Ifeoma Chukwuma is a highly skilled and experienced development consultant with a PhD in Business Management and Administration, alongside a degree in Sociology and Anthropology. With over 24 years of experience in international development, she has built a strong track record of success in areas such as project management, organisational development, and gender and social inclusion. She has extensive expertise in managing large, complex projects in developing countries, particularly those funded by donors like FCDO, the European Union Delegation, and USAID. Ifeoma’s ability to analyse socio-political contexts and navigate complex, volatile environments is one of her key strengths.

Ifeoma is highly proficient in using data-driven insights to support decision-making and thought leadership. She possesses excellent interpersonal and problem-solving abilities, as well as effective planning, time management, and execution skills. Her career includes notable achievements in facilitating training, organisational capacity strengthening, and advancing gender and social inclusiveness, particularly in policies affecting marginalised groups.

Her knowledge of governance reforms extends across multiple sectors, with a particular focus on civil society organisation (CSO) governance, civil society self-regulatory frameworks, and national and subnational regulatory standards. Ifeoma works closely with programme leads, providing technical and managerial oversight for projects, including the development and implementation of work plans, reports, and client deliverables. She manages technical interventions in core states, ensuring the recruitment of consultants and the timely completion of work.

Ifeoma ensures adherence to programming guidelines and strategic approaches, promoting critical and strategic thinking, political analysis, conflict sensitivity, gender equality, and social inclusion. She collaborates with team leads and managers to meet contractual obligations and coordinates all grant-related activities, including monitoring and evaluation, as well as grant award processes.

In addition to her technical expertise, Ifeoma is a skilled team leader capable of managing dispersed teams of professionals across multiple locations. She is highly effective at promoting collaboration, communication, and synergy within teams, leading to successful project outcomes. Her strong leadership abilities have been demonstrated in her supervision of State Team Leads, Technical Advisors, and Short-Term Technical Assistants, ensuring harmonisation of interventions and incorporating lessons learned into future activities. Her collaboration with finance, administration, and monitoring and evaluation teams ensures continuous process improvement.

Ifeoma’s work consistently delivers tangible results across various areas, including policy influencing, resource mobilisation, partnership development, CSO governance, and effective project monitoring and evaluation. Her professional accomplishments highlight her strategic thinking, deep understanding of development issues, and commitment to promoting sustainable and inclusive practices, particularly within the civil society sector.

One of her key achievements is her role in supporting a state government to develop an Inclusive Education Policy, which ensures access to quality education for children with disabilities. Through her leadership, the policy-making process engaged diverse stakeholders, laying the foundation for sustainable and inclusive education practices.

Additionally, Ifeoma has been instrumental in promoting citizen participation in governance. She has successfully led initiatives that create space for citizens, civil society, and marginalised groups to engage in budget processes and open government policies. These efforts have enhanced transparency, accountability, and equity in resource allocation, and improved governance outcomes at both state and national levels.

As a people manager, Ifeoma has consistently demonstrated strong leadership, guiding diverse teams to deliver high-impact results. Her advocacy and policy engagement skills enable her to collaborate effectively with stakeholders at national and subnational levels, driving key reforms and enhancing CSO capacity to engage in governance and policy discussions.

In 2023, Ifeoma provided strategic direction to over 200 CSOs in the European Union-funded Agents for Citizen-Driven Transformation (ACT) programme, supporting capacity development in resource mobilisation, organisational strengthening, and policy engagement. Between 2016 and 2021, while working with FCDO’s Partnership to Engage Reform and Learn (PERL), she contributed significantly to multi-sectoral policy engagement, particularly around legislative reforms and constituency outreach. Her efforts were instrumental in harmonising legislative practices across south east state assemblies and strengthening collaboration with the South East Chambers of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture (SECCIMA).

Ifeoma’s in-depth knowledge of CSO governance and self-regulatory frameworks, alongside her understanding of national and subnational regulatory frameworks, has been crucial in helping organisations adopt best practices and navigate compliance challenges. She is also a strong advocate for gender and social inclusion, with a focus on integrating the needs of persons with disabilities into governance and development initiatives. Her policy reform work ensures that marginalised voices are heard in governance processes.