Meet Ejiroghene Mary Ukiri | Founder/Director of EMU International Scholarship Fund

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ejiroghene Mary Ukiri and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ejiroghene Mary, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I started this non-profit because there is a very big need for it. In the year 2021, I took a vacation to Nigeria in order to visit my parents and loved ones. During my stay, I witnessed not only the extreme excesses and shortcomings of the Nigerian government but also the massive negative effect it was having on the livelihood of Nigerians. This deeply inspired me to use my voice to speak on behalf of people that might not have the means to. As a result of this, I wrote my first article outside of the United States, titled “We Are Bound to Never Forget.” This article proved to be my best work as it got multi-published in the nation’s most popular platforms such as ‘The Premium Times,’ ‘Vanguard’ and ‘Head Topics.” In an expected attempt to follow the steps of leading platforms in the nation, smaller online platforms like ‘The Daily Asset,’ ‘Latest Nigerian News,’ ‘Newstral,” and many others, also published the article, thereby, making it available to a great amount of Nigerian readers around the nation. This outcome made me come to terms with the importance of what I need to do as a writer and a change-maker. After my return to the United States, I was certain that I wanted to do everything I possibly can to use my voice to help those that cannot do so for themselves. As a result, I founded a non-profit organization/ scholarship fund named the “Ejiro M Ukiri International Scholarship Fund.” The mission of the organization is to inspire graduating Senior Secondary School students (equivalent to high school students) to embark on their journey towards acquiring a University/ College education in Nigeria. We intend to do this by aiding their dreams and aspirations financially so as to relieve a substantial part of the burden that the cost of further education might be. Our purpose is to support the young and talented minds that inhabit the winners and applicants of our scholarship in order to provide them with a true and meaningful chance for success in the nearest future. The truth is, there is great need for what we do. It is common knowledge that there are a large number students (in this case Nigerian students) that are in need of financial support to pursue a further education. There are countless creative and brilliant minds that are just waiting for the opportunity to be recognized and supported. The goal of the Ejiro M Ukiri Foundation is to give these students a chance at the success that is right within their reach.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My business is a non-profit organization called the Ejiro M Ukiri International Scholarship Fund and our mission is to inspire graduating Senior Secondary School students to embark on their journey towards acquiring a University/ College education in Nigeria. We intend to do this by aiding their dreams and aspirations financially so as to relieve a substantial part of the burden that the cost of further education might be. Our purpose is to support the young and talented minds that inhabit the winners and applicants of our scholarship, in order to provide them with a true and meaningful chance for success in the nearest future. What sets me apart from others is definitely how much believe and faith I have in the success the students that will be awarded this scholarship. I have always really wanted to give back and try my best to fix something in someway. This organization represents that for me. There are so many problems in the world and I became tired of saying, “hey there is a problem here”. I really wanted to start saying, “there was a problem here but we took care of it”. It definitely was not easy to start and it still is not easy. We have been trying our best to come up with effective ways to raise funds and get everyone on board with our ideas. In the process, my team and I came up with this notion of “Nigerian Students helping Nigerian students” which essentially means finding ways for Nigerian students in diaspora (mainly the United States), to help out Nigerian students over in Nigeria financially. So, we started organizing fundraisers and events at the University level such as sales and lunches to get the word out and raise money and motivation for the cause simultaneously. It has been incredibly successful and we have been met by talented students that want to help our cause and achieving our goals. We have also been reaching out to churches for aid and support as well. I overcome challenges in multiple ways. I start by praying because when I am really stressed, worried, or confused, prayers really puts my in perspective and reminds me to just calm down and take it easy because I really believe that I cannot be faced with more than what I can handle. The next thing I do is run to my support system. This means that I open up and share the burden with those around me that love and care about me. Thankfully, I have a very supportive older brother who is always ready to not just listen to everything I have to say, but also to help me find solutions to every problem, and I am always grateful for that. I am most excited about being able to help the students that really need it. One can say I am very very excited about actually seeing our end goal come to life and witness all our hard work really pay off. I would like the world to know that this project is very personal to me and helping students with dreams and ambitions is so important to all of us that run this organization. I would also like the world to know that no assistance