of the size of a particular project. She is a firm believer that you have to love your chosen career path to be able to internalize your business objective even during difficult times.
Chiamaka Obuekwe – Chiamaka is the co-founder and CEO of Social Prefect Tours, a lifestyle establishment that promotes African tourism and seeks to connect people through exploratory experiences in the region. Her main business driver is to promote the diverse Nigerian heritage and popular landmarks in Nigeria which showcase our country’s beautiful landscapes. Chiamaka constantly seeks to curate new travel experiences as she not only strives to change the Nigerian tourism outlook but to create new experiences for people. She has traveled to 25 out of the 36 Nigerian states and has fully explored 19 of these for the purpose of building her travel expertise and discovering beautiful tourist attractions in Nigeria to share globally.
Wonuola Olatunde-Lamidi – Wonu is a lover of life and curator of memorable experiences who followed her passion to form Diamond and Pearl Travels, a travel consultancy which specializes in curating destination weddings, family holiday and honeymoon packages. She also goes out of her way to provide bespoke travel packages for individuals and corporations on request including visa processing, hotel bookings and airport transfers amongst other services. She keeps her clients satisfied as her business testimonials often describe her company’s service as detail oriented.
Amaka Amatokwu – Amaka is the President and Founder of the Women in Hospitality Nigeria (WIHN) initiative- a movement started to create uniformity and build an official presence in the Nigerian hospitality industry with an association of women in Nigeria and abroad. Her platform aims to provide encouragement to women in the hospitality industry with the promotion of gender diversity and leadership in hospitality and tourism. She is known to have a wealth of hospitality experience and currently works as the Head, Hotel Operations at The Sojourner by Genesis (Genesis Group).
MUSIC/ENTERTAINMENT
Falana – Falana is an alternative artist who focuses on creating her own unique sound that people can reckon with while upholding value for her craft. She has a longing to excel in worldwide markets while disregarding the general appeal for commercial music which guarantees more mainstream success with.She has chosen a road less traveled by most music artists even if the chances of fame are high and creative returns are much more guaranteed.
Kaline Akinkugbe – Kaliné is a multi-talented woman with a creative persona; she is a soul singer, songwriter, pianist and film composer. Her unique style unites lovers of soul, funk and world music genres to create an authentic, alternative sound. She thrives on purposeful song-writing and the re-invention of her performance in which she seeks to emotionally engage her audience by staying true to her craft. She addresses social issues through her songs in a bid to highlight the determinants of peace in our global community.
Gloria Oloruntobi (Maraji) – Gloria is a short-video comedian who rose to fame on social media through her skits which are based on real-life issues- friendships, relationships and popular culture. Her growing Instagram account has attracted over 587,000 followers as she continues to put a smile on people’s faces through making light of real-life occurrences.
Simisola Bolatito Ogunleye – Simi is a Nigerian singer and songwriter who began her journey as a gospel singer but has transitioned into the Afro-pop genre. Since the beginning of her journey, she has released two albums and has been a featured nominee at The Headies awards which propelled her musical career to larger heights. Her music connotes love and serves as emotional anthems for the average Nigerian lover while burgeoning humor and melody in a perfect fusion. She is currently signed to X3M Music under which she released her sophomore studio album “Simisola”.
Wofai Ewa (Wofai Fada) – Wofai is an actress, comedian, MC and TV presenter popularly known for her short skits posted on social media. Her comedy has gained her over 587,000 unique Instagram followers. Although she started out making skits for fun, she now has her own comedy show and plans to transition into acting in movies.
PHILANTHROPY
Inyang Otu – Inyang is the founder of The Inyang Otu Foundation which focuses on the monthly provision of food and medical care to children residing in less privileged communities, especially the densely populated areas in Lagos. She has headed this foundation for over two years and has been consistent in her endeavors.
Linda Ikeji – Linda is a media entrepreneur who followed her passion for blogging, becoming one of the most popular bloggers in Africa. She capitalized on her blogging success by creating “Linda Ikeji Media” which features sub-brands like Linda Ikeji Music, Linda Ikeji TV, and Linda Ikeji Social. Through her media outlet, she advocates on the empowerment of women and their capability of self-dependence. She also aims to finance the start-up capital of various business ventures owned by young women as a means of empowerment.
