The Ford Foundation has named Chioma Agwuegbo, executive director of TechHerNG, as one of its 2024 Ford Global Fellows.
Making the announcement on Thursday, the foundation also mentioned 25 other Ford Global Fellows, who, alongside Agwuegbo, the only Nigerian on the list, will partake in a programme that aims to connect and support the next generation of leaders from around the world who are advancing innovative solutions to end inequality.
As a fellow, Agbwuegbo and members of her cohort have automatically joined an existing network of 72 fellows working across Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Middle East.
“The community of Ford Global Fellows has expanded each other’s worldviews, challenged their own and our thinking, and posed inquiries that have sharpened our approaches to creating a more just society and fairer systems,” said Adria Goodson, director of the Ford Global Fellowship. This is according to PR Newswire.
“These 26 new Fellows enter a dynamic learning community and will bring their wisdom and perspectives, contributing to a more complete picture of the work that lies ahead. Together, Fellows will examine their thorniest questions about disrupting inequality and build towards insights, innovations, and actions that will shape a better future.”
Over the years, Agwuegbo has functioned in various positions revolving around women, media, politics, and technology. She began advocacy in 2008 with the Light Up Nigeria Movement. Ever since, she has been active in leadership teams for campaigns such as Enough is Enough, Gen Voices, Occupy Nigeria, Bring Back Our Girls, Not Too Young To Run, and now, State of Emergency GBV.
Agwuegbo is a graduate of mass communication from Ebonyi State University. She holds a master’s degree in social media from Birmingham City University. She’s worked as a newsreader and a presenter with Nigerian media houses and as an editorial staffer for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
She has also spoken at The Hague and the House of Lords in London. In recognition of her work with women and politics, she was an inaugural speaker at the Global Women Leaders Forum in Iceland in November 2018.
Agwuegbo is an alumnus of the Deutsch Welle Global Media Forum and the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers, where she served as Deputy Curator and Communications Director of the Abuja Hub. She is an associate member of the Nigeria Leadership Initiative, a Commonwealth Associate Fellow, and a member of the British Red Cross and Mo Ibrahim Foundation Now Generation Network.
Her current organisation TechHerNG, oversees KURAM, a web-based platform that tracks incidents of online gender-based violence. TechHer is also steering a rapid fund that will provide support to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence within 24 hours.
