Thelma Ariemebi Ekiyor

Biographical Information

"Ms. Thelma Ekiyor was the pioneering Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of the T Y Danjuma Foundation; an indigenous grant making private Foundation based in Abuja, Nigeria. Ms. Ekiyor was previously the First Executive Director of the West Africa Civil Society Institute established by the Open Society Institute of West Africa (OSIWA), where she was responsible for capacity building initiatives in 15 countries. She has 20 years of experience working in the non-profit sector across Africa. She is a lawyer by training, a fellow of Stanford University, published author, researcher and an African feminist. She has also served as a consultant to various United Nations agencies, the African Union and Regional Economic Communities in Africa. As a consultant to The United Nations, Ms. Ekiyor was part of a team of experts who designed conflict resolution and early warning modules for Africa.

"Ms. Ekiyor is responsible for introducing a gender component into the training modules used by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) program for African Diplomats and civil servants. She sits on the Board of a number of local and international organizations, including the Global Center on R2P, based in New York and the UK based Climate Intelligence organization. Ms. Ekiyor has served as editor of HerStories, a journal that chronicles women’s experiences in peace and conflict. She is an author and has written articles and co-authored books on peace building in Africa, and the roles of women in peace, and security. In addition to all her functions, Ms. Ekiyor serves as international board member on a number of Peace building organizations."

"Ms. Thelma Ekiyor is currently the Executive Director of the TY Danjuma Foundation after serving for close to ten years as Executive Director for the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI). Prior to this she served as Senior Manager for Conflict Intervention and Peacebuilding Support at the Centre for Conflict Resolution (University of Cape Town), South Africa. Before that, Ms. Ekiyor worked as the Director of Programs for The West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) in West Africa. Ms. Ekiyor serves as a resource person on conflict prevention and peacebuilding to the United Nations (UNIFEM, UNDESA, and UNITAR), the Africa Union, and Regional Economic Communities (specifically ECOWAS, IGAD and ECCAS). She has developed indigenous training tools on peacebuilding in Africa and has written and published extensively on peace and security on the continent. Ms. Ekiyor is a Lawyer by training and specializes in Alternative Dispute Resolution."

• Founding Director, WIPSEN-Africa
• Director, All On
• Co-Founder and CEO of Afrigrants