Kiki James

Interview by Visual Collaborative
September 2019 5 min read

Kiki James is the founder of  ACE Charity, a NGO with massive goals on education and training towards affordable healthcare and economic empowerment on the African continent. As a feature in our Supernova interview series, Kiki James talks to us about her foundation, work in the public sector, background and personal aspirations.

(VC) Outside all your accomplishments and continuous contributions in charity through your organization, who is Kiki James?

(Kiki) I am an ambivert. Easy going but fiercely passionate and intentional about life, with a huge sense of humour, a love for learning and cooking. I am also a mother, who is deeply in love with motherhood and grateful to have an extremely supportive husband on this adventure called life.

(VC) A perfect world does not exist, but if one does what core values would Kiki make a staple in the community?

(Kiki) Compassion, accountability and integrity. Compassion for each other as fellow human beings and fellow citizens, understanding that accountability is a prerequisite for leadership in government and any leadership role, and having integrity of position over self-interest is key. To bring this home to Nigeria where I am currently based, I would also make national identity a principal value within communities. I truly believe seeing ourselves as a whole and not in parts or us versus them will strengthen economic growth. When we begin to see ourselves as Nigerians first, before a member of a tribe or an ethnic group will we then be able to strive towards a common goal.

(VC) Given the rising despondency of political movements in Africa as a female founder for an NGO, are you more critical about your own foundation or more optimistic now given the trajectory of the continent’s leadership and its intra-trade?

(Kiki) Being critical about my foundation is a key ingredient for how I am able to objectively analyze the level of our impact as well as our growth. I always wear an optimistic lens and remain hopeful that political movements in Africa will favor our causes. I am a Malala Fund Gulmakia champion and I have benefitted from various capacity building opportunities in different parts of the world put together by different nationalities, delivering learning tools that promote best practices which strengthens our advocacy efforts. Through the Malala Fund we are advocating for the amendment of the Nigerian universal basic education act from 9 to 12 years of free safe and quality education.

(VC) At this stage of your life, If you could collaborate with any brand or public figure in business who would it be and why?

(Kiki) Brand- Hewlett Packard, Acer and Microsoft

Technology is one of the fastest ways we can reduce the rate of illiteracy in Nigeria and is a pathway to raising children who have skills required to thrive in the 21st century, which leads to a stronger and more employable workforce which will ultimately drive economic growth.

Melinda Gates is a power house and a woman I hope to work with some day. Her dedication to improve worldwide health and education has saved millions of lives through the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. Her support for women’s empowerment and representation is unparalleled and encouraging. One of my favourite quotes from Melinda Gates is, “Bill and I believe that education is an equalizer”, I deeply believe so too.

If we are to bridge the widening gap, we need to provide good quality computers in our LRC’s and such a partnership for a growing charity such as ACE Charity will afford us the right tools to do good and impact more African lives.

Public Figure- Melinda Gates

Melinda Gates is a power house and a woman I hope to work with some day. Her dedication to improve worldwide health and education has saved millions of lives through the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. Her support for women’s empowerment and representation is unparalleled and encouraging. One of my favourite quotes from Melinda Gates is, “Bill and I believe that education is an equalizer”, I deeply believe so too.

Meeting and working with her will enable us support more women in technology through our ACE Charity Girls Who Code programme thereby giving girls/women the power to take over their lives and lead in this field. Also, partnering with her will give us the opportunity to scale-up our LRC’s across Africa.

Public Figure- Chimamanda is one of the best and most prominent writers of this generation. I admire her for her utter genius in the way she navigates and dissects various subjects through her writing on social issues, love and life. She is an inspiration and to have her visit our ACE Charity libraries turned learning resource center will inspire more African children to read and possibly succeed.

(VC) Some mention the Renaissance as a period they admire. If you can time- warp back to any era, what time would it be and why?

(Kiki) The 90’s was an era of clean fun and great music. Tracy Chapman, Whitney Houston, Lauren Hill, Toni Braxton, Celine Dion and Destiny’s Child immediately come to mind. The miseducation of Lauren Hill was an anthem for me. You also cannot speak of the 90’s without mentioning Nelson Mandela and the peaceful dissolution of apartheid.

(VC) What kind of work can the world expect from Kiki James within the next 5 years?

(Kiki) – In 2010, my main goal when I came up with the idea of setting-up learning resource centers in primary schools was to improve basic literacy, numeracy and ICT as well as teaching methods in Africa, starting with Nigeria. In primary school is where and when we develop cognitive, social, physical, emotional and cultural skills and huge investments should be made in primary education.

The objective has always been to set-up 774 LRC’s in Nigeria and with the right partnership we are hoping to set-up 100 learning resource centers within the next 5 years which will benefit almost 50,000 children.