OUR TEAM

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

1. NKEM AKINSOTO

Nkem Akinsoto is a public health and research expert, and the founder of The Spring Development Initiative – a US-based nonprofit committed to empowering local leaders who are working towards citizen participation in governance, improved health, economic opportunity and educational attainment in their communities. Nkem brings to the board over 15 years of experience in development support, networking, health promotion and project management. She received a Master’s degree in Public Health Research from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland and currently works as a Program manager with UW Medicine, one of the premier Academic Medical Centers in the United States.

Also a best selling author under the pen name Myne Whitman, and a social media maven, Nkem has been recognized as one of 100 Most Influential Nigerian Writers under 40 by the Nigerian Writers Awards for the year 2016 and 2017. As a blogger, her websites (Mynewhitman.com and Romance Meets Life) won the Blog of the Year in 2010, Best Writing or Book Blog as well as the Best Use of Media including Social Media among other awards by the Nigerian Blog Awards. Nkem founded Naijastories.com, a website committed to promoting the reading culture in Nigeria and the #1 social network for aspiring Nigerian writers.

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2. IFY MALO

Ify Malo is the CEO of Clean Tech Hub and the Energy Innovation Center, Abuja; an incubator for new ideas and technologies, and business models specifically in the Renewable Energy space in Nigeria. She is also the Country Campaign Director for Power For All in Nigeria. She leads the Nigerian campaign to promote distributed renewable energy in Nigeria and is one of the country’s leading energy access experts. She helped to set up and incubate the Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria (REAN), the principal industry association in Nigeria.

Ify has advised a range of government agencies on how best to support market growth, and engaged the national media, the faith community and donor groups and agencies in the promotion of distributed renewable energy.  She has held Senior Policy Adviser on Energy Policies, Regulations and Partnerships at the Ministry of Power in Nigeria, where she led a number of policy and partnership initiatives for the Nigerian power sector including cultivating and managing relationship with the World Economic Forum and World Energy Council, the Europe Energy African Partnership, The West African Power Industry Convention and the African Utilities Week (AUW). She was also responsible for building, cultivating and driving public private partnerships for project delivery and implementation in the power sector. She held similar senior advisory portfolios with the Chairman/CEO of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

Ify’s focus area lies with Global Policy; Project Design and Strategy and Stakeholder partnership initiatives. Ify is a qualified attorney with graduate advanced degrees in Law, Business and Public Policy. She is a African Leadership Initiative PIA Fellow (2012); A Desmond Tutu Fellow (2013); a Crans Montana New Leaders for Tomorrow Fellow (2014); A Dwight Eisenhower Fellow (2015); Global Leadership Academy Fellow (2017)…

3. AKIN AKINSOTO

Akin Akinsoto has an expansive career in software engineering, having worked for blue-chip companies in both in the UK and the US; and his experience in the IT industry has led him to appreciate the value of information in guiding choices leading to better developmental outcomes. Akin was in the technical team which founded CR Services, Nigeria’s Pioneer Credit Bureau Operator, and a strategic partner of CreditRegistry Corporation USA. He has a Master’s degree in Computer Science, which he obtained from University College, London, as well as a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Architecture, obtained from Obafemi Awolowo University.

In addition, Akin has a passion for education, which has led a diverse experience of volunteering in his local community in the Seattle area, providing IT training skills and one-on-one mentoring for at-risk youth in schools. His passion has led to him contributing his time and skills to developing Naija Stories and Filtered Thoughts, particularly by offering feedback and encouragement to aspiring writers and thinkers in Nigeria.