Unoma Ndili Okorafor

Unoma Ndili Okorafor (born 1974) is a Nigerian computer scientist and entrepreneur. Okorafor founded Working to Advance African Women, a program which supports African women in technology, in 2007. She is the Chief Executive Officer at Herbal Papaya and Radicube Technologies.

Unoma Ndili Okorafor
Okorafor speaks at the Gem Tech Awards 2016
Alma materUniversity of Lagos

Rice University

Texas A&M University
Scientific career
InstitutionsWorking to Advance African Women
ThesisSecure integrated routing and localization in wireless optical sensor networks (2008)
Doctoral advisorDeepa Kundur

Early life and education

Okorafor was born in Nigeria. She studied computer and electrical at the University of Lagos, graduating in 2008.[1] She moved to Texas for her graduate studies, earning a master's degree at Rice University in 2001 and a PhD from Texas A&M University in 2008.[2] At Texas A&M University she was a Sloan Foundation Scholar.[3] Okorafor married Ekpe Okorafor and had two children whilst a graduate student.[3] Her PhD, Secure Integrated Routing and Localization in Wireless Optical Sensor Networks, was supervised by Deepa Kundur.[4] She then joined Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she completed an Executive Program in Social Entrepreneurship.[2] She also completed the Social Entrepreneurship program at INSEAD.[2]

Career

Okorafor has worked at Intel, Hewlett-Packard and IBM.[5] In 2007, whilst completing her PhD, Okorafor founded Working to Advance African Women (WAAW).[1] WAAW is a 501(c) not-for-profit which promotes STEM education to African women.[1] She launched the program with savings she made as a graduate student.[6] WAAW runs 13 programs in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Cameroon, Malawi, Togo, Nigeria and South Africa.[1] They have over one hundred volunteer university fellows and have reach several thousand girls a year.[1] Alongside educating young women, Okorafor works with communities and families to ensure that no one tries to stop girls choosing STEM subjects.[7]

Okorafor is a Visiting Professor at the African University of Science and Technology, where she teaches courses on computer science.[8] She is the Chief Executive Officer at Herbal Papaya and Radicube Technologies.[9][10]

Awards and honours

2018 - One of OkayAfrica's Top 100 Women in 2018[11]

2016 - ITU and UN Women GEM Tech Award[12][13]

2013 - Anita Borg Social Change Agent Award[14]

2010 - Crans Montana Leaders Forum "Future World leader"[15]

gollark: I studied Latin and Ancient Greek, like a correct person.
gollark: You're both wrong. See this video.
gollark: Yes, revise literally constantly or you WILL fail.
gollark: it doesn't tell you anything about what their limits might be, which patterns each thing is better at, etc.
gollark: It's not a very useful comparison, is all.

References
  1. ""Meet the founder of Working to Advance African Women (WAAW), Dr Unoma Okorafor" – The TOWN icon | WAAW Foundation". waawfoundation.org. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  2. "Unoma Okorafor - SheSource Expert - Women's Media Center". www.womensmediacenter.com. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  3. "The 4 lessons I learned in Academia by Dr. Unoma Okorafor". WAAW Foundation. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  4. Ndili, Okorafor, Unoma (2009-05-15). "Secure Integrated Routing and Localization in Wireless Optical Sensor Networks". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. "Featured Interview: Sloan Scholar Unoma Okorafor on Inclusivity in STEM Education – Sloan Scholars Mentoring Network". sloan-scholars.ssrc.org. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  6. "Changing The Ratio of African Girls in STEM – Unoma Okorafor Talks to the AWP Network". AWP Network. 2015-09-14. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  7. "GradImpact: Promoting Technology Innovation in Africa by Empowering Young Girls to Pursue STEM Education | Council of Graduate Schools". cgsnet.org. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  8. "African Women in STEM/Technology | WAAW Foundation". waawfoundation.org. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  9. Graviola, Herbal. "Our Team". Herbal Graviola. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  10. "New Herbal Papaya Products Attain Non-GMO Verification Status | Virtual-Strategy Magazine". Virtual-Strategy Magazine. 2018-06-26. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  11. "Dr. Unoma Ndili Okorafor". OKAYAFRICA's 100 WOMEN. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  12. "GEM-TECH Awards 2016: Winners". www.itu.int. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  13. ITU (2016-11-16), GEM-TECH Awards 2016 speech by Unoma Okorafor, WAAW Foundation, retrieved 2018-07-10
  14. "Unoma Okorafor - AnitaB.org". AnitaB.org. 2013-10-01. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  15. "SXSW 2017 Schedule". schedule.sxsw.com. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
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