ODIC Judges

Meet our judges for the 2023 OD Impact Challenge.

Freda Anyanwu is a business and project management executive leading strategy and design thinking in emerging markets. She has vast experience in entrepreneurship, business, project management and public speaking. She is the founder of EBH Africa, Africa’s foremost digital business hub that focuses on providing a one stop place for African entrepreneurs to access resources for business growth such community, courses, information and funding in order to build sustainable businesses.

Freda is a 2022 Mandela Washington Fellow, she holds a certification in Business and Entrepreneurship from Clark Atlanta University USA, a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science Education from Benson Idahosa University and a program license on Negotiation from Harvard Law School. She is committed to youth and human capital development where she has helped over two thousand (2000) young entrepreneurs and individuals gain insights on entrepreneurship, leadership, personal and career growth through mentorship, coaching sessions and speaking engagements. She has won numerous awards including the Superwoman 30 under 30 award for entrepreneurship, 2020 Young Entrepreneur of the year by The Entrepreneur Africa Awards, Entrepreneurship award by the Ladies of Honour Organization, Young Event Professional of the year 2021 by the BusyBee Excellence Award, award nomination for the 25 under 25 awards by SME100 Africa in 2019, Nigeria’s 30 under 30 influential young people by ANALAWGY Magazine Freda has also been featured on various platforms such as Business Day, Vanguard, Independent Newspaper etc. as one of Nigeria’s Enterprising Young persons.

Paras R Modi is an Indian environmental enthusiast working for the betterment of society. He has completed his Engineering with Information Technology as his specialization subject. He is among one of the active and enthusiastic youth of India. He is also spry and nimble when it comes to work for society. He is currently working as “President of Youth” for an NGO in India where he conducts drives, programs and motivates youth of his country to work for betterment of society and works on UN Sustainability Development goals. Paras is also working as OD Country Ambassador of India and has represented and conducted various session to introduce OD to students of India. He is has also participated and won in various competitions with large organizations like Microsoft, National Geographic Channel, Aurobindo Society of India, and IES, The UK.

Driven by a genuine passion to help others find their feet firmly placed in life, Roseline Adewuyi has for more than six years been actively championing the cause of girl child empowerment and gender bias elimination in Nigeria. She is a PhD student in French Literature with a Graduate Concentration in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. She holds First class honour Bachelor of Arts degree in French language from Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife and a Master’s of Arts degree in French Language with Distinction from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Her area of specialization as a French Literature student has been Feminist Theory. This focus strengthens her academic knowledge in the field of advocacy. From 2019 to 2020, She worked as a Translator and Interpreter with the African Union. She is a social educator, gender advocate, and blogger (roselineadewuyi.com) on the issues of Girls and Women, especially within the African Context. At the end of her National Youth Service Year (NYSC), she received an Award as a distinguished corps member in Kwara State, University of Ilorin, her Place of Primary Assignment and the Ministry of Education, Kwara State. The award recognized her contributions to Sustainable Development Goals, especially Education and Gender Equality. She has been a public speaker in many platforms mentoring teenagers in gender capacity developments. She has participated in solving gender barrier issues with strategic programmes through public enlightenment through social media and personal contacts with community dwellers. She hopes to keep contributing to the girls’ development through advocacy.

She is a 2016 YALI RLC alumna, a ONE Champion 2017, and a 2018 Dalai Lama Fellow. In 2018, She represented Nigeria in a program on Human Rights sponsored by the French Embassy in Nigeria. She was among the sixty women doing phenomenal things that Business Day Women’s Hub celebrated in marking Nigeria’s 60th independence in 2020. She has also been featured on BBC, the Nigerian Tribune, The Guardian, Vanguard, The Cable, Nigerian NewsDirect, New Telegraph, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), and RFI (Radio France Internationale) for her works. She is also a member of the Commonwealth Youth Gender Equality Network.

Christian Neubacher is a Master of Public Policy graduate at the University of Michigan. Christian has previously interned with the Executive Office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the International Organization for Migration’s Migration, Environment, Climate Change and Risk Reduction division.

He also holds an MA in European Politics from Columbia University and serves as the Director of Partnerships for Young European Leadership. His main research interests relate to transatlantic policy and international climate cooperation. Christian is also passionate about  is passionate about multilateral institutions, international trade, the transatlantic relationship, European policymaking, and global development.