that is rendered to us is a waste and we deeply appreciate whatever form it comes in. The popular saying goes, “…the greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” My journey with the foundation has come to be a true embodiment of this saying. The truth is, there is great need for what we do. It is common knowledge that there are a large number students (in this case Nigerian students) that are in need of financial support to pursue a further education. There are countless creative and brilliant minds that are just waiting for the opportunity to be recognized and supported. The goal of the Ejiro M Ukiri Foundation is to give these students a chance at the success that is right within their reach. Of course, achieving this goal cannot be a smooth road. However, I do not define these experiences as struggles/obstacles but rather as a learning experience. I say this because an obstacle can be defined as “a thing that blocks one’s way or prevents or hinders progress.” It is safe to say that my progress as the founder of this organization has not been hindered because the vision that it was built on surpasses any difficult experience that has come about since its establishment. I would say that a challenging task for me, however, was building people’s confidence in what I wanted to achieve through the scholarships. Because we had not sponsored any students, I started to come off to some people as a fraud during the foundations earlier days. They had no assurance that when they donated, the money would actually go towards the education of Nigerian students that I said it will go towards. Even though this proved to be a challenge for me, I decided not to focus on it and instead to focus on ways to foster the nonprofit so that with time people will see that it is a legit cause with the most pure and honest intentions. I felt that the more effort and resilience I showed towards raising money and publicizing the need for more financial support in the lives of Nigerian students, the more people will naturally be inclined towards helping, believing, and spreading the word. This theory ended up being immensely correct because not long after the founding of my non-profit, we received a lot of support from people we did not even know. This made it possible for the money we needed to sponsor our first group of students to be raised in our first year of starting.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If I had a best friend visiting me, I would definitely take them downtown to visit places like the Dallas Art Museum, Klyde-Warren park, and the Museum of Illusion. I would make sure they ride the trolley around the city, get on the chariots and horses, eat from the many food trucks around the park, and soak in all the sky scrapers downtown. I would also take them to one of my personal favorite spots called Kellers burgers because I have always loved how their burgers tastes so authentic. We would also visit the famous Galleria Mall because it is my absolute favorite mall in Dallas because of the numerous store options they have.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to use this opportunity to appreciate the entire team at the EMU Foundation which includes Temidire Adelakun, Pius Ukiri, Zainab Olaniyan, and Esther Okuseinde. For the purpose of this interview, I would like particularly shoutout Esther Okuseinde who is our Cheif Communications Officer. I invited Esther to the team during our earlier days in 2022. At this time, all we had was the cofounder, myself, and a dream to impact the lives of students in Nigeria. Esther was one of the first people that we were able to share our mission with and ever since then she has been positively adding to the team in every way that she can. She officially joined the EMU team in August 2022 and it’s safe to say that her work and contributions have been absolutely impeccable. She has introduced the team to several business partners/ donors and has never failed to diligently represent the team at multiple speaking and seminar events. Despite being one of our OG members, Esther has remained approachable and tolerant of all the new members we have had over the last year. She was also a great part of our first ever application season and selections of our scholarship winners. In all ways, Esther Okuseinde has played a significant part in ensuring that the mission of the team is achieved. She has made the lives of the cofounder and I much easier and she is such a wonderful member to have on our team.
In addition to all this, Esther has a very impressive academic background as well. She recently graduated the University of Texas at Dallas with a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and a Minor in Information Technology Systems (Magna Cum Laude). She also recently acquired a certification from Harvard Business School for the summer venture in Management Program. She brings all this knowledge and experience to our team in every opportunity she is given.
Working with Esther is truly a blessing as she is at every meeting, making sure she is actively participating and giving insights that can only grow the team and project our ideals forward. She is hardworking, dedicated, intelligent, articulate, passionate, and so so professional. I hope that after reading this shoutout, your readers can understand why we are so glad to have Esther on our team!
Esther, if you are reading this, Temi and I appreciate you and we can’t wait to keep changing lives with you!! Biggest CCO!!

Website: https://www.ejirointernationalscholarshipfund.com/

Instagram: @ejiromukirifoundation

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ejiroghene-mary-ukiri-b747bb1a6 https://www.linkedin.com/in/esther-okuseinde?trk=public_profile_browsemap