Dr. Chinwe Effiong is Assistant Dean for the MasterCard Foundation Scholars and Youth Empowerment Programs. In this role, she is responsible for providing leadership and management oversight to the MasterCard Foundation Scholars program, while leveraging MSU expertise to identify and scale new opportunities for global youth education, entrepreneurship, and empowerment initiatives.
Before joining MSU, Dr. Effiong served as CEO of Junior Achievement (JA) in Africa, where she provided strategic direction and oversight for JA operations across sub-Saharan Africa. She worked closely with government, civil society groups, and private sector stakeholders to raise awareness and promote support for programs that enabled young people in Africa to improve their livelihoods.
Dr. Effiong has made significant contributions to the global mission to create jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities for youth, especially young women, residing in the world’s most marginalized communities. She designed the groundbreaking entrepreneurship curriculum for out of school youth, popularly referred to as ITS TYME (Immersion Training Strategy: Targeting Young Marginalized Entrepreneurs). In partnership with Google volunteers, she also facilitated the creation of the JA SySTEM, an innovative curriculum designed to raise awareness about careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) among middle and high school students, especially girls, across Africa.
Prior to joining JA, Dr. Effiong was the Director of Programs for Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership in Silver Spring, MD. She also worked for several years as Country Director for Nigeria and Regional Director for East and West Africa at Africare, a Washington, D.C. based, international development organization, addressing a wide range of development needs across the continent of Africa.
Dr. Effiong started her professional career as Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Lincoln University, PA and served as interim Chair of the Department of Political Science there. She holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Delaware and a B.A. in English and Literary Studies from the University of Calabar, Nigeria. Dr. Effiong is a recognized thought leader in the field of youth education and entrepreneurship. She has served on the Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum and the Clinton Global Initiative.
In addition to her professional work, Dr. Effiong is a creative writer and motivational speaker.