SHE-EO 14.0
She-EO is proud to present our inaugural event in the city of Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory. She-EO Abuja 2024, which is the 14th in the series will take place from 11a.m. to 7:00p.m. on Saturday, January 27th, 2024.
She-EO is a uniquely designed talk-show-styled learning event for women of African descent to have tough but important conversations for growth and development purposes. She-EO does not include lectures, classes, sermons, or workshops; instead, participants can expect to listen to, and be moved by authentic and powerful stories shared with authenticity and vulnerability by our hot-seat guests (women and men we admire).
Like all She-EO events, She-EO Abuja is a private event open to 70 women attendees only. A limited number of tickets are available.
She-EO Inc. is a section 501c3 tax-exempt organization registered in the State of Maryland, USA and represented in Nigeria by House of Ganiyah Nigeria Limited.
HOST
She is the Chief Financial Officer of Ashoka. She is a social impact entrepreneur, a published author, and an educator. She is the founder and president of The She-EO – a global platform for women of African descent to have important conversations that matter. In addition to being the founder and coordinating trustee of United for Kids Foundation, Tope created and hosted the Impact Africa radio show, which inspired Africans and Africans in the diaspora to participate consciously and actively in African development from 2013 to 2015. Impact Africa earned Tope an invitation to a meeting with Senior White House officials during the planning stage of the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit in 2014.
Tope frequently speaks to global audiences with a mission to inspire. She delivered a powerful address at Hillary Clinton’s final presidential campaign rally in Michigan in November 2016, the keynote speech at Grand Rapids City High School’s commencement ceremony in June 2017, and one of the two keynote speeches at the Future Harvest Conference in January 2021. Prior to becoming a full-time social impact entrepreneur, Tope worked for 2 of the “Big Accounting” Firms, a Fortune 100 energy company, and notable nonprofit organizations in Washington D.C. She also taught agricultural business courses at the University of Maryland, College Park until May 2022.
Tope is set to commence a Doctoral degree program in Human and Organizational Learning at The George Washington University in the Fall of 2022 where she plans to focus on lifelong learning and leadership issues and opportunities for women of African descent globally. She is an alumnus of the University of Lagos in Nigeria, Emory University, Salzburg Global Seminar in Austria, and the University of Oxford. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, and a United States of America Certified Public Accountant.
Tope is dedicated to serving her community. She served as the Treasurer of Future Harvest from 2020 to 2022, as the interim chairperson of the Women’s National Democratic Club’s Foreign Policy and National Security Task Force in 2021, and as a member of the Montgomery County Maryland County Executive’s Economic Recovery Advisory Group in 2020.
Tope is married to Niyi Balogun, who she co-owns Dodo Farms, a Certified Naturally Grown produce farm in Montgomery County (Maryland) with.
HOT SEAT GUESTS’
She is a public health physician with about two decades of extensive experience in leading the planning, implementation and monitoring of interventions targeted at improving access to quality health services, especially for women, girls, and underserved communities in Nigeria. She is currently the Nigeria Country Director at Pathfinder International where she leads the delivery of multiple programs to accomplish the organization’s mission of building lasting and trusted local partnerships to strengthen health systems across Nigeria.
She served as the Technical Director for the USAID-funded Sustaining Health Outcomes through the Private Sector Plus project in Nigeria and a Senior Technical Advisor with the International Development Division of Abt Associates. Dr Amina was also the Associate Deputy National Program Manager and Director of Service Delivery for the DFID funded £148million Partnership for Transforming Health Systems (PATHS2) project in Nigeria. She is a Co-Chair and Steering Committee Member at Women in Global Health Nigeria Chapter and serves on the Advisory Board of Family Empowerment Media. Dr Amina is an advocate for gender equity and women empowerment. She is committed to creating pathways for young women to take on leadership roles in public health.
