This week, our Woman Crush Wednesday, Chienye Ogwo is a woman of many parts. She is a communications, transformation and non-profit management professional and lawyer, with over 19 years’ combined experience in for-profit and not-for-profit enterprises.
Chienye is the go-to person for management, strategic communication, organisational transformation, change management, sustainability, and legal practice across development, banking, capital markets, telecommunications, and international broadcast news matters.
Currently, she serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Africa Initiative for Governance, a nonprofit foundation with a mission to be a catalyst for public sector transformation in Africa. In addition, she has also served as Lead of the Measuring Performance Thematic Working Group of the Governance and Institutions Policy Commission of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group.
Immediately before Africa Initiative for Governance, she was Head of Change Management for the Transformation Programme of Nigeria’s second oldest bank – Union Bank – following capital injection by a consortium of international and local investors. While at the Bank, she successfully advised the Chief Executive and Executive Management on communication, reputation management, and stakeholder engagement for new initiatives resulting from the Bank’s new direction, developing communication and stakeholder management strategies for inevitable disruptions in structure and technology.
An erudite scholar, Chienye has a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, a law degree from the University of Lagos, and a barrister-at-law qualification from the Nigerian Law School.
Chienye can be likened to the proverbial goldfish who has no hiding place. In May 2020, she was recognised as one of 50 Leading Ladies in Corporate Nigeria 2020 by Leading Ladies Africa, a women-focused non-profit launched to promote leadership, diversity, and inclusion for African Women.
As a way of giving back to society, she mentors young women seeking professional and personal development with senior professional women through the Women in Business, Management, and Public Service (WIMBIZ) Mentoring Programme.
Building a strong professional profile takes guts, and Chienye continues to make lasting meaningful impacts on all her connections through building and transformation strategies. She is the immediate past president of the Columbia Alumni Association of Nigeria.
We admire Chienye’s leadership and management qualities. She is using her position and influence to empower women and live purposefully. We celebrate her and encourage her to keep the fire burning.