In this conversation, we explore the tenacity of the human spirit and the power of forgiveness in terms of self-growth and impact through the life and story of Awele Ideal.

#Changemaker Awele Ideal was physically and mentally abused as a child. Locked up for days without food or water. She endured many hardships but was determined to succeed despite the odds again. At the age of 10, she set her intention to prioritise her education.

She shares how she focused her intentions and how she coped. Awele's story of forgiveness is incredible..... Her Full Name - AWELECHUKWUKAUMEMMA  IDEALLA ELUAKA (Nee  EKEUGBAH) AWELECHUKWUKAUMEMMA means God's divine favor is greater than human strength.

IDEALLA….. A person that is regarded as perfect, ideal, unique, peculiar, and real.

Awele's words - "Your life is what you make of it"

AWELE IDEAL Esq. is an Asaba-based Legal Practitioner,  human and Child Rights Advocate, Chartered Arbitrator, and Mediator who battled many childhood odds to carve a niche for herself in the legal profession. 

She was called to the Nigerian Bar as a Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2011, on completion of the Nigerian Law School. 

Awele Ideal holds an LLM from the University of Benin, an LLB from the Delta State University, and a Diploma in Accounting from the same university.

She currently leads a thriving legal practice as the Principal Partner in Chambers of Ideal Chambers, Asaba, Delta State. She is perfecting skills she learned in her years of tutelage at the Delta State Ministry of Justice as Counsel in the Civil Litigation Department and pupillage in the law firms Chike Onyemenam SAN, and George-Ann Chambers, also in Asaba.  

Her vibrant courtroom advocacy and litigation successes find expression in the several civil and criminal cases she has won. She is a first choice for handling many International Federation of Women Lawyers, (FIDA) pro bono cases for indigent persons, especially oppressed women and Children.

Following the death of a Benue youngster, Ochanya Elizabeth Ogbanje from sexual violence, Awele singlehandedly organized a rally in Asaba to condemn sexual violence against women and children in November 2018. She founded Ideal Child Foundation in 2019 to pursue similar goals. She was recently made a member of the Delta State Child Rights Implementation Committee. 

“I am grateful for being blessed with generous mentors and I have experienced exciting and rewarding private legal practice covering vast aspects of Nigerian Law, including Land Law and Property Management, Commercial Law and Intellectual Property as well as Criminal Law since I began my law firm in 2015,” Awele enthused about her legal career so far. 

An honest go-getter, Awele is self-motivated and sometimes uncomfortably blunt. A ready volunteer. She is the Secretary of the Ladies Section of the Ibori Golf and Country Club, Asaba, and a mother of three beautiful girls.

Awele’s personal story should be an inspiration to challenge young people that there is enormous strength in never surrendering.

She is the founder of the Ideal Child Foundation, supporting children in Nigeria. 

Connect and follow Awele: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/awele-ide... Facebook -  Awele Ideal Instagram - Awele Ideal Twitter - Awele_Ideal1

Love and light

Ed Dudley & Charmaine Soobramoney #iamthechangeandfree #weareconnected #ubuntuconnected #AweleChukwukaumemma #WomanInLaw #Motherhood

According to #Changemaker Christi Wigle investing in others is one of the greatest investments we will ever make. Making a difference is what fuels Christi, the CEO, and Co-founder of United Against Slavery. She has worked on the frontlines of anti-human trafficking work for 13 years, serving in leadership and survivor advocacy for sex and labor trafficking survivors. Drawing upon two decades of business and product development experience, she created an innovative methodology to perform comprehensive frontline research and data collection, using a Collaborative Research Model. Christi co-founded United Against Slavery in 2014 as a research organization to identify and document the challenges faced by more than 20 stakeholder groups here in the United States and around the globe and to help confirm what is and isn’t working in counter-trafficking work.

Christi developed the National Outreach Survey, a tool designed to collect and disseminate comprehensive frontline data on all types of human trafficking to inform research, programming, evaluation, and other functions of the counter-trafficking community. The UAS team has worked with more than 50 professionals from 22 countries to identify challenges and recommendations from the frontlines, which has helped inform the survey questions on the NOS.

Under her leadership, UAS launched two pilot studies, a National Outreach Survey for Flight Attendants in early 2020, and plans to launch the 2021 National Outreach Survey for Transportation, upon receiving the first-ever US Department of Transportation Combating Human Trafficking in Transportation Impact Award.  She serves on the Transportation Research Board Human Trafficking in Transportation Common Interest Group Steering Committee, the Alliance 8.7 Communications Engagement, and Advocacy Group, and as Co-Chair of the United Against Slavery Judicial Working Group. In addition, Christi serves as a Board Member for multiple non-profit organizations. Christi shares interesting insights and awareness which can help keep us safe.

This conversation highlights how easily one can be recruited into the trafficking world and illustrated that any of us can be a victim of trafficking. Knowledge, awareness, and advocacy are required to highlight the risk so people can detect the red flags and can avoid being lured into these trafficking situations.   According to Christi, prevention is the best form of anti-trafficking and recommends keeping the doors of communication open with children.  According to Christi, prevention is the best form of anti-trafficking and recommends keeping the doors of communication open with our children. She emphasizes the power of words and subtle questions. She recommends light-heartedness and creating a safe space to share!

A must-listen for all of us, parents, kids, as this awareness talk can save lives.......... To know more about Christi and her organization: https://www.unitedagainstslavery.org/

Please note – that this conversation was pre-recorded, references to currency conversions, etc will not be accurate at the date of release.

Thank you for stopping by Love and light! ED and Charmaine

#UbuntuConnectED #IamTheChangeAndFree #weareconnected #NOST #CollaborativeTeamwork #GoImpactChange

#changemaker Dr. Sandra K. Johnson, the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering (high-performance computing).

An American who was born in Japan and traveled extensively and has visited 22 countries in Africa. Dr. Johnson is high-spirited with a great sense of humor. She shares her journey, insights, and inspiration behind obtaining her Ph.D. She speaks about the "research" of Dr. William Shockley. She illustrates through her journey that the best form of revenge is a success.

This is a must-listen, there are learnings for all of us. According to Dr. Johnson "You Are the Captain of Your Ship"

Sandra K. Johnson is the Founder & CEO, of Global Mobile Finance, Inc., a fintech startup company in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. It has developed geeRemit, a relationship-driven remittance mobile app for Africa. She is also the Founder of SKJ Vi-sioneering, LLC, a technology consulting company, a Visiting Scholar at North Carolina A&T State University, and an Independent Director on the Board of Directors for the Regional Management Corporation. She has obtained many firsts in her 30+ year technology career. She had a 26-year IBM career, including serving as the CTO, of IBM Central, East, and West Africa. She is a Master Inventor with over 40 pending and issued patents and over 80 technical publications. Dr. John-son earned B.S. (summa cum laude), M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering, from Southern University, Stanford University, and Rice University, respectively. She is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). She is also an IEEE Fellow and an ACM Distinguished Engineer.

To know more about Dr. Johnson:

https://globalmobilefinance.com

https://www.sandrakjohnson.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq0zpHPBq1Y

Thank you for stopping by Love and light! ED Dudley & Charmaine Soobramoney #UbuntuConnectED #IAmTheChangeAndFree #weareconnected #fintech #startups #blockchain