Sheila Ochugboju

So, my meandering journey back to Africa started in a moment of clarity whilst working as a research scientist in Oxford, studying viruses for biopesticides. That was with support from a network of women scientists as The Daphne Jackson Trust Fellow at the Institute of Virology and Environmental Microbiology (IVEM), at St Hilda’s College, Oxford. Whilst on several missions across Africa to ostensively “empower and encourage” girls to pursue careers in science and technology. As it turned out, these young girls were actually teaching and encouraging me more than I had the capacity to give them. So I decided to return to the continent to contribute to the transformation that was already under way. In the interlude, I was training with the Department of Arts Media & Sports (DCMS) to become a Creative Agent, bridging the gap between Arts and Science to develop projects such as Impact DanceScience – funded by the Wellcome Trust, where epigenetics was expressed through dance (Bharatanatyam – South Asian Dance Form). In 2009, I finally found my way back To Africa, working for Think Tanks connecting researchers and policymakers in Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria on science, technology and economic transformation. In Kenya, in partnership with another TED Fellow Joshua Wanyama, we formed Africa Knows, a stock photography, knowledge management, and media consultancy. We also co-curate TEDxNairobi, the flagship TEDx event in Africa. In 2015, I was adopted by the government of Kisumu, Kenya, when I was appointed by as the Ambassador for Transformative Science & Urban Resilience. In 2017, I was received the Wings World Quest Women of Discovery Award for Humanity.