Deliwe Makata is a young woman from Malawi passionate about women’s and youth advancement and development. She is a passionate author, change enthusiast and award-winning development-oriented expert whose work has for the past 6 years focused on ensuring that individuals have spaces for learning, growth and development.  She is the Founder and Executive Director of Women Inspire, an empowerment organization that has since 2016 worked on creating opportunities for women, youth and girls in areas of education, leadership and economic advancement. 

Currently, she is engineering (as a Founder) the acceleration of an economic growth micro-Credit start-up called Swift Capital, that serves rural based entrepreneurs with the capacity of business and finance management and cash transfers for change. Swift Capital also works in advancing Financial Literacy as a beacon of finance advancement.  She is an award-winning practitioner, having so far been awarded the “Future Africa Leaders Award, Champion for Girls and Youth Advancement, and recently the Commonwealth Youth Awards, which are all in recognition for her contribution towards the social economic development of individuals and communities at large. Deliwe is an alumnus of Mandela Washington Fellowship under the Leadership in Business, where she was awarded an entrepreneur prize for standing out in her work of advancing financial growth through Swift Capital. As a writer, Deliwe has authored two books titled “Go for Gold, and The Fulfilled Woman, written to inspire and challenge individuals and women into pursuing their potential as a reservoir of Gold. 

Farhaa S. Abdelhaq has a passion for health-tech, fin-tech and everything that involves data and visual communication for greater good. She started her career as a business data journalist, moved to product design and product management in healthcare and ecommerce. She has worked with Financial Times Group, Argaam, LovinSaudi and has moderated numerous conferences and has almost covered all pertinent business news in Saudi for the last few years. She has advised youth led organizations around the world and has been a fellow of a Stanford University Program and Community Champion for Empower Women, UN-women platform and currently pursuing an MBA from Quantic School of Business and Technology with scholarship. Currently, she works at the Chief information Office at a hospital in KSA.

Imade Iyamu is an MBA Candidate at Columbia University from Nigeria, who is passionate about investing in access to quality education for African women. She works in the Asset and Wealth Management Division of Goldman Sachs. This year, Imade served as an instructor at Yale University, where she teaches and mentors young African girls to make a meaningful impact in Africa. This year, Imade also became the first Nigerian alumni President of Junior Achievement Africa, an organization that has reached and impacted over 1 million young Africans and whose global body was nominated for the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize. Imade started a scholarship this year for African women, which provides access to quality primary and secondary education for African girls, along with a Scholarship for underrepresented African women to go to business school and become future business leaders on the continent. She was recognized as #2 in Involve UK and Youtube’s List of 2023 Global Top 100 Women Role Models and as a McKinsey Next Generation Women Leader in 2022.

Dr. Andrew Amenaghawon is a focused and dedicated Academic, Researcher and Consultant who has gained ample experience working in several capacities with numerous National and International agencies. With specialized training in Chemical Engineering, he has an in-dept proficiency and competency in Academics, Research, and Consulting.

He is heavily invested in human capacity development through training facilitation, mentoring and coaching of college students and young professionals. He regularly provides Consulting services such as Process Systems Consulting, Educational and Academic Consulting, Training facilitation etc. He is especially proficient in the development of research methodologies, research proposals, research grants, CV, Cover letter & Statement of Purpose/Personal Statement writing and review, LinkedIn Profile Optimisation etc.

His research interests focuses on converting waste materials to value added products. He is also very involved in multidisciplinary research collaborations in the areas of biomedical engineering with particular focus on optimising drug delivery systems. In this area, he leverages on his Chemical Engineering training to deploy modelling and optimisation tools such as Response Surface Methodology, Grey Relational Analysis and Artificial Intelligence tools like Artificial Neural Network Modelling, Neuro Fuzzy Inference Systems. He is currently acting as co-investigator and post doctoral researcher under the £6.8 million pounds RECIRCULATE project being co-delivered by the University of Benin, Lancaster University, UK and CSIR, Ghana. He is the founder of Tenadre Mentees (TM) mentorship program whose mission is to provide mentorship to College students and young professionals. He is the Managing Editor of the Nigerian Research Journal of Engineering and Environmental Sciences and the Author of “Foundations of Materials Sciences”.

Diane Rose Anson is a passionate International Development Professional and some of her most notable affiliations include being the Project Development Head for ASEAN Youth Advocates Network since 2020; Deputy Director for Research and Extension under Youth Advocates of the Philippines last 2019; Vice President of the Junior Tourism and Hospitality Management Association of the Philippines, and countless other projects that she has led and participated in. She has worked as an OJT at the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) Area V. Furthermore, she is promoting her research entitled, “Role of Rice Puto Macapuno in the Decent Work and Economic Growth of Ligao City, Albay”, to various agencies and organizations, in hopes of being a catalyst of positive change for the betterment of the living and working status of Rice Puto Macapuno sellers and producers in her community and her research has been accepted to local and international conferences.