Orode Uduaghan – Orode’s is a lifestyle entrepreneur and philanthropist whose experience of losing loved ones to cancer motivated her to focus on helping breast and cervical cancer victims through her organization- the Pink Pearl foundation. The foundation has been running for 10 years and continuously strives to educate the public about breast and cervical cancer.
Adedayo Joseph – Adedayo is a Clinical Radiation Oncologist who through her initiative, “The Dorcas Care Foundation” is dedicated to improving early cancer detection, ensuring accurate diagnosis and enabling prompt and proper treatment of childhood cancer in Nigeria. Her initiative creates awareness as well as procures, funds or directly provides treatment and social support to children made vulnerable by limited resources. Adedayo has sponsored the treatment of children and recently, launched a Childhood Cancer handbook series – a book which seeks to dispel the stigma associated with the disease and provide information about cancer in general to the parents and physicians, with a good understanding about facts and myths surrounding cancer. She is also the Medical Director of Visiting Medical Services Ltd, a convenience health care service aimed at providing off-site and accessible patient care experiences in Lagos area.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Tosin Ajibade – Tosin “OloriSuperGal” is a social media maven popular for her leading lifestyle and entertainment website, www.OloriSuperGal.com and www.olorisupergal.co.za, the South Africa version. Her success from these sites has enabled her to capitalize on digital marketing through “Media Exposure”, a digital marketing arm of Olori SuperGal Limited. Her expertise has also enabled her to run the New Media Conference (NMC), an annual gathering of principal stakeholders focusing on industry benchmarks (in Nigeria) in marketing and advertising with a specific focus on media space.
Nikkie Pryce – Nikkie is a motivational speaker who is passionate about promoting the ability to become the best version of one’s self. As a result, she founded the “I Am Community” responsible for the “I AM” social media campaign which was borne out of a desire to encourage individual awareness of beauty and belief in one’s self with the use of positive affirmations. Her personal journey helped her to speak truths into her life, beginning with the words “I AM” leading to a regular practice of proclaiming intentions and making meaningful connections with like-minded people. She has now made it a personal responsibility to inspire and motivate people to embrace life in all its entirety.
Adedamola Ladejobi – Damola is a professional nutritionist and weight loss expert whose passion for her platform spurred out of a Gastrointestinal Reflux Disease which caused her drastic weight increment. Her platform ‘Ask Damz’, is tailored to her personal experience and is dedicated to supporting and advising other people who struggle with similar weight-loss issues. She uses her social media as a platform for education on nutrition, weight and maintaining a healthy equilibrium.
Vivian Jokotade Adeniyi – Jokotade is an author, speaker, and mentor to women, (including entrepreneurs and leaders) whose goal is to develop a network of visionaries in all the countries of the world. Her interests have inspired her to utilize talk shows (audio and video) programs, to influence a diversity of people in over 100 countries by sharing personal experiences and insight.
Yemisi Odusanya – Yemisi “Sisi Yemmie” is a popular content creator and vlogger who founded SISIYEMMIE.COM, a food and lifestyle blog. She has successfully created a brand through sharing her personal recipes and weekly video diaries that provide insight into her everyday life on YouTube and her blog. Her videos also highlight the beauty of Lagos that may not be readily seen and appreciated throughout the world. She provides recipes in a practical and cogent manner for meals that can be recreated simply at home and consistently puts a lot of passion into her creations, making her popular amongst viewers.
SPORTS
Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor – Blessing is a Nigerian track and field athlete who specializes in the long jump and short sprint events. She is an Olympic and World Championship medalist in the long jump and a world medallist in the 200 meters. She also holds the Women’s 100 meters Commonwealth Games record for the fastest time at 10.85 seconds. Her 100 m best of 10.79 made her the African record holder for the event until it was eclipsed by Murielle Ahoure in 2016. She has also been awarded medals at the All-Africa Games, IAAF Continental Cup, and World Relays.
Chierika Ukogu – Chierika made history as the first Nigerian athlete to compete for the Rowing event at the Women’s Singles Sculls Event at the Rio 2016 Olympic games. Not permitting a lack of funds to stop her from pushing through, she crowdfunded her way through her GoFundMe page where she raised $15,000. After qualifying to compete, she went on to reach the semi-finals C/D, a non-medal contention round and placing 5th in her group.
Lauritta Onye – Lauritta is a determined Paralympian athlete who competes in F40 classification throwing events. As a result of her dedication to training and strength, she competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro where she took home the gold in the F40 shot put.
