Meet the founder
Dr. Yvonne Chioma Ofodile
FOUNDER & CHIEF EXECUTIVE · 360 WOMAN AFRICA FOUNDATION
“Building the continent where African women are never too much and never not enough.”
- Global Thought Leader and Entrepreneur
- Pan-African Women’s Advancement
A NOTE FROM THE FOUNDER
To every woman who finds her way to this page —
I want to begin with the most important thing I know: you are not too much. You have never been too much, you are not un-deserving. And there is not a room in this world, not a boardroom, not a stage, not a seat of governance, not a ledger of business, where you do not belong.
360 Woman Africa was not born from an idea. It was born from a reckoning. A moment where I looked at the landscape of women around me, brilliant, tireless, resilent, capable women and asked the question that would not let me rest: why are so many of us still building in the margins?
I have sat with that question. I have carried it across boardrooms and conference rooms, across conversations in Lagos and across borders. And what I have found, every time, is that the answer is not a lack of talent. It is never a lack of talent. It is a lack of access. A lack of ecosystem. A lack of community that says, plainly and loudly: we see you, we believe in you, and we are here in it all together; your voice matters greatly.
That is what 360 Woman Africa exists to be. Not just an organisation. A home. A constellation of women who refuse to shrink, who are learning to lead with the full weight of who they are, and who are building legacies that will outlast every room that once tried to make them smaller.
Whether you are an entrepreneur navigating her first year in business, a rising leader finding her footing in corporate spaces, a young woman trying to understand what is even possible for her life , this organization, this institution was built with you in mind. With your ambitions in mind. With your future in mind, with the world in mind.
What we are building here is not transactional. It is transformational. And it takes all of us.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for choosing to show up.
On October 12, 2025, 360 Woman Africa hosted the highly anticipated Elevate Conference 2025 in Lagos, convening over 1,244 delegates, a powerful assembly of women leaders, entrepreneurs, executives, and emerging change-makers from across Nigeria and beyond. This year’s conference delivered an unforgettable experience marked by insight, energy, and transformative conversations focused on advancing women from bold ideas to global impact.
With love and conviction,
Dr. Yvonne Chioma Ofodile
Founder & Chief Executive, 360 Woman Africa Foundation
BIOGRAPHY
A BUILDER BY CALLING
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Designation:
Founder & Chief Executive, 360 Woman Africa Foundation
MD/CEO Zetile Oil and Gas Ltd
MD/CEO Zetile Stores Ltd
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Professional background:
Management / Leadership / Entrepreneurship / Social Enterprise
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Expertise:
Women’s and Youth Advancement and Leadership | Corporate Governance | Enterprise Development | Pan-African Strategy
Yvonne Chioma Ofodile has a career spanning over a decade within the oil and gas and social enterprise sectors, spanning disciplines like human resources, business development, commercial sales and marketing, leadership, and personal development.
Her academic journey features a distinguished pedigree, with a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Management from the University of Derby, United Kingdom, the IESE Business School Spain MMBA from the prestigious Lagos Business School. Yvonne further enhances her educational credentials with an Honoris Causa in Business Administration from Myles Leadership University, and she proudly holds a Chartered Associate Membership with the esteemed Chartered Management Institute UK. She is also recognized as a fellow of the Institute of Management Consultant.
Dr. Yvonne is current CEO, Managing Director at Zetile Oil and Gas Ltd, an innovative integrated downstream Oil and Gas distribution and marketing establishment. In this capacity, she spearheads the delivery of unparalleled value across the entire oil and gas value chain. In parallel, Yvonne holds the esteemed position of CEO at Zetile Stores Limited, a rapidly expanding 24 hours Supermarket chain headquartered in the vibrant commercial hub of Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria.
Yvonne’s visionary leadership extends beyond corporate landscapes to encompass philanthropic endeavors. She is the visionary founder of 360 Woman Africa, an esteemed nonprofit entity committed to nurturing leadership and entrepreneurial acumen among African women. Within this expansive domain, she has ingeniously crafted the Woman Skill Development Scheme, a strategic platform dedicated to bridging the gap between skillsets and opportunities. Additionally, she has pioneered the transformative 360 Woman Africa Women-in-Business Empowerment Fund, a platform which has already disbursed grants amounting to over 20 million Naira, thereby catalyzing the growth of women-led enterprises. Yvonne’s far-reaching initiatives under the banner of 360 Woman Africa have directly and indirectly touched the lives of over 13,000 women entrepreneurs across the African continent.
Her unwavering passion and resolute dedication to empowering the current and next generation of female leaders have earned her an illustrious reputation as a highly sought-after transformational speaker, mentor, coach. She imparts her sagacious insights on topics of profound relevance, including “Monetizing Passion: Transforming Dreams into Sustainable Ventures,” and “The Evolving Role of Women in Modern Economies, Women and Leadership.” Yvonne’s resonant voice has graced radio waves and television screens, and her impactful speeches have captivated audiences numbering more than 6,000 at prestigious conferences, both on domestic and international stages. Her notable appearances include commanding podiums at The Future Africa Women’s Conference (Founders of The Future Awards), WIMBIZ platform, and the esteemed THINKATION X gathering.
In recognition of her extraordinary contributions, Yvonne has been lauded as one of the Top 100 Inspiring Women in Nigeria by the Leading Ladies Africa in the year 2020. Furthermore, she garnered distinction as one of the Top 100 Career Women in Nigeria during the year 2021. Most notably, in the year 2023, Yvonne was bestowed with the Exemplary Leadership Peak Performance Award by Champion NG to name a few, a hallmark of her indomitable spirit and resplendent achievements.
