Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 11 June 1998 Lagos, Nigeria |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2014-present |
| Known for | founding Kippa |
| Awards | |
Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph (born 11 June 1998) is a Nigerian-born entrepreneur and philosopher. He is the co-founder and current chief executive officer of Kippa.
In November 2023, Ekezie was listed on the 2024 Forbes 30 under 30 list (North America) in the Finance category. [1]
Ekezie, originally from Ehime Mbano in Imo State, was born in Lagos where he lived for 8 years with his family before his parents relocated to Calabar after they secured jobs there. [2] In 2017, Ekezie graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with honours in Philosophy from the University of Calabar and subsequently won a Yenching Scholarship in 2018 to study for a master's degree in Economics and Management at Peking University. [3] He also holds a diploma in Leading Change from the University of Cambridge. [4]
In 2014 at aged 16 while studying, Ekezie founded Calabar Youths Council For Women's Rights; an organization he founded to promote women's rights after he discovered that more than 8,000 women are victims of female genital mutilation in Nigeria. [5]
In 2021, he co-founded Kippa. [6] Prior to that, he also worked at ByteDance while on a Yenching Scholarship at Peking University in China. [2] Ekezie has been credited as part of the team that led TikTok into Africa. [7]
In 2017, Ekezie was selected as one of the 30 Global Teen Leaders by the We Are Family Foundation and received President Obama’s Young African Leaders Fellowship. [8] [9] In 2018, Ekezie was awarded the Queen's Young Leader Award by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. [10] He also won the Yenching Scholarship in the same year. For his work as a technology entrepreneur, he was awarded The Future Award Prize for Technology in 2022, [11] [12] and was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list (North America) in 2023. [13]
Peking University (PKU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of the Double First-Class Construction and the C9 League. It was a part of the now-defunct Project 211 and Project 985.
The University of Calabar is a federal university situated in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. It is one of Nigeria's second-generation federal universities. The University of Calabar was a campus of the University of Nigeria until 1975. The present Vice Chancellor is Dr. Florence B. Obi (Professor). The post of the DVC (Academic) is held by Dr. Angela Oyo Ita (Professor), while Dr. Grace Eno Nta (Professor) is the current DVC (Administration).
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The Yenching Academy is a postgraduate college of Peking University, located in Beijing, China. It hosts the Yenching Scholarship, a fully funded prestigious global scholarship program, designed "to cultivate leaders who will advocate for global progress and cultural understanding." The academy offers Yenching Scholars, selected annually from around the world, with full scholarships for one or two years of study leading to a master's degree from Peking University.
The Yenching Scholarship is a selective interdisciplinary graduate program at the Yenching Academy of Peking University (PKU) in Beijing, China.
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John Gaul Lebo ,born March 15, 1972, is a lawyer and legislator in Cross River State. He was a former two-term member and Speaker of the House of Assembly representing Abi State Constituency. He is married to Barr Binta Gaul Lebo, with whom he has three children.
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