Simi Nwogugu
Simi Nwogugu is the executive director of Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN), which is the nation’s larges and fastest-growing nonprofit economic education organization that empowers young people for future success. Simi started her career as an investment banker with Goldman Sachs, and it was at Goldman that she was introduced to JA New York. After setting up and running JA Nigeria for three years, she left to pursue an MBA at Harvard Business School, after which she worked at MTV Networks in Business Development and Corporate Strategy for a few years before launching HOD Consulting, Inc., a New York-based leadership development firm that helps major corporations retain and advance high-performing women, particularly women of color.
Simi and her contribution to work-life management in the United States, youth empowerment in Nigeria and her own personal struggles to balance work, family and social responsibility, are the subject of a Harvard Business School case study titled, An Entrepreneur’s Journey: Simi Nwogugu. After a decade of entrepreneurship, Simi returned to her role as executive director of JAN in 2016, to help the organization expand its economic empowerment programs to reach one million young people across Nigeria. Junior Achievement Nigeria has reached over 995,000 in- and out-of-school youth in all 36 states and Federal Capital Territory, and some of its alumni are successful business leaders and social entrepreneurs who volunteer their time and resources to ensure JAN’s sustainability.
Simi was the Founding Administrator for the African Capital Alliance Foundation and still sits on its Advisory Council. She is also a member of the Global Advisory Committee for Teach For All.
