I’m a British-born, US-based social and political writer, commentator, TV and radio broadcaster, strategic communications/media/branding consultant and businesswoman.

My writing on topical UK, US and African social and political issues has been published in a number of international publications including Forbes Africa, The Guardian, The Economist, The Huffington Post, CNN.com, Ebony Jet, AOL Black Voices, The Root, ARISE magazine and NBC’s TheGrio.com. My focus is on modern Western and African society and politics, the media, race and diversity, generational, cultural and societal shifts, and emerging/future trends.

My television and radio work includes regular appearances on CNN, AOL TV, the BBC, BET, MSNBC, Oprah Radio, Colourful Radio, Joy Behar Show, Rev Al Sharpton, and the UK’s Channel 4.

Editorial positions have included Deputy Editor at award-winning TheGrio.com and a Contributing Editor at AOL Black Voices (online). Most of my professional media work has been in the online/digital world. I have also hosted panels and interviews for major institutions and organizations including The World Bank and The US-Africa Business Summit, as well as speaking at universities such as Princeton.

A few sites have been kind enough to write some nice things about me too.

Prior to working in the media, I worked primarily in the music industry. I was a music scholar at secondary school where I played the saxophone, recorder, piano and sang. I’m proud to say that the gospel choir which I founded in 1998 at my secondary school is still running to this day. I still sing, write songs and make music.

Working my way up from being an intern during summer holidays in A&R and Promotions at various record labels such as Richard Branson’s V2, I then went into TV + Radio Promotions at Atlantic Records, onto coordinating international branded tours at Ministry of Sound for clients including Bacardi and Barclaycard. I then went on to become a project manager on global branded events at a time when the link between brands and artists were becoming more prevalent. Needless to say, I enjoy branding, marketing and promotions.

My biggest global branded project was Nokia New Years Eve, 5 simultaneous concerts which took place in New York City, Rio de Janeiro, Mumbai, Berlin and Hong Kong on New Year’s Eve 2006/2007. I was responsible for managing a global team of approximately 100 people (with a larger reach of about 2500), dealt with 14 agencies, across 5 continents. Artists included: The Black Eyed Peas, Scissor Sisters, Nelly Furtado, John Legend and many more. Results: Live audience: over 3 million attendees. TV audience: third of a billion people. Online: five million live viewers. PR reach: 115 million people. Nokia New Year’s Eve was awarded  a gold award for ‘best public event’ at the Event Magazine 2007 awards.

I’ve always had an entrepreneurial streak in me. In 2004, while working in music, I started and ran my own successful industry-focused website called Verse Online. (This was well before making websites was the hot thing to do!). I’ve self-published a motivational book and I was always creating opportunities and little ventures in my youth. Leadership has also always been in my veins from a young age too – I was Head Girl at both primary and secondary schools and was actively involved in European Youth Parliament and the debating society.

I hold a BA and MA in Social and Political Science from Robinson College, Cambridge University. While at Cambridge, I was politically active, holding the (elected) position of Anti-Racism Officer on Cambridge University’s Student Union for 2 years and Ethnic Minorities Officer for 2 years at my college. I was part of the team that created an inaugural book called The Little Black Book which aimed to support minority students in navigating life in and around Cambridge. After graduating, I was one of 6 black students who featured in a groundbreaking BBC documentary “Black Ambition” which documented our lives at Cambridge.

I am a self-confessed geek, and love reading and learning. I believe strongly in quality education that produces well-rounded and multi-dimensional human beings with the ability to question myths and commonly held assumptions, and contribute meaningfully and positively to the world.

My family is made up of trailblazers, including my grandfather who was one of the forefathers of journalism and PR in Nigeria, and my great grandmother who was a politician, activist and founder of a school.

I love travelling and have been fortunate to visit a number of places. I have lived in South Africa, London (where I was born and raised), Boston and New York. I sit on a few non-profit boards, am a part of the Nigeria Leadership Initiative and am working on my first non-fiction book.