Dr Amina holds a Bachelor of Medicine; Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree from the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria, and a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from the University of Liverpool, UK. She is a Fellow of the African Institute of Public Health Professionals and West African Institute of Public Health.
She is a Medical Doctor turned entrepreneur in the business of satisfying gaps in specific markets. She is the founder of Fusion Lifestyle Limited, a company that suports entrepreneurship by providing a platform for business owners to showcase their services since it's inception in 2009.
She founded The Gift Source in 2013 after recognizing a need for qualitative, functional and aesthetically pleasing gifts and novelties and the company has continued to grow and thrive doing precisely what it set out to do out of it's store in Abuja FCT and a fully e-commerce enabled website.
From The Gift Source stemmed Pop Kids Gifts in 2019, a company dedicated to providing the best gift and party pack options for children aged 0-10years.
Salam Gift Company was founded in 2021 when she recognized a need for qualitative and contemporary Islamic gifts and novelties and began designing and creating products to meet this need.
A social and business impacter, Samiah has taught over 500 aspiring and established business owners, is an independent business consultant, as well as "Jannah Hustler' at The Pearl Muslimah Network, a network of Muslim women aiming for success in this world and the next
She was appointed as a non-executive board member of Hanovia Limited in 2021, a leading data collation, surveys and project management company in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa.
She is a twice published Islamic fiction author and a podcaster at 'Dr Sam's Musings'
Samiah is happily married with two children and loves to travel and read in her spare time.
Maryam Aliko Mohammed, management consultant and coach, has been in private practice since 2007, offering her expertise as a published author, public speaker, facilitator, and School Lead. Maryam's professional journey encompasses a spectrum of roles, including Executive Director of Modalali, School Lead at Kaduna International School, and Independent Non-Executive Director at Nestle PLC.
Specializing in coaching and training for Executives, Leaders of Organizations, Businesses, and Teams, Maryam focuses on key areas such as Leadership, Management of Agreements, Performance Management, Business Development, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Her credentials include membership in the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC), Fellowship with the Chartered Institute of Corporate Management Nigeria (CICMN), and the Chartered Institute of Administration. She holds an MBA in Human Resource and Marketing Management, a Diploma in Coaching from ICS, and a Certificate in Coaching from the University of Cambridge.
With a background rooted in team building, talent management, and action planning, Maryam brings a wealth of experience to her development endeavours. Her niche spans individuals and diverse industries, including manufacturing, education, banking, retail, and government organisations. Her coaching specialities encompass CEO/board-level coaching, cultural transformation, change management, start-ups, action planning, succession planning, performance development, and team development.
Her commitment to understanding human behaviour and development is evident in her impactful interventions, making her a trusted guide for individuals and organisations seeking continuous improvement and excellence.
She is an accomplished lawyer of over 42 years’ experience, with a rich and diverse career spanning private legal practice, civil society, as well as the private and public sectors. From her law practice, Maryam has worked with the Kano State Government, the Nigerian Law Reform Commission and the Central Bank of Nigeria. Over the years, Maryam continues to advise internationally renowned companies/ establishments and various Governments and Agencies, on legal matters (commercial transactions), as well as around regulatory and compliance issues in government processes, structures, and strategies.
In the private sector, she has served on the Board of Stanbic IBTC Bank, on the Thisday Editorial Board (Leaders & Co) and is currently on the Lagos Business School Advisory Board. She was a member of the African Union Committee of Experts on the Rights & Welfare of the Child for 5 years (2018- 2013) and was subsequently appointed on the (then Acting) President Goodluck Jonathan Presidential Advisory Council. In 2009, she founded the Isa Wali Empowerment Initiative, an NGO that continues to empower women and children in education, healthcare, and empowerment in Kano State and environs. In 2012, Maryam was a member of the Northern Governor’s Committee on Reconciliation, Healing and Security, to curb the insecurity challenges then emerging in the Northern region.
