Nwando Ajene – CEO, Roots2Market

Nwando Ajene has over 20 years of corporate and consulting experience in leading marketing, communications, strategy, projects and partnerships in the NGO/non-profit, CPG and finance space.

At Roots2Market, they are passionate about bringing cutting edge ideas and insights that drive effective communication, engagement, scaling and social impact within the social sector in Africa.

As a marketing communications executive with board-level leadership experience, she has shared her expertise with both internal teams and high-profile clients and have a consistent track record of delivering high-impact results.

She has significant experience facilitating strategies, programs, partnerships and campaigns for social initiatives focused on achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. At Catalyst 2030 (SDG-focused NGO spanning 199 countries), she manages the ecosystem of 1.4K+ social enterprises, the donor network and ally communities in six regions across the world, creating collaborative campaigns to advance their agendas.

At Nestle Nigeria, she managed category and marketing for the culinary category, working cross-functionally to deliver marketing and brand performance, significantly growing volume and overall category market share, successfully launching three new product lines.

Nwando has provided pragmatic thought leadership, training and capacity building to young entrepreneurs and marketers, serving as a mentor in multiple youth programs and acting as an accountability partner with direct reports. Through strong communication and engagement, she has retained top talent in high turnover environments.

Ajene is passionate about advancing corporate responsibility and the UN SDGs, specifically across the areas of nutrition, youth and women empowerment, and delivering sustainable and efficient solutions to societal challenges through a collective action approach.

Her favorite achievements are those that have positive effects on personal lives. For example, working at Nestle, the highlight of her experience was designing an influencer program which empowered 50 women to be ambassadors for the MAGGI brand across Northern Nigeria. The program provided these women with business capabilities and digital exposure. In turn, these women lead small virtual communities, comprising 100% women, for the brand, focused on business, nutrition, and home building skills.

Nwando Ajene has a graduate degree in Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) from the University of Chicago, and a B.Sc from DePaul University, Chicago. She is an Africa Leadership Initiative West Africa (ALIWA) fellow. Currently, she serves as a Vice-President at the Advertising Association of Nigeria (ADVAN), and is a fellow at the Nigerian Marketing Institution.

In service to her community, Nwando founded the ‘Career Talks Nigeria’ platform to engage teenagers on career aspirations by matching their collective interests to successful young talent in similar careers. She serves as a Board Member at the Lagos Food Bank Nigeria, a leading non-profit organization committed to fighting hunger and malnutrition through targeted programs that seeks to improve availability of food intake in underserved communities.