Team Old

Dr. Noel Ihebuzor (Ph.D)
Chairman, Governing Council

Dr. Noel Ihebuzor is a distinguished development expert, educationist, poet and counselor. He holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Leeds, and a Masters degree in Public Policy and Management from the University of York. With over 30 years experience, Dr. Ihebuzor has been responsible for designing and managing programmes in education, social development policy, community development and results-based management on a global scale for world-leading organisations.

He has provided technical, managerial and advisory services to government agencies and officials in program formulation, monitoring, and evaluation. He was Head of Community Development Planning at Shell Nigeria, National Project Officer, UNESCO and a former Director of Research in the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council of the Federal Ministry of Education of Nigeria. He was Country Chief of Education, UNICEF in Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia, as well as Chief of Field Office of UNICEF, Lagos.

He sits on many boards, and chairs the Governing Council of Grooming People for Better Livelihood Centre. He is a Life Member of the Institute of Directors, and is also an Accion Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) Africa Board Fellow.

Back

Adaobi Okafor FCCA
Member, Governing Council

Adaobi Okafor is a highly qualified Accountant, with strong academic background, practical accounting experience and proficiency in UK GAAP and IFRS. She has a passion for excellence derived from extensive experience working and consulting for fast growth
companies.

She has worked with PriceWaterhouseCoopers (Nigeria), The Salvation Army (UK) London and Tate & Lyle PLC London. She then became Group Financial Controller at Tryzens UK in 2015 before joining Futerra Sustainability Communications, United Kingdom as Financial Controller in 2016.

She is a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), and an Accion Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) Africa Board Fellow. She is also a member of the Professional Risk Managers’ International Association (PRMIA).

Back

Dr. Godwin Nwabunka (Ph.D)
Member

Godwin Nwabunka is an experienced development manager with a passion for empowering the poor. He is a social entrepreneur, children and women’s rights advocate and a strong believer in balancing social, economic and cultural factors in development.
He holds a Ph.D. in Development Economics from the prestigious Gregorian University, Rome, Italy and professional certifications from Harvard University, The Boulder Institute, and the Centre for Development Management, Rajendrapur. He is a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International, and an Accion Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) Africa Board Fellow.
He served the United Nations System for over 18 years at various professional levels in Nigeria and abroad. He founded Grooming People for Better Livelihood Centre, a global Tier 1 microfinance institution in 2006 as a commitment to the empowerment of the poor through sustainable financial intermediation, and has served as its Chief Executive Officer since 2009.

Back

Mr. Alexander Enyinnah
Member, Governing Council

Mr. Enyinnah is a seasoned microfinance disciple with over 15 years continuous involvement in hardcore banking and promotion of microfinance, and has been exposed to international best practices in microfinance delivery in Asia, Latin America and Africa. He worked with ASA Bangladesh as the National Technical Service Provider to the UNDP MicroStart project and later consultant to UNDP on consolidating the gains of the MicroStart project. He joined Grooming Centre in 2008 as the Programme Director.

He holds a Master’s degree in Banking & Finance from the University of Siena, Italy. Mr. Enyinnah was the Vice President of African Microfinance Transparency (AMT), and is a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International, and an Accion Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) Africa Board Fellow. He is also a Life Member of the Institute of Directors.

Back

Ier Jonathan-Ichaver
Member, Governing Council

Ier Jonathan-Ichaver is an experienced private sector partnerships and fundraising consultant with experience in the private, non-governmental organization (NGO) & international development sector. She is also a social entrepreneur and a social justice advocate. She also worked in various capacities around Fundraising and Corporate Alliances in the United Nations System.
She is the co-founder of Sesor Empowerment Foundation, an NGO she established in May 2010. Sesor focuses on providing support to displaced women and their families in Nigeria through relief, remediation and reintegration measures via empowerment programmes. She plays an active role as Sesor’s pioneer Executive Director and features prominently in several human development initiatives in Nigeria.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a Masters in Political Management from The George Washington University.

Back

Franklin Odoemenam
Member, Governing Council

Franklin Odoemenam is a development finance professional with over 20 years’ experience in corporate finance and investment advisory services (capital raising, deal origination, investment structuring, due diligence and ESG assessments, integration and standardization for corporate entities) in various impact sectors. He has been involved in diverse financial sector and impact development projects with Development Finance Institutions and mulitilateral development agencies across Africa, Europe and Latin America.
Mr. Odoemenam holds a Master’s degree in Development Policy and Planning from the University of Bielefeld, Germany and a Master’s degree in Microfinance from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. He is a fellow of the African Board Fellowship and an Associate Member of the European Microfinance Platform.

Back