She was also a founding and strategy team member of the ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ movement upon the tragic and alarming abduction of 276 girls from Chibok Secondary School, Borno State. Maryam has served on the Gender Electoral Memorandum Committee, set up to strategize on how to increase the numbers of female participation in politics, thereby deliberately mainstreaming women into the public service. This experience led to her appointment to the Advisory Board of the Nigerian Women’s Trust Fund Ltd Gte, a joint initiative by the government and civil society, aimed at bolstering female political aspirants to enhance leadership and foster greater accountability and competence in governance.
She continues to serve on the Board of Directors for ‘Women in Successful Careers’, an organization dedicated to mentoring young professional women to thrive in their careers. 2 More recently, Maryam served as Special Adviser to the President on Social Investments from November 2015 to May 2023, during which period she pioneered 4 broad Federal Government Social Investment programmes, directly impacting on over 13 million vulnerable Nigerians in the first 4 years.
Maryam Chaired the Social Transformation Cluster of the Nigerian Medium- and Long-Term Development Plans (2025 & 2030), which comprised of 9 technical working groups, consisting of the Poverty Alleviation & Social Security Group (which she coordinated, directly), and included issues relating to women, youth, water, education, health, sports, identity and cross-cutting matters. She subsequently initiated and coordinated the At-Risk Children's program, which focused on addressing the challenges of marginalized youth and out-of-school children around the country.
Maryam has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors. Amongst the many National and International acknowledgments of distinguished service, Maryam was one of the recipients of the Thisday Awards in February 2012. In 2015, she was the National Human Rights Commission Awardee for her Outstanding Contributions in the Advancement of the Rights and Welfare of Women & Children. She was selected as one of the 2014 McNulty Prize Laureates of the Aspen Institute, Colorado, USA for the impact of IWEI in rural communities. In 2019, Maryam was named the ‘Public Social Intrapreneur of the Year’ by the Schwab Foundation (an affiliate of the World Economic Forum).
In May 2022, she was appointed to the Advisory Board of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's ‘Goalkeepers’ not-for-profit. She is the recipient of the National Honour of the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) by President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR. Having worked as a consultant for prominent institutions such as the World Bank, UNICEF, UNODC, UNDP, USAID, and the Open Society Initiative for West Africa, for such a long period, Maryam has garnered the reputation of a professional, and an expert in the humanitarian and development fields.
She has also written extensively on matters, deriving from her vast experience of serving in the legal and social development sectors
Ifeoma is an energy access expert and a climate action champion,. She has over 23 years’ experience, building and directing organisational operations and strategy, supporting start-ups and MSMEs across Africa. In the past 10years she has become a recognized and credible leader in the energy and utility markets, working on the intersection of Energy Transtion, Energy markets, Energy and Climate Financing and Climate Adaptation markets. She is experienced in political economy, energy policy and energy markets, developmental economy, climate and environment, sustainability, dispute resolution, process facilitation and organisational development
She is an accomplished and innovative professional with demonstrable functional and technical competence in Public Sector reform and administration. She has over 30 years of experience in public administration, sixteen of which have been in the directorate cadre, specifically in Service Delivery, Tax Administration and Compliance Monitoring, Human Capital Management and Capacity Development.
She was nominated for and completed the Senior Executive Course 44, 2022 of the National Institute for Policy. and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) where she was recently conferred with the award of Member National Institute (mni). At the Institute she researched and submitted a thesis on Digital Economy and Taxation in Nigeria: Issues, Challenges and Prospects.
She was appointed the first Director SERVICOM, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in September 2020 with the responsibility to ensure that the FIRS delivers quality service to taxpayers in partnership with stakeholders and operates a transparent and efficient tax system that optimises tax revenue collection and voluntary compliance. This includes preparing the Service for the annual Ministerial/Parastatal SERVICOM evaluation exercise conducted by SERVICOM National Headquarters. She held this position till her nomination by the Executive Chairman to attend the Senior Executive Course at the National Institute.
