Fellows

Abigail Bokoyeibo has five years of experience as an advocate for women and girls development, renewable energy access, and business development in the nonprofit sector. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Calabar in Nigeria. While working as Business Coach and Facilitator at the International Institute of Tourism and Hospitality, Bayelsa, Nigeria, she trained students on vocational skills, entrepreneurial skills and business development, and also consulted for the business unit of the Institute. As the Founder and Team Lead of a Nonprofit Young African Women Connect initiative, she developed and led programs that build the capacities of young women on hand skills and empower them through trainings on self-growth, entrepreneurship, business, career, leadership, personal finance, and advocacy. Previously, Abigail worked at Solar Sister as a Business Development Associate, where she recruited, trained and mentored rural women to become energy solution providers and solar entrepreneurs. Through her work, 30 women became active renewable energy advocates and solar entrepreneurs; each making an average of $1,000 annually through her mentorship. Abigail has volunteered in different organizations as a facilitator, youth advocate, and agent of change, including CornerStone Leadership Inspiration Transform foundation, Great Reformers Initiative, and Agent of Change Initiative. Through these experiences, Abigail has developed skills in capacity building, leadership development, business development and project planning and implementation. Abigail is interested in entrepreneurship, leadership, rural energy access, social entrepreneurship, business development, and management.

Host Organization: World Vision US

Role at Host Organization: Abigail will focus on the holistic youth workforce development project model called “Youth Ready: For Work, For Life”. She will particularly work on improving the learning activities and materials that make up the project’s extensive curriculum that focuses on life skills development, livelihood preparation(employability and entrepreneurship), financial education, digital literacy, and citizenship.

Omitogun Abolaji has more than five years of experience in enterprise building, startups, and social entrepreneurship. He holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Geography from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. He founded Zmcorps a network of young individuals that support several community developmental initiatives by engaging fresh university graduates posted for National service within the Northern state of Zamfara, Nigeria. Through his activities at ZMCORPS, he encouraged and promoted several socio-cultural integrations and developmental activities especially trough fundraising & donations. He leads, contributed and participated to many community development activities including organizing learning programs, sessions for uneducated and fresh graduates, fundraising for sport, dance and drama amongst communities and schools, Skill acquisition, empowerment and training in cosmetics in Zamfara state. In his quest for self-improvement, Abolaji acquired skill and knowledge from several institutions including the African Managers Initiative, Enterprise Development Center (Lagos, Nigeria), Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation University of Ibadan. He is a 2015 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Foundation Alumni. Abolaji Keen interest in business and startup has found him worked with several startups including WAWOOH. While at Wawooh, a fashion tech startup for discovering African fashion designers and promoting trade and investment opportunities in African fashion Industry, we lead and played a pivotal role leading the startup from ideation to execution and in developing successful business strategies. In his spare time, he is a business development and a Start-up coach; and have helped in mentoring and securing over $50,000 in business funding for several startups.

Host Org: Making Cents International

Role at Making Cents International: As the YouthLead Fellow, Abolaji will support the newly launched online platform YouthLead.org, a website to inspire, support, and foster connections among young changemakers around the world. In addition, Abolaji will participate in the planning of the annual YP meeting and contribute to social media and youth outreach.

Chibuonu Obiageli Ezennabike is a public health professional with ten years of experience in the non-profit sector. Chibuonu earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Microbiology from Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Uli, Anambra State of Nigeria. While working as the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer with Caritas Nigeria on the 4GATES Project, a CDC-funded HIV/AIDS program, she helped improve the PMTCT program monitoring and evaluation by designing reporting tools, building capacity of facility staff, and ensuring data quality in Eastern Nigeria. She also coordinated the monitoring and evaluation activities of the Pediatric and Adolescent Program and FLAGSHIP Program in Delta State and ensured consistent availability of data for tracking project progress and making informed decisions. Previously, Chibuonu volunteered as a data entry clerk for RISE Clinic Nigeria for some months before being employed by the organization. Chibuonu worked with RISE Clinic Nigeria (subsidiary of RISE GHI San Diego U.S), a community-based organization to plan and implement community outreach events, health fairs and to promote health education in rural communities of Anambra State. In this role, she was also responsible for research, monitoring and evaluation of Nigeria’s Epilepsy Care Advancement Program. Chibuonu, over these years, has developed skills in monitoring and evaluation, research, health education, health system strengthening, institutional capacity building, and project management. Chibuonu enjoys focusing on adolescent, maternal and child health issues, and has a strong passion for research. She is very optimistic that efficient and effective use of data in research and public health interventions will ensure sustainability and improvement of health systems in Africa.

