Dr. Okorafor is the founder and Chief Executive of WAAW Foundation. Born in Nigeria, she received her undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Lagos in 1998. She obtained the M.Sc. degree from Rice University, Houston, TX, and her Ph.D. at Texas A & M University, College Station, TX both in Electrical and Computer Engineering. She is a graduate of INSEAD’s Social Entrepreneurship program and attended Stanford Business School’s Executive Program in Social Entrepreneurship.

Her industry experience includes software developer and team lead at the Education Technology Division at Texas Instruments, Dallas Texas. She has worked at Intel, HP and IBM research lab. Dr. Okorafor is a member of IEEE, ACM, SWE, NSBE and SPIE and has been the recipient of the Sloan Foundation Fellowship, the AAUW Engineering Dissertation Fellowship and the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Fellowship for promoting STEM education. She is a partner at Herbal Papaya LLC and acts as a visiting professor at the African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja Nigeria teaching courses at the Computer Science department.

Jean Njoroge is a PhD Student at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX and currently serves on the Executive Board of WAAW foundation as the Chief Operating Officer. Jean holds a Bachelors Degree in Chemical Engineering from Prairie View A&M University. She is a recipient of the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP)/National Science Foundation fellowship. Jean is committed to empowering a future generation of African women through projects that promote STEM education and create communities for partner organizations to easily locate and engage talent.

Obi Ogbanufe lives near Dallas, TX. Her background is in technology, with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering. She started her career in NCR Corporation as a professional services consultant and then moved on to other job roles including Windows Administrator, Database Administrator, Programmer Analyst, Quality Assurance Engineer, and Database Developer with companies like Voyager Expanded Learning and Match.com. She currently works as a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Consultant and Trainer.

Obi holds many technical certifications such as Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (MCDBA), Microsoft Certified Business Management Solution Specialist on Dynamics CRM, and Oracle Certified Associate (OCA). Obi spent two years working a technical recruiter for a company she started in 2006, recruiting candidates in different areas that included database developers, quality assurance, .NET developers. Today she uses her experience in IT and Recruiting to help individuals and organizations screen and qualify technical candidates through her book – Technology Made Simple for the Technical Recruiter and training sessions.

Ebele is a certified Special Education Teacher in the Honors Academy school district in Texas. She was born in Kano, Nigeria and obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Foreign Languages and Literatures from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. She is a PRINCE 2 Project Management Foundation expert and a Thomas International System Certified User. She is currently working on a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Texas in Arlington.

Ebele has worked as a Management Consultant/Trainer; her area of training specialization is in Leadership/Management and Interpersonal Skills, focusing on the Behavioral and Psychometric aspects of learning interventions. Ebele has taught a diverse group of students in several Texas charter schools where she has mentored children from low socio-economic background with a passion to ensure the success of their education.

She has extensive experience in the areas of intensive individualized instruction, project based learning, problem-solving assignments, classroom/behavior management, student motivation, and small-group work, amongst others. Ebele blogs about life experiences at www.beibeslife.blogspot.com.

Amara Okafor was born in Enugu, Nigeria and graduated from Federal University of Technology in 2001 with a degree in Petroleum Engineering. After her National Youth Service Corp in 2003, she left Nigeria for Texas, U.S. to pursue a graduate degree. She obtained her Masters degree in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University in 2005. Since graduation she has worked in the Oil & Gas industry as a Reservoir Engineer. She is married with two children, and has been involved with the WAAW foundation since its inception. Amara serves on the board as the Scholarship Education director.

Jane is an Inclusion Instructional Strategist at the Grand Prairie Independent School District in Texas. She was born in Calabar, Nigeria and obtained her bachelor’s degree in English language and Literatures from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. She is currently working on a master’s degree in Educational leadership at the Arkansas State University.

A strong and passionate advocate for female education and economic empowerment, Jane mentors a diverse group of female students from low socio-economic background in several Texas public schools. Certified in Early Childhood and Elementary Education, English as a Second Language, and All Level (Elementary, Middle & High school) Special Education;she brings a wealth of hands on experience in the areas of: DifferentiatedInstruction, Project Based Learning, Student Motivation, amongstothers. She is a member of the Council for Exceptional Children and the Golden Key International Honour Society.