Ukinebo oversees the Edojobs initiative and the Edo State Skills Development Agency. Coordinating efforts and implementing programs to fulfill the promise of His Excellency, Godwin Obaseki, Executive Governor of Edo State to create 200,000 jobs in 4 years.
With her team, Uki implements innovative projects to create the demand for, and provide the supply of highly skilled talent in Edo State. Over 150,000 youth have benefitted from the State Governments job creation initiatives.
She has overseen the setup and running of Edo Innovates (an innovation cluster that is upskilling youth, leveraging on technology to create jobs and incubate businesses, with over 28,000 persons benefitted so far), Edo Food and Agricultural Cluster (with a target to impact 8,000 farmers in rural communities each year with improved access to the market, equipment, aggregation services and so on), Edo Production Centres (which provides power supply, shared factory facilities, and improves skills for artisans and small scale manufacturers in the state) and other job placement and TVET programs.
Through the Edo State Government’s Skills Development Agency, Ukinebo brings her experience of tackling unemployment from a social enterprise and civil society into governance. Her exploits in tackling the menace of unemployment in Edo State as the SSA to the Governor on Skills Development and Jobs saw her appointed as the Managing Director of the Edo State Skills Development Agency as soon as it was established by law.
In 2015, she won the Ford Foundation Prize for Youth Employment at the Future Awards Africa (2015) and she is credited for the execution of employability interventions projects in partnership with organisations such as Oxfam International, SOS Kinderdorpen, Google Nigeria, Microsoft Nigeria, Butterfly Works Netherlands, and so on.
She started her career in the Information Technology department of Oando Plc, Nigeria.
Her passion for people development then led her to set up PGFA in 2010 which achieved an 87% employment rate of its graduates and earned endorsements from the Nigerian National Universities Commission and multiple reputable employers.
She also served as Programme Director of EkoBits which is part of a group of ICT and Digital Design Academies across Africa.
In 2019, she was selected as an honouree by MIPAD100, recognising her along with other global leaders as one of the Most Influential People of African Descent under 40.
She was previously selected by the United States, Department of State as a 2017 Mandela Washington Fellow for her work and has received many awards including the 2017 JCI Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award for Personal Achievement among others.
She has attended Benson Idahosa University, Nigeria, the University of Bradford, UK, and Clark Atlanta University, USA.