Since becoming the Director of SERVICOM, the Federal Inland Revenue Service has consistently received Annual Awards for service improvement as the overall best parastatal in the Financial Sector Team by SERVICOM with letters of commendations to the Executive Chairman of the Service which has greatly enhanced its customer- centric focus.
She has represented the FIRS Executive Management on several committee assignments, induding the Secretariat of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Stamp Duties, the VAT Implementation Committee for the Finance Act 2020, the TADAT (IMF/World Bank Project) Reform Plan Implementation Committee and the Ministerial Technical Committee on the Implementation of the Oransaye Report for Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies by the Federal Ministry of Finance
Ozavize is adept at leading initiatives that address organisational and national issues in the interest of transformation and growth. Her motivational management style has recorded a proven record of building, guiding and retaining high-performance teams to develop and implement strategies for accelerated and sustained growth. Her work experience and engagements cut-across Federal Government Ministries and International Government Organizations in areas such as Tax Compliance and Risk Management, Human Resource Management, Manpower Planning and Implementation, Capacity Enhancement, Corporate Planning and Governance, Policy Implementation and Analysis, Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, and Censuses and Demographic Surveys
Ozavize Winful holds an MPA (Public Administration), Post Graduate Diploma (Population and Sustainable Development) and BSc. Sociology and Anthropology. She has vast training in Tax Administration, Use of TADAT, Inspector of Tax courses, Taxpayer Service Delivery, Compliance Management, Strategic Thinking, Planning and Execution, Policy Making and Implementation, Population and Demographic Studies, Population Statistical Techniques and Project Management.
Her professional affiliations include Associate Member Chartered Institute of Taxation (ACTI) Member of the Institute of Directors (mIoD), a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Local Government and Public Administratie of Nigeria (FCPA), the Compliance Institute Southem Africa (CISA), the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) and the Chartered Mediator and Concillator (ICMC),
She believes strongly in personal accountability, excellence, delivering the impossible, harnessing capabilities and giving back to society. Her greatest motivation is steering initiatives that solve organisational and national issues for transformation and growth. The experience of participating in the Senior Executive Course of the
National Institute has further strengthened her resolve to contribute to nation-building through the strengthening of institutions of governance for successful national growth and development. She enjoys life to the full through golfing, travelling and experiencing exotic cuisines.
She is an international Motivational Speaker, Relationship Coach and an adept seminar and workshop facilitator. She is currently the Head of Administration and Resource Management at New Horizons College Minna, Nigeria, a faith-based school. She is also one of the Directors of ProStart Consultants, a capacity-building consultancy firm based in Nigeria.
Mrs. Lemu has traveled around the world delivering seminars on a wide range of topics including team building, leadership, and personal development. She is passionate about human development and character building and helps her audience identify a sense of purpose and direction in life and the positive impact it exerts on both work and personal life. Also, she delivers engaging public talks on Muslim Identity, Living a life of purpose, and marital and pre-marital topics and particularly enjoys relationship coaching and counseling.
She is a known face with regular television appearances in Nigeria. She is the host of the popular Islamic talk show Sisterly on Alif TV, and Ramadan shows on several networks. She also produces YouTube video series and has a large social media following, as well. Mrs. Lemu has a broad range of expertise including Public Speaking, Mentoring and Coaching, Leadership, Management, Communication, and Negotiation to name a few. She also provides consultancy to Islamic schools based on her strong commitment to character development, social responsibility, and values-driven leadership.
Dr. Olasunkanmi Sotinwa
Dr. Olasunkanmi Sotinwa's journey in the field of medicine has been marked by dedication, academic excellence, and a commitment to community well-being.
Dr. Olasunkanmi Sotinwa currently serves as a Family Physician at the Wuse District Hospital in Abuja. She attended Aunty Ayo Preparatory School, Ikoyi, Lagos (1985), Federal Government Girls College Abuloma, Rivers State (1991) and Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, Ogun State (2003). She is a Fellow of the West African College of Physicians, Faculty of Family Medicine (2021).