Host Organization: ideas42

Role at Host Organization: At ideas42, Chibuonu will serve as a Behavioral Design Fellow: contributing to different behavioral design projects in Global Health and participating in professional development opportunities, specifically around behavioral science and program.

Chimezie Anueyiagu has five years experience in the public health sector. While working as a health education/risk communication officer with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), He led the development of risk communications strategies/plans, messages; engagement of key stakeholders and communities; and supporting research around social and behavioural change communication. He played a key role in Nigeria’s COVID-19 response by coordinating public communications throughout the pandemic. He has played a similar role for Lassa fever response, working across the 36 States in Nigeria. Chimezie holds a degree in Education Economics and is a member of the West Africa Social Science Epidemic Response Network (WASSERN). He is also a fellow of the Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform, and a member of the Institute for Humanitarian Studies and Social Development (IHSD). Chimezie has attended Public Health conferences and professional courses across Africa and Europe.

Host Organization: American Red Cross

Role at Host Organization: At American Red Cross, Chimezie will be serving as the Knowledge Management & Learning Fellow. Chimezie will be sitting with the Quality, Data and Learning team at ISD/ARC Headquarters and will be responsible for supporting the Knowledge Management and Learning efforts of the department. He will help facilitate access to, utilization of, and learning from existing data, evidence, and knowledge generated from past operations both within the American Red Cross and with the RCRC Movement Partners

Chris is a public health practitioner with six years of experience in community and public health and development. As a Public Health Officer with Pro-Health International Nigeria, under the CDC-funded Global Health Security Agenda program, he has contributed to strengthening the public health emergency preparedness system in three international airports and two land crossings in Nigeria. His work includes advocacy and technical assistance to the public health institution in Nigeria on Global Health Security, implementation of the International Health Regulations at the points of entry and prevention, detection and response to disease outbreaks within the country. Prior to taking on the role of Public Health Officer, he worked as a Program Officer for four years in the same organization, where he designed, planned and coordinated medical interventions in rural communities in 20 states across Nigeria. Chris has also worked with a community-based organization to engage stakeholders and raise funds for the implementation of rural medical outreaches in Nigeria. He currently also serves as knowledge management and communications expert with Pro-Health, where he manages the organization’s website and social media platforms and leads the development of various knowledge and communication products. As a medical laboratory scientist, he worked with a USAID-funded hospital in the treatment, management, and care of rural dwellers living with HIV/AIDs and Tuberculosis. Through these experiences, he has developed strong capacity building, leadership development, fund-raising and project management skills. Chris has a deep-seated interest in community health and social empowerment.

Host Org: Susan G Komen

Role at Susan G Komen: As the Breast Cancer Fellow, Chris will provide support to Komen’s Global and National Capital Region (NCR) Programs. This includes assisting with the maintenance of a website for the NCR Program and developing an external communication plan.

Comfort is a communications professional with over five years of experience in internal and external communications in various industries like education, media (print and social media), professional training and research as well as operations. She worked as the COO at the KSE Network while also serving as a media account officer at The Alpha Reach. Comfort recently led the KSE Network’s team in a 3 months and 2 weeks training of 100 participants at the #MTNPulseBlowMyHustle campaign which recorded overwhelmingly positive feedback. At This Day Newspaper where she worked as a reporter, she had over 100 articles published in her maiden name (Comfort Umoren). Comfort has an MA (Distinction) and a BA (First Class) in Communication and Language Arts, both at the prestigious University of Ibadan and, an OND (Distinction) in Mass Communication at the former Lagos State Polytechnic. She runs a blog – Unwind With Kam4t, where she writes on issues that affect young professionals and entrepreneurs in a relaxed way.

