About The Executive Director

Okeoghene Jane Akpaeva is an advocate for disability rights, gender equity, social inclusion and a passionate community developer. She currently serves as the Executive Director of Inclusive Voice for Women and Youths Initiative, where she leads strategic initiatives that promote the empowerment and inclusion of women and youth, particularly persons with disabilities.

Okeoghene holds a degree in Sociology from the University of Abuja and has cultivated a strong foundation in program design, stakeholder engagement, and inclusive community development. She previously served as a Program Intern at Empower to Thrive Organisation, where she supported program implementation and deepened her expertise in inclusive development approaches.

She served as the Project Coordinator of the Youth Hub at the Disability Rights Advocacy Center (DRAC), where she facilitated focus group discussions for women and girls with disabilities and led advocacy visits to government institutions. As a Community Liaison Officer at Tochecks Integrated Services Ltd, she identified local needs and supported corporate social responsibility initiatives targeting marginalized groups.

Okeoghene’s expertise is reinforced by several professional certifications. She is an Accredited Mediator certified by the Mediation Training Institute, a Certified Project Officer trained by the Center for Project Innovation in Florida, Mental Health and Wellness professional from Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Network and a holder of the Higher Proficiency Certificate in Humanitarian Leadership Dynamics and NGO Management from The Institute for Humanitarian Studies and Social Development in partnership with Hope for Children CRC policy centre, Cyprus and supported by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITA). 

Her personal growth journey has involved advanced training in Monitoring and Evaluation, Personal Safety and Security, Psychological First Aid, Project and Accounting Management, Gender-Responsive Monitoring and Evaluation, Risk Reduction, Procurement and Logistics, Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Qualitative Data Analysis, and Gender-Responsive Programming through platforms such as UNICEF, the LEAD Community Foundation, and the Cornerstone OnDemand Foundation (USA).

Her leadership extends to volunteerism, where she served as President of the Community Cop under the Rotary Club of Abuja Municipal, spearheading empowerment programs for girls and establishing the INTERACT Club for young girls with disabilities.

With a strong academic background, growing professional proficiency, and an unwavering commitment to equity and justice, Okeoghene Jane Akpaeva continues to drive transformative development outcomes for women, youth, and persons with disabilities across Nigeria.