About HELP

A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE, Building LIVES

Founded in 2017, HELP Initiative is a social enterprise dedicated to improving the well-being and wellness of vulnerable women and orphans, focusing on economic empowerment, scholarships and psycho-therapy support. HELP Initiative is a registered not-for-profit company limited by guarantee in Nigeria. The founder and Board of Trustees members are philanthropists and serving professionals who have worked in a variety of national, regional and international health development, technology and management settings, with unique insights into needs and solutions that are likely to work.

PASSIONATE Leaders

At the apex of the structure is the Board of Trustees made up of five (5) members including the Chief Executing Officer, Ibidun Adeniyi. The Board is responsible for strategic leadership and formulation of policies that ensure good governance and running of the organization. There is also a 3-person Advisory Board made up of experts with very rich international experience. The Executing Director is next on the organogram and has responsibilities for country-level leadership and operations. She leads a Technical team made up of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) certified experts and subject matter specialists, who are responsible for different portfolios.

Ibidun Adeniyi FInstLM, Certified CB Therapist

Chief Executing Officer

With a Master degree in International Law and Diplomacy (UNILAG) and a Diploma in Conflict Resolution from the University of Uppsala, Sweden, Ms. Adeniyi has been active in development work since 1997 focusing on program design, management, coching and institutional capacity building. She has the ability to lead and bring about strategic change. Ibidunni Adeniyi has been a coach and a mentor for over twenty years and is a certified Cognitive Behavioral Practitioner with a Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. She is also a fellow of the Institute of Leadership, Gummersbach, Germany and the Institute of Leadership and Management in the UK. Her special passion is to see a society filled with empowered and purposeful women and young people with reduced emotional distress.

Dr. Ifeanyi M. Nsofor MBBS; MCommH (Liverpool)

Board Member

Ifeanyi is a 2019 Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity at George Washington University. He was a 2018 New Voices Fellow at the Aspen Institute. He is the Director of Policy and Advocacy at Nigeria Health Watch and CEO of EpiAFRIC. Ifeanyi is a strong advocate for Universal Health Coverage, social justice advocate, public health physician, health communication expert, researcher and epidemiologist. Ifeanyi is a 1998 graduate of Medicine and Surgery from the Nnamdi Azikiwe University School of Medicine. He was a 2006 Ford Foundation International Fellow at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and obtained a Masters in Community Health degree. He is an alumnus of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government Executive Education on Strategic Frameworks for Non-profit Organizations.

Dr. Oluwasimbo Okubule MB.Ch.B; Dip.Min; MNIM

Board Member

She holds an MB.Ch.B degree from Ogun State University (1990) and possesses a Certificate in Health Economics (World Bank Institute). She attended the London School of Business & Finance (2014) and completed the Management Development Program (International Business & New Ventures, Marketing Planning, Leadership & Management Techniques, Business Strategy). She is also a Member of the Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered), she is also registered as a Medical Practitioner with the Medical & Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN). Dr Okubule has 28 years post-qualification experience, 21 years of which were in the Managed Care Industry. Until her voluntary retirement in March 2017, she was the Deputy General Manager, Northern Operations overseeing all operations in the Northern Division.

Omo Ohiokpehai (PhD)

Board Member

With about 40 years in the academic, development, international and domestic agro-processing and nutrition fields, promoting nutrition, food security and prevention of HIV issues at grass root level, Omo’s work focuses on nutritious foods for all ages and health education, food quality, food safety and hygiene, and food processing training. She has served as a Trainee Research Officer to Principal Scientist at the Cereal Research institute, Moorplanation, Ibadan, Nigeria; Lecturer at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ile-Ife, Nigeria, Furthermore, she was the Research Coordinator for North Brewery PLC, Kano, Nigeria, where She was charged with fast tracking the changeover of the processing from alcoholic drinks to non-alcoholics to improve nutrition.

Victor Adeniyi

Board Member

Victor is a solicitor practising in a niche firm in Edgware North London. His areas of practice are property, family law, crime and Employment law. He attended Middlesex University and the BPP Law School in the United Kingdom and graduated in 2005 Prior to his legal career, he worked in the downstream oil sector in Nigeria for fifteen years. Victor is a Philanthropist who is married to a supportive wife and a father to two young children. His passion is travelling and working with the vulnerable. He has worked with adults with mental health issues and acted as an advocate for the mentally ill on Mental Health Tribunals. His other passion is Tennis and his desire is that world poverty is eradicated and this can be done by the 10% controlling 90% of the world’s resources.

ADVISORY BOARD

Hajiya Maimuna Yakubu

Advisory Board Member

Hajiya Maimuna is a Pharmacist and the Founder, Executive Director of Society For Women Development And Empowerment Of Nigeria (SWODEN). She is a Master trainer with Communication, Resource Mobilization, Grassroots mobilization and community development and fundraising skills. She is a Fellow Institute for Social Studies (ISS) of the Hague Netherlands. Her interests include; Community Development, philanthropic activities, cooking and organizing. Her goal is to bring health information and services close to the grassroots through access to qualitative health care and economic empowerment.

John Minto

Advisory Board Member

John is a Senior Director with over 30 years of experience designing and managing development and humanitarian projects in Afghanistan, Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Somaliland and South Africa. Recognised, in 2015, by the Institute of Human Virology with an award “for significant contributions to the study of mental health (depression, alcohol use and suicidality) among HIV positive patients in Nigeria”. Co-author of the ground breaking peer reviewed study of the prevalence of common mental disorders in a large sample of people living with HIV-AIDS in Nigeria which can be accessed here. John advises major agencies on ways to include mental health in development and humanitarian initiatives.