Mrs. Hilda Josephine Nwanekwu (JP) is the Executive Director of Initiatives for Sustaining Gender Empowerment (ISGEM), a non-government organization which engages in capacity building of women in employability skills for sustainable livelihood and mentoring for the girl-child for future leadership positions respectively.

She is a minister, conference speaker at various platforms, a trainer, life coach, facilitator and consultant on marketing, business development, entrepreneurship and  management issues.

After working in the banking sector for 10 years, she retired as a Deputy Manager in May 2005 from EIB Plc, Lagos. She further went into volunteering services at various NGOs from 2005 – 2008 amongst which is Young Women Christian Association (YMCA). With the knowledge she acquired from volunteering in the non-profit sector, she forged ahead to set up an NGO in July 2011 which is known as ISGEM. She is also the proprietress of Milk Cookies Daycare, which provides child-minding services

Mrs. Hilda Nwanekwu, for many years, has served in the community at various platforms and is still serving as an executive on the platforms of the Women’s and Girls’ Organisations of the Diocese of Lagos Mainland and the Home & Abroad Women of St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Umuhu 1, Atta-Ikeduru. She is also in the forefront of improving the status of women through economic empowerment on the platform of the Women’s Strategies to Achieve Gender Equality Coalition (STAGE).

Currently, she is instrumental to the construction of the first ever Skills Acquisition Centre in Atta-Ikeduru which will soon be commissioned in no distant time. She is highly passionate about empowering women and mentoring  girls.

She is also a trained human resource specialist with competences in Personal Development and Personnel Management, all from the University of Lagos. She is a UNIDO- trained and certified Auditor on Standards and Conformity.

Mrs. Hilda Nwanekwu is happily married with two adorable children.

It is in recognition of her sterling contribution to Women Empowerment and Development in Nigeria that Mrs. Hilda Josephine Nwanekwu is deemed worthy to be conferred with the Woman of Merit Gold Award which is part of the PSR National Awards 2018.