Dr. Sotinwa is currently pursuing a Master’s in Public Health degree. She is a Fellow of the West African College of Physicians, Faculty of Family Medicine (2021).
Her impact extends beyond medical practice; she is actively contributing to the health and well-being of the community. Her dedication to ongoing learning and professional development positions her as a valuable asset in the field of family medicine.
Her commitment to community health and well-rounded education makes her a beacon in the field of medicine.
As she continues to excel in her journey, Dr. Olasunkanmi Sotinwa embodies the essence of a compassionate and knowledgeable healthcare professional, positively influencing the lives she touches.
Born in the mid-1970s in Kaduna, Kaduna State to the family of late Staff Sergeant Bala Pwanda'a Nzome and Wanga of the royal clan of Nganbale of Demsa, Demsa Local Government Area of Adamawa state, LADI BALA obtained her First Leaving School Certificate from the Army Children Primary School, Mongonu, Borno State. She later attended the Sakato Government Secondary School, Numan, Adamawa State and obtained her SSC E in 1995 before proceeding to the University of Maiduguri to study Mass Communications where she obtained her first degree in 2004. Her desire for the acquisition of more knowledge led her to apply and studied for her Masters degree in English for Specific Purposes at the Modibbo Adamawa University in 2021.
Ladi Bala did her one year compulsory National Youth Service Scheme in Gwer West Local Government Area of Benue where she won a State Award for outstanding performance in 2006.
Ladi Bala as she is known by her friends, colleagues and admirers, started her journalism career as a News Assistant with the Adamawa Television Corporation. She is an ace broadcaster that has carved a niche for herself in journalism practice.
A gender activist with distinction, who has special interest in uplifting the living standards of the downtrodden, Ladi Bala is a dogged and committed unionist that has distinguished herself through dint of hard work and learning through the ropes until she got to the zenith of her service to humanity with her election as the National President, Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ).
Ladi Bala’s passion for activism and promoting the cause of women and the vulnerable members of the society particularly the Girl Child, pushed her to be become an advocate of change that gives hope to girls and women.
While serving as a Youth Corps member back then and as the President of NAWOJ, she remained a strong pillar and voice for women inclusion and participation in governance and gender discrimination.
Most significantly, is the fight against sexual and gender based violence particularly rape takes the centre stage in her activities and activism.
LADI is a firm believer in the pursuit of ensuring that while the men must be respected and given their space, she holds it dear to heart that women and girls should be allowed to take a seat on the decision making table as well as ensures that their voices are heard and captured in the schemes of development. This, she believes will guarantee a safer society for all thus, reflected in most of her postures in development work.
LADI BALA, who holds a degree in Mass Communications from the University of Maiduguri and a Masters Degree in English for Specific Purposes from the MAUTEC, Yola, is presently an Assistant Manager News with the Nigeria Television Authority, Network Headquarters, Abuja.
Ladi Bala is selfless when it comes to adding value to humanity and pursuit of set goals and responsibility with zeal and dedication, a virtue that led her to be the first president of NAWOJ that has recorded uncommon achievements such as acquiring a national Secretariat and land for the building of a permanent Secretariat in the nation’s capital, Abuja as well as partnership with ActionAid and capacity building for women journalists across the country.
Her focus, and doggedness pushed NAWOJ to greater heights thus, became a household name in Nigeria, a feat that is so cherished by members.
Ladi Bala, who is a strong voice that belongs to different bodies and platforms, has received several recognition and awards for her service to humanity.
A humble Lady that was brought up with deep understanding of her culture and tradition, Ladi Bala is above all a devote Christian with a passion to serve God.
She currently holds the prestigious tradition titles of JAKADIYA JALINGO from Taraba state and Nzubyalata Hama Batta, Batta chiefdom of Adamawa state.