“Everybody was born to have a life of purpose and to make a difference,” says Ndidi Nwuneli in her TEDxEuston talk titled ‘Rage for Change’. She is an individual who has dedicated a large part of her career to development, capacity building and empowerment for all genders in both the private and public sector. Ndidi Nwuneli is the cofounder of AACE Foods, a social enterprise which preserves and processes fruits and vegetables in West Africa. Before AACE, Ndidi established and managed LEAP Africa, NIA, and the FATE Foundation; these are leading nonprofit organisations in Nigeria focused on leadership and entrepreneurship. She also worked as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company and diverse international development agencies. Ndidi is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School. Her experience and education would make any Nigerian parent proud but it is her ability to impact communities and individuals that truly make her standout. For example, since LEAP was established, their alumni have launched over 1000 different social, health and economic change initiatives such as eye tests for drivers and encouraging people to give blood. I came across her inspirational TED talk which is a must see. She outlined the work she had done in the past and why it is imperative we do more in Nigeria. Here is my favourite excerpt:
“The work is immense, to transform communities to transform countries, we’ve only…. scratched the surface but I believe that we were born for a time like this and history will hold us accountable….The challenge for us is to figure out how to channel our rage and anger into change, we love to talk, complain, we love to blog and we love twitter but we need to get off our seats’
If you watch this video you will learn that she is not just saying ‘we have to do more’ it is deeper, we can do more.
As stated earlier she established NIA (Ndu - Life, Ike- Strength, Akunuba - Wealth), another NGO that is solely committed to empowering female university students in Southeastern Nigeria to achieve their highest potential in life. In this article she talks further about NIA, her views on equality and empowerment.
What does feminism mean to you?
I identify with Chimamanda’s definition of Feminism in her TEDx talk “Feminist: the person who believes in the social political, and economic equality of the sexes” I could not have said it any better. I was in the audience when she gave that talk – and I gave her a big hug afterwards and congratulated her for the courage and conviction to share some many of our stories.
What types of challenges do the women you encounter in NIA face and what sorts of solutions does the organisation offer them?
Education is clearly recognised as the silver bullet in development. However, in Southeastern Nigeria, while more women are enrolling in schools versus their male counterparts, this has not translated into better socio-economic outcomes primarily because society still expects these women to achieve less!
I was fortunate to be born into an academic family on a university campus, where my mother raised her four girls to achieve their highest potential.
From an early age, I observed that most female university graduates focused on moving into a husband’s home upon graduation and immediately producing a male child to secure their place in the marriage. Burdened by this trend, and inspired by many of the Global Fund grantees that I met at the AWID Mexico Conference in 2002, I established NIA which means “purpose” in Swahili – and also stands for three powerful words in the Igbo language - Ndu – Life, Ike –Strength and Akunuba – Wealth. NIA is committed to equipping young women with the skills, tools and support to achieve their highest potential.
Since our inception 10 years ago, NIA has worked on five university campuses – transforming the lives of young women through its core Leadership Institute which includes training on leadership and life skills, discussions on feminism as well as exposure to Nigerian women leaders who are often disregarded in academic and historical texts. NIA has launched a movie series on women’s issues, held dialogues with male students, and hosted drama productions on sexual harassment to raise awareness on its prevalence in institutions of higher education. NIA has also provided career counseling and workshops featuring accomplished women entrepreneurs, professionals and politicians, which has encouraged the students to set career goals and exceed the limits placed on them by society. To-date, NIA has held 22 Leadership Institutes on university campuses and has graduated over 500 women from its programs.
NIA has empowered young women to run for political office on their campuses, shattering stereotypes and enabling them to assume positions never before held by women in the student council, in the law and accounting associations and in community groups! Through this engagement, NIA has helped young women advocate for change, by raising their voices and demanding a seat at the table.
NIA also runs a Big Sister Program, managed completely by its alumnae, which brings NIA’s leadership institutes to secondary schools offering girls a chance to be trained and mentored by female university students. Through this programme, NIA has reached thousands of women in four Nigerian states.
Today, our women are living their dreams in secure jobs, own their own businesses, are leading communities and are giving back to other young girls.
You have extensive work experience, In Nigeria what is greatest challenge you find that women face in their work environments?
Juggling responsibilities as a wife, mom, daughter, sister and professional. Sadly, these issues are never discussed openly, but many women carry so many burdens and often struggle to manage these
responsibilities seamlessly. Making excuses for poor performance is never an option.
In Lean In Sheryl Sandberg expressed the importance of mentorship in career development. How has your relationship with your mentors, Mrs. Stella Okoli and Mrs. Taiwo Taiwo, helped you? How and why did they become your mentors?
I have been fortunate to be blessed with numerous female mentors throughout my life and career. From my days an intern at Arthur Andersen, when Valarie Dampier took me home and asked me to pick any suit from her closet (clearly I needed to upgrade my wardrobe), to my days at McKinsey – where Jill Stever took me under her wing and literally told me – “I am going to help you succeed.” At HBS, Prof. Debora Spar, who serves as the current president of Barnard College, reached out mentored me. In my nonprofit career – Dr. Adhiambo Odaga took me under her wing and served an excellent mentor – literally introducing me to and guiding me through the Nigerian nonprofit sector.
Now to your question – I met these two dynamic ladies – Auntie Taiwo and Auntie Stella - during my tenure as the pioneer executive director of the FATE Foundation. I was 25 years old at the time, with no managerial experience. They clearly saw that I had the passion and drive, but very limited experience and so they took me on as their daughter, providing advice, support and encouragement. Over the past 14 years, this relationship has blossomed and they have continued to serve as my biggest advocates.
Through the LEAP journey, Dr. Nadu Denloye, Mrs. Maryam Uwais and Dr. Pamela Hartigan have also served as amazing mentors as well! Their personal life examples of humility, integrity, and excellence, has inspired me. More importantly, they have always made the time to offer advice and encouragement.
In general, women are my biggest advocates and supporters – from my mom, my three sisters – who are amazing – my best friend, and close circle of ‘sisterfriends’ – and the mentors that I described above. At every point, women have reached out to support me and challenge me to do more. I have been blessed beyond measure and in turn, I have tried to mentor others.
I have been truly blessed!
Unfortunately statistics show that fewer women receive loans to start businesses or further business activities in Nigeria. What advice would you give to women on how to source funds for business?
Start with your own savings, and then reach out to friends and family. External investors will not give you any funds if you and those closest to you are not willing to make the sacrifice. Apply for the numerous emerging grants and support programmes for women, including YOUWIN and Cartier.
Start small and grow your business organically. When you have established a track record of success and built your credibility for at least 3-5 years, with clear financial systems and controls and strong governance, you will not have to look for funding, it will be banging down your door!
Ultimately what is your life purpose?
My life’s purpose is about service to others – and by serving others I find joy, peace and fulfillment.
To put it simply Ndidi Nwuneli believes she was put here on this earth to serve others and she has dedicated her life to this, even as an entrepreneur in the agricultural sector she is now providing jobs and playing her part in growing the economy. We can all do the same in our own way as our country’s prosperity depends on this but first we must all ‘get off our seats‘
Visit for more: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/ndidi-nwuneli-we-all-have-a-purpose/204629/
