The President of the United States, Joe Biden, has appointed Osagie Imasogie and Chineye Ogwumike, both of Nigerian descent, to the 12-member advisory council on African Diaspora Engagement in the US.
The State House made this announcement in a statement released on Wednesday.
The council includes Silvester Scott Beaman as its chair, along with members Mimi E. Alemayehou, Rosalind Brewer, Viola Davis, Helene D. Gayle, Patrick Hubert Gaspard, C.D. Glin, Osagie Imasogie, Almaz Negash, Chinenye Joy Ogwumike, Ham K. Serunjogi, and Kevin Young.
NIDCOM chairman congratulates Imasogie and Ogwumike
Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/CEO of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), extended her congratulations to Imasogie and Ogwumike.
In a statement released by NIDCOM’s Head of Media and Public Relations, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, she expressed her delight at their appointments and saw it as a source of motivation for other Nigerians and Africans in general.
Chinenye Ogwumike, a two-time WNBA All-Star for the Los Angeles Sparks, is a full-time multi-platform ESPN commentator and NBA analyst.
Her unique position as a professional athlete and national sports media broadcaster makes her one of the only individuals to hold both roles simultaneously.
A 2014 WNBA Rookie of the Year and a two-time WNBA All-Star (2014, 2018), she proudly holds Nigerian-American heritage and earned an International Relations degree from Stanford University under the mentorship of Dr. Condoleezza Rice.
In August 2020, she made history as the first Black woman to host a national daily sports-talk radio show.
She is an Executive Producer responsible for an ESPN Films documentary titled “144,” which chronicles the 2020 WNBA season and was honored in the 2021 Forbes 30 under 30 list.
On the other hand, Osagie Imasogie serves as the Chairman of the Investment Bank and SEC/FINRA registered Broker-Dealer, Quoin Capital and Quoin Advisors.
He is also a co-founder of PIPV Capital, a private equity firm focused on the life sciences sector, with investments exceeding $1 billion.
Imasogie’s extensive career includes roles as a founding Vice President of GlaxoSmithKline Ventures, senior positions in pharmaceutical companies such as GSK, SmithKline Beecham, and DuPont Merck, and a partnership at Price Waterhouse Corporate Finance.
He is also a practicing attorney, formerly with Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis, a leading U.S. law firm.
Imasogie serves on several financial institutions’ boards, including FS-KKR Capital Corp and Haverford Trust, which collectively manage over $28 billion.
He acts as an advisor to Brown Advisory, an organization overseeing more than $140 billion in assets.
Imasogie holds the role of Vice-Chair of the Executive Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and is a member of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Nominating & Governance Committee of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center.