Yvonne has graced numerous international and local conferences, leaving an indelible mark on audiences in diverse corners of the globe. Her fervent pursuit of knowledge has led her to esteemed gatherings in countries such as Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates. Through her involvement in these prominent forums, she has fostered valuable cross-cultural exchanges, sharing her insights and experiences with a diverse array of thought leaders, industry experts, and fellow professionals.
Her dynamic presence and contributions have consistently elevated the discourse on critical issues, ranging from entrepreneurship and women’s empowerment to leadership strategies and economic development. Yvonne’s unwavering commitment to continuous learning and her active participation in international and local conferences underscore her status as a true global leader and influencer in her field.
FOUNDER’S MESSAGE TO WOMEN
A Message to Every Woman Who Has Ever Been Told She Is Too Much
There is a lie that has been told to women for generations. It has been whispered in offices and shouted in boardrooms. It has lived in performance reviews that said ‘too assertive’ and funding decisions that chose the man across the table. It has shown up in the silence of rooms where women’s names were not called, and in the exhaustion of women who kept going anyway.
The lie is this: that you are not quite right for the world as it is. That your ambition is inconvenient. That your voice is too loud, your ideas too bold, your leadership too threatening.
I am here to say, with everything I have, that the lie is wrong.
“Women are not disposable. We are not supplementary. We are not here to fill the gaps that men leave behind. We are here to build. To lead. To govern. To create. To nurture. To transform the world; the full brilliance, complex world will be better for it.”
I look around at the women in our community, the entrepreneurs who are three years into a business they built on courage and no capital, the young women navigating organisations that were not designed with them in mind, the leaders who carry entire teams and still question whether they belong at the table and I feel something that I can only describe as righteous urgency.
We do not have the luxury of waiting for systems to fix themselves. We know now , from data globally, from experience, from the evidence of our own lives, that representation does not happen by accident. That economic inclusion does not trickle down. That leadership pipelines must be deliberately built, or they will simply not exist.
So we are building them. Deliberately. Structurally. With intention.
At 360 Woman Africa, we are not in the business of motivating women. We are in the business of equipping them. There is a difference. Motivation is what you feel in the room. Equipment is what you carry when you leave it. We want every woman who encounters this platform to leave with tools, connections, frameworks, and a community that does not let her forget her own power.
We believe that women can lead fully in enterprise and in governance, in innovation and in community, in the boardroom and at home, at altitude and at eye level. We believe that gender is not a ceiling. We believe that Africa’s future is incomplete without its women at the centre of it.
And we believe, most of all, that when women are given the right ecosystem — the right access, the right community, the right support , they do not just succeed. They transform everything around them.
“The world was made for good women and good men, equally. We are claiming our equal share of it. Fully. Without apology.”
If you have ever been told your ambition is too much, — the 360 Woman Africa Pan – Africa Community is for you
If you have ever wondered whether there is space for you at the table — We are building that table.
If you have ever carried a vision that felt too big for the room you were in — let us change the room.
“Come as you are. Rising is your surest bet."
Dr. Yvonne Chioma Ofodile
Our Journey & 10-Year Vision
WHERE WE HAVE BEEN.
360 Woman Africa was founded 10 years ago on a conviction that refuses to be quiet: that African women, given the right infrastructure of support, opportunity, and community, are among the most transformative forces on this continent.
From our earliest programmes to our annual conference, we have been building deliberately. We have convened women in rooms that mattered, brokered partnerships with institutions that move economies, and created platforms that have given emerging women leaders language, tools, and visibility they did not previously have access to.
We have done this while strengthening our own foundations: deepening our corporate governance structures, building institutional credibility, and developing the muscle that allows a foundation to grow without losing its integrity.
It has been a journey of faithful building. And it has only just begun.
Where We Are Going
In the next ten years, 360 Woman Africa Foundation is committed to becoming one of Africa’s most impactful and credible platforms for women’s advancement not just in Nigeria, but across the continent.
Our ambition is grounded, structured, and backed by the evidence of what is possible when women are given what they need to lead.
Our 10-Year Commitments
Impact 1,000,000 women across Africa
Through leadership development, enterprise support, mentorship, and access-to-opportunity platforms.
Expand our footprint across African countries
Building chapter presence, programme delivery, and community networks that serve women across diverse contexts and geographies.
Strengthen our corporate governance structures
Ensuring the Foundation is accountable, transparent, and built to endure as an institution that outlasts any single moment or individual.
Build Africa’s leading women-in-leadership pipeline
Directly equipping the next generation of women executives, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and community leaders.
Influence policy and systems-level change
By contributing to institutional frameworks, advocacy conversations, and ecosystem-level engagements that permanently expand access for women across Africa.
Support a new generation of women-led enterprises
With structured capacity building, enterprise skill development, mentorship, grant funding and access to networks that enable them to scale.
1,000,000,
Women to be impacted across Africa by 2036
Pan-African
Presence across 4 African countries by 2036
₦10,000,000,000
In grants disbursed by 2036 across Africa
OUR DECLARATION
“We are not building for this decade alone. We are building for the women who come after us, the ones who will inherit an Africa shaped by what we choose to do today.”
The work of 360 Woman Africa is the work of a generation. It will ask much of us. It already has.
But we have looked at what is possible, and we have decided that it is worth every single step.
One million women. One continent. One unshakeable conviction.