Nelago Iilonga is a Namibian woman who is enthusiastic about climate change, youth development, and quality education. She has an honors degree in Public Management from the University of Namibia, as well as a Diploma in Local Government studies and a Certificate in Public Management and Governance from the University of South Africa. She is currently employed at the Namibia Institute of Public Administration and Management (NIPAM) as a Research and Capacity Evaluation Officer. She is currently a Team Leader for the Green Climate Awareness Foundation, a registered nonprofit that raises awareness about climate change. Nelago is a Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) alumni. Her article titled “Education and Employment Match” featured on page 60 – 63 of the African Union Sauti Feminine Blog, published in July 2020. Over the past three years, Nelago has advocated for access to education and zero hunger, by providing food parcels, volunteering at feeding kitchens as well as mentoring the girl child at one of the high schools in her community.

Mohammad Jaid Alam is a seasoned Lean professional and a Master Black Belt in Six Sigma. With over 15 years of hands-on experience, he firmly believes in the endless journey of continuous improvement. Notably, he has delivered substantial savings of more than $50 million through successful strategic improvement projects working with diverse industries. Mohammad has mentored over 100 Lean Six Sigma projects and provided 1000+ hours of training, all in pursuit of fostering a culture of innovation and improvement. A true advocate for change, Mohammad excels in Kaizen event leadership, Lean Six Sigma tool deployment, change management, and Lean strategy implementation. His versatile skill set has been invaluable in steering organizations toward operational excellence. Currently, Mohammad is focused on the healthcare sector in Saudi Arabia, leveraging his expertise to streamline operations, enhance efficiency, and reduce costs. His goal is to elevate health outcomes and the overall patient experience, ultimately transforming healthcare. As a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Mohammad Jaid Alam is dedicated to driving positive change, both in process improvement and the healthcare domain.

Gabrielle Andela Kelle is a Cameroonian Diplomat with a Diploma from the Ecole Nationale d’Administration d’Alger, specialising in Diplomacy, she trained in Diplomacy at the Institut des Relations Internationales du Cameroun (IRIC), after obtaining her Master’s degree in Strategy, Defence, Security, Conflict and Disaster Management at the Centre de Recherches et d’Etudes Politiques et Stratégiques of the University of Yaoundé II-Soa in Cameroon. 

She is a founding member of The Okwelians, a think tank specialising in social innovation. After co-directing the ideas laboratory, The LaB’, for three years from its inception, she is now the Think Do Tank’s 1st Vice-President.

Enoch Opare Mintah is a PhD candidate at Kingston University, London and an Associate Lecturer at University of Lincoln, UK. He holds to his credit a BA English (KNUST, Ghana), MSc Governance (University of Lincoln, UK), Cert. Hospitality and Tourism Management (Florida Atlantic University, USA), and Master of Business Administration, MBA (University of Liverpool, UK). His interest revolves Non-Profit Leadership, Education, Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility. Enoch has worked with multinationals, large and small for-profit and non-profit organizations across Africa, Europe and Asia, successfully delivering award winning projects which have gained global recognitions including a spotlight as the United Kingdom Prime Minister’s 10 Downing Street 1794th Points of Light award winner. He is engaged in several impact driven projects and is the author of the coinage, Climate Proficiency or CPro. He is a contributor on sustainability for the International Airport Review, UK and Illuminem, Italy.

Nancy Siatwiko Chilembe Studied Professional courses in different institutes notably Cavendish University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Education.  There is a saying that goes ‘Leaders are made’ but for Nancy we would say she was born a  leader as evidenced by her being the first ever female student President at Cavendish University. In the year 2013, Nancy inspired by her father and the community in which she grew up from, which made her feel like serving as a community worker as well as a politician, took an active role in local/National politics decided to join active politics which led to her to taking up a number of political positions within the ruling party which is the United Party for National Development. Nancy is also an active member of the Centre for Young Leaders in Africa which prides itself in training young African leaders in politics as well as good governance in Africa; it also enhances young African Leaders with leadership skills. Nancy is also involved in many charitable works as well as community work like volunteering at a local special school within Mazabuka and she also mentors young girls who are interested in taking up political roles other community engagements for the development of different communities. 

