8th March is International Women’s Day, and it is a perfect moment to highlight one of our incredible trustees, Chinonye Nzewi, who joined our board of trustees as our Treasurer in 2023.
Chinonye is a Chartered Accountant with extensive experience in liquidity management, capital markets, and investor relations gained over 20 years across various sectors including: public service, financial services, telecommunications, and fast-moving consumer goods.
“Last year, I made a decision to give back to the community,” said Chinonye. “I came upon a LinkedIn advert for a trustee position at MyVision, and it drew me in. I had family members who had challenges with their eyesight, so I decided to apply and give back with the skills that I have.”
Chinonye said she was really drawn in by the services offered at MyVision, especially the Get Connected project. “I thought it added a lot of value to the community,” she said.
“I don’t have a lot of experience with visually impaired people,” said Chinonye. “It’s an opportunity to learn and to know more and it’s wonderful to be part of a diverse Board of Trustees including people that are visually impaired who have experience of living with or supporting people with visually impairment. It has been a great experience so far.”
“We have a board of trustees that is quite diverse; It’s wonderful that MyVision brought in two other trustees along with me and I love that there’s a good number of women who are part of the group. I’ve learned a lot from everyone on the Board.”
“I also really love the commitment and the passion from the staff. Having a great set of people with passion working in the charity is just wonderful.”
The previous company that Chinonye worked for was in the manufacturing industry which was male dominated. She was the Chairperson of the Women’s Network, and the objective was to advocate for and promote diversity within the company given that most women’s careers stopped at middle management. Chinonye said, “we wanted to mentor women and develop them to ensure that they could move up to the executive level.”
“We worked with quite a number of partner organisations to promote diversity in the organisation and in the country. That was a great experience and showed the value women bring to organisations.”
“In the beginning I was quite nervous, but this project was the most satisfying thing I’ve ever done. It’s something that I want to continue with. I want to empower women and encourage young girls and women to fulfil their roles in society.”
