Grace Ihejiamaizu-Paul

Brief Bio:

Grace Ihejiamaizu-Paul is an award-winning social entrepreneur, educator and opportunity curator with 11 years of experience in facilitating access to quality education and opportunities for youth. She is the founder of iKapture Centre for Development, a youth-led organization with a mission to educate, engage and empower the next generation of leaders and entrepreneurs through capacity-building and digital skills programs. She is also the founder of OpportunityDesk.org, the largest online platform curating relevant global opportunities for people across the world. Her experiences running Opportunity Desk since 2012 is a major inspiration for writing her best-selling book, Go Global with Opportunities.

Committed to shaping a world where young people have unlimited/equal access to quality education and opportunities, Grace volunteers her time to mentor young people, particularly women, and serves on the board of several youth-focused organizations. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Social Work at the Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada.

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Grace's passion and dedication to youth development have earned her numerous accolades, including being named one of Google's 12 brightest Young Minds in 2011, a Global Changemaker in 2012, and an Honoree for the 2013 Future Awards Africa Young Person of the Year Prize. In 2016, she became a Mandela Washington Fellow and was recognized as one of 50 Youth Leaders to watch during the CrossRiver@50 celebration. She received the President's Award for Selfless and Outstanding Service as Vice President of the Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni Association of Nigeria (MWFAAN) in 2017, was named one of the 100 Most Influential Young Nigerians by Avance Media in 2018 and 2019, received the 2020 Cross River Spirit of Enterprise Award, and was included on Donors for Africa's list of 100 African Women in Development in 2020.

She currently serves as a Technovation Regional Ambassador and Faculty Advisor for Enactus UNICAL. Grace has spoken and facilitated sessions at numerous national and international conferences, including the GCM Global Youth Summit, World Economic Forum, UNESCO Youth Forum, and OpenCon.