START UP
Nkem Okocha – Nkem is the founder of Mamamoni, a social enterprise that provides free vocational or financial skills and microloans to rural and urban slum women. She is very passionate about empowering women on financial literacy in order to educate their way out of poverty, in line with her company’s aim of reducing poverty in Nigeria. Since 2013, she has awarded over 100 microloans and empowered over 4000 women in these communities. She is a Tony Elumelu foundation Entrepreneurship Programme Alumna, a Young African Leaders Initiative Alumna and LEAP Africa 2016 Social Innovator.
Adeyinka Tekenah – Adeyinka is the creator and founder of “Happy Coffee Nigeria“, an innovative solution used to restructure the ideologies and misconceptions of coffee drinking. Apart from supporting the industry by purchasing from Nigerian farmers, she aims to enlighten Nigerians on the art of coffee drinking and showcase the coffee industry as a lucrative part of the agricultural sector.
Temi Giwa Tubosun – Temie is the Chief Executive Officer of Life Bank Nigeria, a blood discovery and delivery app for hospitals which help medical personnel identify potential blood donors and blood types required to make deliveries to people in need of blood. The process involves using WHO-approved equipment and procedures to preserve blood in transit and deliver in good time to beneficiaries.
TECH
Virtue Oboro – Virtue is a visionary of upholding the sanctity of life; she founded a purposeful business called the “Tiny Hearts Technology”, aimed at saving lives of children that may have contracted complications from birth.Through this, she invented “Crib A’GLOW“, a solar-powered phototherapy unit for treating Jaundice that can be used anywhere as required by a child. A large percentage (95%) of phototherapy devices are only available in urban hospitals and not rural hospitals where child patients are unable to receive treatment from severe jaundice. The Crib A’ Glow initiative is a functional without electricity, therefore saving costs while giving a better life to children in need.
Abisoye Ajayi – Akinfolarin – Abisoye is the founder of “Girl Coding”, an initiative of the Pearl Africa Foundation which aims to get underprivileged girls from slums, orphanages, and correctional homes into the world of technology. With four instructors, Abisoye and her tech friends tutor over 100 girls (aged 10 -17) who have signed up to learn skills such as programming, user interface design, and animation. After their training is concluded, the girls are placed on internships with I.T firms and paired with female tech mentors to guide them. Abisoye’s vision for the future is to add up to 20,000 female programmers into the Nigerian tech eco-system by the year 2020. Abisoye also launched “Lady labs Innovation Hub“, which caters specifically to the tech needs of girls from underserved communities. Her hub is a safe place where these girls can be mentored by professional ladies in the field of technology, business, health, and hygiene.
Damilola Teidi – Damilola is the CEO and Co-Founder of Go My Way Africa, an application set up for the purpose of creating a car-pool service to connect travelers on similar daily routes. She used her passion for technology to solve a travel problem, easing the process of sharing resources between private car owners who offer their seats to commuters with a similar destination.
Ire Aderinokun – Ire is a Nigerian lawyer who took up an interest in coding; she is now the first Nigerian Female Google Developer Expert and one of three in Nigeria, proving that coding is not solely for men. She shares her knowledge and experiences through speaking engagements as she tries to support education via these means. Ire set up a plan to sponsor five Nigerian women who are willing to learn how to code.
Remi Owadokun – Remi is a weight loss and wellness expert who preaches healthy living as a way of life. She began her consultancy after her personal weight loss experience and modeled her business after her tried and tested techniques. She now educates people on a global scale with her training methods and her book “How I lost 40 kg: the journey that changed my life”, a number one best seller on Amazon and the only Nigerian book to reach such heights. Following the success of her book, Remi went a step further to create a mobile game app “Phat Gal” Mobile game available for free on Android and iOS based on her life story as an overweight girl living in a city and struggling to lose weight, make healthier choices and still make a living. The Phat Gal mobile game app is designed to promote health consciousness in a fun and relaxing way!
Founded in 2007, Ladybrille® Magazine is a California based pioneer digital publication demystifying the image of Africans in the west through contemporary African fashion and celebrating the brilliant woman in business and leadership, with an emphasis on the African woman in the diaspora. Our coverage includes stories on capital, access to markets, expertise, hiring and retention, sales, marketing, and promotions.
