Our Founders

Eme Essien Lore

Eme Essien Lore is an advocate for a People-Planet-Profits Agenda in Africa. Sustainability has been at the center of her work as a development finance professional. Eme spent almost two decades at the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, where she worked in several capacities including as Country Manager for IFC’s Nigeria office. There, she led efforts for government engagement, business development, integrity due diligence, deal execution and portfolio management.

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Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli

Dr. Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli is an entrepreneur, business leader, and author with three decades of experience in international development, consumer goods, food systems, strategic consulting, and philanthropy. She has worked extensively across Africa, driving business growth, shaping policies, and galvanizing the next generation of leaders through her roles as founder of LEAP Africa and African Food Changemakers and Co-Founder of Sahel Consulting, and AACE Foods. 

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Eme Essien Lore is an advocate for a People-Planet-Profits Agenda in Africa. Sustainability has been at the center of her work as a development finance professional.  Eme spent almost two decades at the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, where she worked in several capacities including as Country Manager for IFC’s Nigeria office.  There, she led efforts for government engagement, business development, integrity due diligence, deal execution and portfolio management.  She also supported the World Bank’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts by sitting on the internal council and facilitating staff dialogue on unconscious bias.  She spent several years at the Rockefeller Foundation in Nairobi where she supported the development and execution of several initiatives focusing on Africa, including youth employment and impact investing. A skilled facilitator, she now focuses on enhancing organizational health and corporate governance as a key driver for stronger development finance outcomes.  She is a certified Working Genius facilitator, helping teams, individuals and companies to improve productivity by identifying and utilizing the talents and passions of all team members.

In 2021, she co-founded Wealth4Impact, an advisory non-profit which supports the scaling of family led philanthropy in Africa.  She also serves as a Senior Advisor for Organizational Health and Corporate Governance at ESG Africa, which works with private companies to help them identify, assess and manage the environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities inherent in their business models.

She has significant experience working in the oil and gas sectors with global clients as well as in East Africa where she developed and processed business leads for a range of sectors and served on the advisory and executive boards of IFC investee private equity funds and microfinance institutions in the East Africa region.  During her time at IFC, she also took on oversight role of an Africa-wide portfolio of SME investment and capacity building projects.   She also supports the efforts of the IFC Africa corporate governance team to enhance business development activities.  As a senior advisor, she works with fund managers and other entities to develop and execute their Africa strategies, including ESG Africa where she is a Senior Advisor for Organizational Health.

Eme sits on several global and regional corporate boards spanning sectors such as infrastructure, healthcare and financial services, where she has a role to enhance and oversee the sustainability agenda.   Eme is Nigerian American, but Kenya has become her adopted home.  She lives in Nairobi with her husband and sons.  Eme is a graduate of Columbia College at Columbia University; she also earned an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania; and an MA from the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli is an entrepreneur, business leader, and author with three decades of experience in international development, consumer goods, food systems, strategic consulting, and philanthropy. She has worked extensively across Africa, driving business growth, shaping policies, and galvanizing the next generation of leaders through her roles as founder of LEAP Africa and African Food Changemakers and Co-Founder of Sahel Consulting, and AACE Foods. She recently served as the President/CEO of ONE, overseeing teams in the United States, Germany, France, Belgium, the UK, Canada, the Nordics, South Africa, Nigeria, and Senegal, and galvanizing billions in investment to ensure healthier lives and economic opportunities in Africa. She started her career as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company’s Chicago office, serving global fast-moving consumer goods companies in North America.

Ndidi serves on the boards of the Rockefeller Foundation, Fondation Chanel, Stanbic IBTC Group, the ONE Campaign, and the Bridgespan Group. She previously served on the Boards of Godrej Consumer Products India, Nestle Nigeria Plc, Nigerian Breweries (Heineken) Plc, the African Philanthropy Forum, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Helios-Fairfax Africa, and Cornerstone Insurance.

Ndidi holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School, an undergraduate degree with honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town. She was a Senior Fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business & Government at the Harvard Kennedy School, a visiting Scholar at Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University, an Aspen Institute New Voices Fellow, and an Eisenhower Fellow.

Ndidi is a TED speaker, was recognized as a Schwab Fellow and a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and has received numerous awards and recognitions, including a National Honor by the Nigerian Government and the Harvard Business School Distinguished Alumni Award. She is the author of “Social Innovation in Africa: A Practical Guide for Scaling Impact,” and “Food Entrepreneurs in Africa: Scaling Resilient Agriculture Businesses,” both published by Routledge, “Walking for God in the Marketplace,” and contributed a chapter to For the World’s Profit: How Business Can Support Sustainable Development by the Brookings Institute.