About Us
The Guiding light Women Empowerment Society came together as an initiative to address the needs and challenges of the women of our communities, with the aim of providing support, empowerment, leadership and training to equip women in need with the tools necessary to take ownership of their lives. The society has been in operations for about 3 years but was incorporated in 2020.
Our GOAL is empowering the women, youths and children in our communities and Canada at large
Our FOCUS is to promote the mental health and general wellbeing of women and families. Womens’ empowerment, as an approach to address gender inequality, is ever relevant to societal development. We work together with women in the community to develop supports that enable them to thrive, and remove the limitations to their ability to access resources.
Our Mission
The GLWE society is committed to impacting the lives of women disadvantaged by social, cultural, racial and economic circumstances, by empowering women to enhance and develop their quality of life and taking ownership of their future by offering opportunities for educational, mental, spiritual and economic transformation. This Initiative is committed to empowering women, thereby strengthening families and transforming our communities.
Our Vision
To be the support system in our communities, for women, youth and children in need.
What We Do
Women face all manners of issues ranging from starvation, patriarchy to sexism and bias. When you add other factors, like migration, abuse, racial inequalities, the issues become compounded. The challenges that affect the future dignity of women are evident in the various ethno-cultural communities.
We support women who are:
- Single mothers
- Fleeing abuse and domestic violence
- New immigrants
- Marginalized youths
We focus on building connections that lead to transformative potential, and stimulate new thinking to uncover ways we can better women in the community.
Our team
Adaobi Okeke
President
Adaobi Okeke is a senior management executive with years of operational and leadership experience. She received a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics & Computer Science at the University of Port Harcourt and went on to complete a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management from the same university.
She also received a master’s degree in Communications Management from the Buckinghamshire New University, United Kingdom.
Adaobi has worked with ethno-cultural communities to support integration of immigrants as fully participating members of the community. Having spent nearly 10 years in the non-profit sector, she has experience in advocacy, policy and program development, leading various initiatives funded by Federal, Provincial, and Municipal governments. She has strengths in communicating corporate vision, and creating a culture and work ethic that maximizes efficiency and team performance. She has led and planned infrastructure and program deployments, developed business operations strategy, supervised teams, cultivated and managed partnerships. She has expertise is in community development, community outreach and engagement.
Adaobi looks for opportunity to participate and volunteer in the community. She serves on several community boards – the Nigerian Canadian Association of Edmonton (NCAE), The Igbo Community Association of Edmonton (ICAE) – and is a member of the City of Edmonton’s Anti-racism Advisory Committee – ARAC. She balances her professional life with personal interests like cooking and gardening.
Deborah Emesiobi
Director
Deborah Emesiobi is a certified Supply Chain Management Professional (SCMP). She has a bachelor’s degree in transportation management from Federal university of Technology Owerri, a Master’s degree in Transportation and Environmental Management from the university of Wolverhampton, England.
Deborah has a flair for multi-tasking and fostering positive relations with stakeholders. Her background and work experience in supply chain management has afforded her good opportunities for networking, relationship building, budget management and supervising teams. She has extensive experience managing and working with different NGO initiatives to support the community.
Deborah volunteers in the community to support vulnerable people.
Ewan Okolie
- Director
Ewan Okolie obtained a degree in International Studies and Diplomacy from Ambrose Ali University. She immigrated to Canada in 2006 and did a certificate program in Early Childhood Care at York Day College Toronto. She went on to obtain a diploma in Psychology and Social Work from Stratford Institute, Montreal.
Afterwards, she moved to Edmonton where she worked as Childcare worker for over 8 years.
While working as a childcare worker, Ewan saw the increase in child abuse and neglect in the community that resulted in many children being apprehended from their families. Her passion for families and children drove her to study Social Work at NorQuest College. This enables her work directly with families in need, and to support them to break barriers of marginalization. Ewan is currently studying Human Services major at Athabasca university.
Ewan supports the team at Bentarrow Healing Society as a Family Wellness Worker, helping to reunite children back to their families, in collaboration with Children services. She volunteers in the prayer department, women ministry and children ministry at the Citadel International Ministry. Ewan Okolie is a wife and a mother to three amazing children.
Nina King
Marketing and Strategy Director
After graduating from the University of Alberta with a Master’s Degree in Land Reclamation and Remediation, Nina spent 7 years as an employee for two big financial institutions and a waste management company. She worked closely with clients offering financial advice and proper environmental waste disposal options.
This experience made her client oriented and customer centric. Nina understands personas and personalities. She has experience targeting online campaigns to the right audience and in social media engagement.
Nina has training in utilizing social media in building up clientele. She discovered a latent passion for digital marketing and after 7 years as an employee, she took a leap of faith, left her comfortable job to start her Digital Marketing and Networking company. She became a Marketing Director and Co-owner of Kinic Solutions Inc.
Nina is a strong believer in education and personal development. She is a mother of 3 and balances her work life with hobbies that include singing, playing board games and photography.