Aisha USMAN, a native of Gombe State, Nigeria. Born on 31st October 1964, graduated from the University of Maiduguri – Nigeria in 1986, She holds a Bachelor degree of Arts in Education, among other Certificates including a
Master’s Degree in Public Administration, and working as a Civil Servant in the Federal Government Service of Nigeria in Various Administrative and Professional capacities. She has worked with a regional project called ECOSAP based in Bamako- Mali, from 2006 to 2012. Currently she is working in ECOWAS professional cadre as an Ag Principal
Program Officer Education and Training.
Founder and CEO, Center for Liberated Leadership, Professor & Former Vice President for
Academic Affairs
Dr. Chinyere Oparah is the Founder and CEO of the Center for Liberated Leadership, a global
platform supporting equity-rooted leaders through executive coaching, leadership circles, and
workshops. A seasoned higher education leader, she brings over two decades of experience as a
professor, department chair, and provost, and currently serves as a tenured faculty member
teaching sociology and leadership studies at the University of San Francisco.
Dr. Oparah’s scholarship and practice center on racial and gender justice, transformative
leadership, and liberatory organizational change. She has worked in partnership with women
leaders across Africa, including capacity-building initiatives in Tanzania and ongoing
collaboration with HERS-East Africa to develop and support women's leadership pipelines.
A certified executive and trauma-informed coach, Dr. Oparah guides leaders in cultivating
courageous presence, collective care, and visionary strategy—even in times of institutional or
political disruption. Her work bridges the academy and community, activism and
strategy—grounded in a deep belief in the power of women’s leadership to transform our
institutions and societies.
Gennet has taught at Addis Ababa University from September 1973 to October.1991 as lecturer,
and an assistant professor teaching business education subjects such as Introduction to Business;
Testing and Evaluation, Teaching Methodology. She conducted research on girls’ education and prepared a teaching material. In addition, she served as Department Head of Business Education for three years.
Further, she served as an external examiner of business education subjects at Kenyatta University in Kenya, 1990-1993
She was appointed as Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Higher Education in October 1991.
After a while, she was promoted to a Cabinet Minister of Education in charge of primary,
secondary and higher education from August 1992 to October 2005.
As a minister she facilitated the formulation of a new education policy that focuses on primary
tenets of access, equity (across gender, economic status and between rural and urban settings)
quality as well as democratization and decentralization of the system. It, in particular,
promoted inclusiveness and affirmative action for women and disadvantage groups of students.
She also managed the implementation of different projects of education funded by the World Bank,
African Development Bank, UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, USAID, EU, SIDA, JICA, DFID, and others.
Further, she represented East Africa as a member of UNESCO Executive Board twice. The first was
from 1993 to 1997, and the second, 1998-2000. As a member of the executive committee of
UNSECO, she campaigned for a setup of UNESCO's Capacity Building Institute for Africa (ECBA)
which is now placed in Addis Ababa. I was also served as a board member of the ECBA from
1999 to 2005.
In addition, she was a chairperson and member of Forum for African Women Educationalists
(FAWE) and founder of its Ethiopian chapter. FAWE is an organization which brings together
African women policy makers in order to stimulate policy reform and create conducive
environment for girls/women education in Africa.