Hi, I am Akaoma Onyemelukwe

About Me

I love to help organizations in development, humanitarian, and management spaces, including governments, achieve business performance, make a difference, and impact through global development expertise, management consulting and advisory, training, mentoring, coaching and speaking

With over two decades of sector leadership across Africa, I have consistently delivered transformative impact in global development, leading large-scale, multi-sectoral initiatives in Health, Humanitarian response, Education, Governance, and Media. My work has accelerated systemic change, strengthened institutions, and empowered lives across national
and regional levels.

As a strategic leader and seasoned program executive, I have successfully managed and mobilized over $1 billion in grant funding, while providing technical and advisory support to international development agencies, nonprofits, donors, and governments. I have trained and mentored over 5,000 leaders, equipping them with tools to lead with vision, influence systems, and sustain impact. with tools to lead with vision, influence systems, and sustain impact

Her expertise spans: 

  • Strategic Leadership & Policy Influence
  • Program Management & Organizational Development
  • New Business Development & Fundraising
  • Gender Equality & Social Inclusion
  • Evaluation, Research & Systems Strengthening
  • Capacity Building, Facilitation & Team Building
  • Advocacy, Curriculum Design & Partnerships

Akaoma is a recipient of multiple international honors, including: 

  • 100 Top Global Women in Leadership Award (2022)
  • 50 Top African Women in Development

I am a TEDx Speaker, published author, and member of the prestigious John Maxwell Leadership Team, where I contribute to developing leaders globally. A passionate advocate for gender equity/women in leadership, I am an associate of Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ), and serve on several boards. Akaoma is the Grant Committee Co-Chair on the board of Rotarians Against Malaria Global (RAM-Global) and a proud member of Rotary International. I am an alumna of the University of Lagos and the University of Liverpool, with a certificate in Human Resource for Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston.

My Mission

I am on a mission to help organizations in development, humanitarian, management spaces, including governments, profit and nonprofit, to ace performance, develop leadership and technical capacity, build exponential growth, connect to impactful funding investment, and achieve business performance. I am guided by a set of values that demonstrate my belief, shape, and drive the work – what I do and how I do it.

Values

Impact

We are driven by the impact to achieve business performance, transformation of leaders, their organizations and their community of beneficiaries

Organized

A strong recognition of the power, organizing delivers on my mission and the value of transformation.

Quality

A drive for excellence in all interactions and actions by doing the extra always

Connection

Building and sustaining strong connections with the realities of the people whom we serve

Collaboration

An initiation, management and sustaining of collaborations of actors centered on achieving global transformation; one leader, one organization at a time

Innovation

A challenge of ourselves to improve on yesterday always with new insight, learning and action

Sustainability

Building to last

Skills & Experience

Sectoral Reforms and Strengthening:

Sector Leader in sectoral reforms and interventions – Health (RMNCH, Malaria, HIV, UHC, HSS – Health financing, Human Resource for Health, Leadership and Governance and Community Participation), Education, Governance, Humanitarian Emergency, Agriculture, Nutrition and Media

Policy, Strategy and Advocacy:

Policy Development, Influencing Policy Actions and Championing Key causes and change

Program Management and Leadership:

Building Leaders and leadership systems: Overseeing large and complex program/projects/ initiatives design, implementation, and evaluation

Organizational Development & Capacity Building:

Building and strengthening sectoral and organizational systems, (structures and processes), optimize performance and sustainability; Transfer of skills to individuals, group and organizations

Evaluation and Research:

Producing evidence to establish impact: conducting rigorous evaluations and research to drive data-informed decision-making, tracking in results impact and outcomes

Resource Mobilization: Comprehensive Fundraising and Grant Management;

New Business systems, structures, strategy; Grant Reporting; Grant Writing Support

Gender and Social Inclusion:

GESI capacity, Social Norms, Gender analysis and Strategy, mainstreaming, GBV, Advancing equality and inclusion