Gustavo Fuentes is a social entrepreneur and a biotechnology civil engineer from Chile. He is a dynamic and proactive professional with a background in international engagement, project formulation and evaluation, sustainability, and environmental processes. He also has a strong track record in managing social innovation and sustainability projects that have made a significant impact. To date, he has successfully overseen initiatives benefiting more than 50,000 people across Chile, Paraguay and Argentina. In 2021, Gustavo was honored as one of the Young Leaders of the Americas by the U.S Department of State. In 2019, he was recognized as a climate action citizen leader representing my region, Biobío and in the same year recognized as one of the young social entrepreneurs from Chile, by the Youth Action Net foundation. Gustavo was also recognized by United Global people as an International Young Sustainability Leader in 2022. He currently works with an NGO called Simón de Cirene, an organization that promotes best ESG practices with industries in Chile, facilitating collaboration between them and vulnerable communities through social innovation projects, currently benefiting more than 3,000 only in 2023. Gustavo’s personal goal is to leverage his expertise in environmental management, international engagement and sustainability to drive initiatives that create positive impacts for our territories, ultimately contributing to a more sustainable development for everyone.

Lehlohonolo Peega has experiences are varied and vast. His formal training in film scoring), art theory, composition and musicology sets him as a perfect candidate for several roles as an art critic,commentator, judge and advisor Peega’s contribution to arts industries has been acknowledged by the prestigious Mail & Guardian top 200 South Africans, recognition from National Institute for the Humanities and Social Science Awards and Inside Education’s South Africa’s top 100 Shining Stars. Currently reading for his Master of Music at Wits and is involved in many international projects with the most notable being the Festival director of the 57 years old FESTAC festival. This role coincides with the various consultancy, advisory and organisational work he has been making throughout the continent. His current work with the grammy award winner Lebo M has resulted in Peega’s direct involvement in the production of the film music of the Hollywood film, WOMAN KING. In this role Peega has also been involved in other global productions that are undertaken by Lebo M productions/foundation. Peega has recently been appointed as a judge of the prestigious Naledi Theatre Awards, South African Film and Television Awards, National Eisteddfods and South African Music Awards. He continues to contribute as a researcher and art commentator and critic on Mail & Guardian and Culture Review whilst running his multi-disciplinary band- Abantu Band.

Ronald Murowe is a Zimbabwean entrepreneur and business leader with a passion for driving growth and innovation in the agricultural sector. He is the founder and director of Continental Veterinary Distributors (ContiVet), a leading distributor of veterinary products in Zimbabwe, with presence in Zambia and South Africa. Ronald began his career in 2008. He quickly saw the need for a reliable and efficient distributor of veterinary products and after a working carrer in East Africa and South Africa, he founded ContiVet in 2017. The company has grown to become one of the largest veterinary distributors in the country, supplying major chain stores and feed distributors across the country. He is also a strong advocate for the use of technology in agriculture. He has been a pioneer in the use of mobile technology to provide farmers with access to information and resources. In 2019, he launched the ContiVet app, which provides farmers with information on animal health, nutrition, and management. Ronald is also a passionate advocate for inter-regional trade in Africa. He believes that opening up trade opportunities can create value for all stakeholders in the agricultural sector. He is a member of numerous business networks, of leaders who are working to promote trade and investment on the continent and has been recognized for his achievements in the veterinary industry and agriculture. He has been awarded various acknowledgements for his achievements in innovation in agriculture.

Fatoumata Binta Jallow works as a Senior Magistrate for the Gambia Judiciary with over seven years experience. Her main roles includes but is not limited to adjudication of both criminal and civil cases filed within the jurisdiction of her court and she is very committed to human rights and justice delivery. Since 2007 she has been active in Women and Children’s Rights Advocacy within her Fulani community especially in the areas of ending Child Marriage and right to Education of the Girl Child. Fatoumata holds a Bachelor Degree LLB(Hons) from the University of the Gambia and a BL from the Gambia Law School. She is also a Mandela Washington Fellowship 2022 Alumni from Bridgewater State University Public Management Track and has been privileged to work with the Judicial Council of Georgia’s Administrative Office of the Court for four weeks during the MWF Professional Development Experience. She is also a Young African Leaders Initiative-Regional (Ghana) Alumni cohort 15 on-site 

Our judges come from diverse backgrounds and are highly experienced and committed to providing fair judgment using the stipulated evaluation criteria.

Click here to learn more and apply for the challenge.