By David Akinmola, Lagos
Regional director, Eastern Operations of Consolidated Hallmark Insurance (CHI) Plc, Ijeoma Pearl Okoro has been appointed as a member of the board of Trustees of Rotary International, the top humanitarian Non-Governmental Organisation(NGO)based in Evanston, Illinois, the United States of America(USA).
The Trustees of The Rotary Foundation manage the business of the Foundation, the charitable arm of Rotary that funds service activities. Okoro, the only Nigerian and African elected to the board is to serve for a four-year term.
Speaking during an impressive sendforth party organised by Consolidated Hallmark Insurance for her in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, the managing director/CEO of the company, Mary Adeyanju expressed deep appreciation to Okoro for her immense contributions to the growth of the company not only in the eastern region where she held forth as a director, but also in other spheres of operations.
On behalf of the management and board of directors, Mrs. Adeyanju wished her tremendous success in her new international assignment.
In her response, Okoro gave thanks to Almighty God for the Grace to witness the day and also to her employers for providing the conducive environment over the years, which made her and her team able to thrive and contribute their quota to the growth of the company.
Ijeoma Pearl Okoro has 30 years of experience in the insurance industry, 17 of which was spent in CHI where she played prominent roles in transformation, market development, and management processes. She holds a bachelor’s degree in theatre, a postgraduate degree in management and studied at the Lagos Business School(LBS).
As culled from the Rotary International Magazine, Okoro founded the Romanus Emeanuru Foundation for Empowerment and Education Development in memory of her father.
The foundation is dedicated to empowerment of women. She volunteers for the Sir Emeka Offor Foundation, a humanitarian organisation. Active in her church, she is a member of the Knights of St. John International, a Catholic fraternal service organisation. She was charter president of her chapter of the Lagos Business School Alumni Association and is a patron of the Egbu Women’s Association.
Okoro joined Rotary in 1999. She has served as RI learning facilitator, assistant regional Rotary Foundation coordinator, endowment/major gifts adviser, and regional vice chair of the End Polio Now: Countdown to History Campaign Committee. She has been on numerous committees, including the Nigeria PolioPlus Committee and the Rotary Foundation Programs Committee. Passionate about preserving Rotary history, she helped create the Africa zone group of the Rotary Global History Fellowship.
Okoro will never forget the day the World Health Organization certified Nigeria as polio-free during her term as End Polio Now zone coordinator. “This was a defining moment for me,” she says. “We introduced strategies to create awareness and raise funds.” She is passionate about creating lasting change and says that “giving is not an exclusive right of the rich.”
She was called one of the “five Rotary women leading the fight to end polio” in 2019 and received a certificate of appreciation from the Foundation for her efforts. She has received Rotary’s Distinguished Service Award and the Regional Service Award for a Polio-Free World.