Host Organization: Deseret Management Corporation

Role at Host Organization: As a Global Communications Fellow, Comfort will assist the global reach efforts of the Deseret Management Corporation, including expanding a mission-driven mandate to help media be a constructive, inclusive part of civil society, in particular as it relates to some of the oft-forgotten issues of faith and values. Comfort will assist in managing a diverse portfolio of activities and partnership in the communications realm. As the supervisor is also the CEO of the Radiant Foundation (the corporate foundation associated with the corporation), there will be ample opportunities to assist with projects that build partnerships and awareness around the foundation’s core issues. Comfort’s fellowship will focus on media brands, on communications, public relations and the nexus of how those issues impact society as a whole.

Douglas is a communications and development professional with two years of experience in the nonprofit sector. He has a Master’s degree in International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Lagos and a Bachelor’s in English Language from Lagos State University. Douglas also has journalism certifications from Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, NORAD/Thomson Reuters, Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa and the School of Media and Communications, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria. While working with Mara Foundation’s youth development and entrepreneurship focused program, Mara Mentor, Douglas was at the forefront of stakeholder engagement. He leveraged support from public, private and nonprofit decision-makers to influence policy to focus on capacity development for young Nigerians as a tool to mitigate unemployment, stimulate job creation, and spark development in local communities. In his role as Communications Manager, Douglas sourced and managed partnerships with stakeholders in the public, private and non-profit sectors. He also oversaw media relations and the communications needs of the program. Douglas worked closely with the Country Manager in developing relationships with decision makers in government and provided communications support for the organisation’s development strategy, while working with business leaders and top professionals to mentor young, aspiring entrepreneurs in their local communities. Through his experience in the non-profit sector, Douglas has developed strong government relations, policy, and advocacy skills. He has also consolidated his capacity to manage development communication. Douglas is particularly passionate about youth empowerment and education. He has also worked as a Global Youth Ambassador for Education in Nigeria with A World at School, and is a strong advocate of using the media to drive social change projects.

Host Organization:  Restless Development

 Role at Host Organization: Douglas will add capacity to continue leading the strategic growth of the US hub, which launched 4 years ago in New York, including helping to deliver on existing new projects and helping branch out in new areas. Specific areas Douglas will work on include: communications for general and targeted audiences, project management of a new corporate pro bono partnership, and research and coordination for expanding work on girls empowerment and gender equality.

Emmanuel Olawoye is a passionate business professional. He has about 3 years of experience working in human resources and business strategy in two financial institutions (Microfinance and Commercial Banking). He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria in 2015. Emmanuel has previously worked in a microfinance institution where his main responsibility was to manage employees and ensure optimal productivity. In this role, he always went beyond the call of duty by working with teams that provide access to finance for micro-businesses in the North Central region of Nigeria. He helped deepen financial inclusion in the region through the introduction and sale of mobile money, micro-lending, and savings tools. In his most recent role as a business strategy analyst, he has worked on several sustainability projects, including an environmental makeover program in Lagos, Nigeria to help fight against environmental degradation and climate change. He also helped develop Public-Private Partnership proposals for six Nigerian states to launch projects aimed at fostering economic development by improving healthcare, education, transportation, agriculture, and power generation in the states. He is deeply involved in SME business expansion and he constantly helps in the creation of business solutions to help SMEs scale and grow the economy. Through these experiences, he has become passionate about entrepreneurship, leadership, and financial inclusion. He seeks to become a global social change leader making an impact on millions of lives.

Host Organization: Charter Cities Institute

Role at Charter Cities Institute: At Charter Cities Institute, Emmanuel will serve as the Operations Manager Fellow: developing processes and procedures to streamline the growth of the Charter Cities Institute, and helping the organization continue to expand and retain its operational excellence.