Frontline gender activist and media strategist Mary Ikoku has emerged as the only Nigerian and one of the only two African women to make the list of 30 Women of Influence compiled to mark this year’s International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month.

The list was compiled by Mindr, a workforce development organization.

Mary Ikoku, lead consultant of Access Media Limited, Publisher of Working Moms Africa Magazine and Coordinator of Emerge Women is the second African on the list, the other one being Nemu Manjezi, who is Citibank’s Global Markets Diversity Advocate in South Africa.

According to Mindr, these ‘trailblazers’, “are building careers of impact while also elevating communities of women around them.”

In the listing, Ikoku is described as a Communications Expert, Rights Activist, Media & Political Strategist with passion and great interest in Leadership, Good Governance, and the advancement of women and children.

Mindr further narrates Mary’s potentials as follows;

“Mary is a respected voice on gender equality and empowerment, education, social justice and leadership matters. Her mission is to help Nigerian women access their individual influence and use it to define their personal and professional attainment – on their own terms.”

In her response to the award, Mary said: “The new era in Africa involves active stakeholder participation by women. The involvement of women as strategists is one of the many ways we can influence politics and, more specifically, policymaking.”

Other women on the list from across the globe include Florencia Giordano (Director of Program Operations, Mindr), Stephanie Latham (Head of Entertainment, Tech, Mobile & Connectivity Industries, Meta), Nemu Manjezi (Global Markets Diversity Advocate, Citi), Indhira Arrington (Global Chief Diversity Equity and Inclusion, Ares), Nicole Fanjul (Partner, Latham & Watkins), Susan Schuh (Human Factors Engineer Lead, NASA/Aegis Aerospace), Madge Thomas (Head of CSR and President of the American Express Foundation, American Express), Chrysula Winegar (Senior Communications Director, United Nations Foundation), Ashley Evans (Director, The Carlyle Group), Katrina Paglia (General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Capstone), Mary Kay Gilhooly (Director of Global Wellbeing, Adobe), Annabelle Williams (Paralympic Gold Medalist, speaker and founder), and Beatrice Fihn (Executive Director, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).

Others are ‍Jo Natauri (Managing Director, Goldman Sachs), Kate Luarasi (Corporate Partner, Kirkland & Ellis), Marilyn McDonald (Senior Vice President, Customer Interoperability, Mastercard), Supriya Jha (Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, SAP), Stephany Foster (Senior Vice President, Head of Global Human Resources, QIAGEN), Carolina Jannicelli (Community Impact Team Strategy and Implementation Lead, JPMorgan Chase & Co.), Ester Fuchs (Professor of International and Public Affairs and Political Science, Columbia University), Dr. Tzeitel Gutierrez Garralda (Gutierrez Garralda, Program Manager, Amazon Prime Video), Kristin Ogdon (Industry Partnerships and Engagement, Microsoft), Jessica Green (Senior Vice President of Customer Service, Lever), Jennifer Ketchens (Chief Diversity and Social Responsibility Officer, Sterling ), Melba Tellez (Product Marketing Manager, Google), Sherena Masharani (Trainee Solicitor, Centrica), MyMy Lu (Director, Diversity & Inclusion, Thermo Fisher), Yamini Rangan (Chief Executive Officer, Hubspot), and Jaclyn Kessler Starr (Counsel, Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett LLP).

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