The Queens Recognize Queens campaign honors the hustle, confidence and independent spirit of businesswomen in Texas. This inaugural initiative powered by Urban One Digital, featured an interactive promotion utilizing both on-air support and social media as well as a VIP suite experience at the Oprah 2020 Vision Tour.
Source: Afrinanny
Born in Austin, Texas, Dr. Irene Okoronkwo-Obika was destined for a life of service and innovation.
Her interest in healthcare was heightened as she completed a summer internship as a nurse aide at Tulane University Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana. She went on to complete her Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing at Louisiana State University Health Science Center in New Orleans, LA. Dr. Irene Obika continued to pursue her academic journey by obtaining her Master’s of Science in Nursing with a concentration in Family Nurse Practitioner at Texas Woman’s University at Dallas, Texas. She further obtained her Doctor of Nursing Practice at the University of Texas at Arlington concurrently with her postmaster’s psychiatric mental health certification in 2015. She is also a noted children’s book author who focuses on anti-bullying and self-love messages. Dr. Obika’s academic and career life has been centered around caregiving services.
The Afrinanny concept came to her as she was a busy professional and mother experiencing her second difficult pregnancy and taking care her of her toddler while her husband was away for work. She knew she needed help, but didn’t have any family nearby. She went online to investigate other online caregiver sites but grew increasingly more frustrated as she searched through countless of profiles of caregivers that did not look like her. She found it even more upsetting that almost none of the caregiver profiles were people who could identify with the Nigerian culture she was trying to instill in her son. “Instead of writing a complaint card to these companies, let me just create my own.” Little did she know that many other Black parents shared her same sentiments. Her vision for Afrinanny is to be the world’s biggest platform to locate African, African-American and Caribbean caregivers with culturally relevant experience.
Afrinanny launches Spring 2020.
JOIN THE MOVEMENT: Are you a caregiver with culturally relevant experience? Join the Afrinanny team. More information can be found here.
Source: Afrinanny
MEET THIS QUEEN
Besides Oprah, name another Queen who inspires you personally and/or professionally? My mother is my biggest queen. Now that I am a mother, I really appreciate the sacrifice and discipline it took to raise well-rounded children in the face of finding herself as a new immigrant to a foreign land (United States) and widowed at just 30 years old.
What long-term impact would you like your business to ultimately have? What is your big vision? We want to be the world’s largest marketplace where families can find child/adult care providers with culturally relevant experience for Black children around the Diaspora. We want Afrinanny to have millions of users around the world, thus positively impacting millions of families.
What can we as the community do to support that vision? Promote and market the Afrinanny platform to qualified caregivers that are 18 years and older with no criminal background who can pass a basic safety exam. Follow us on all of our social media handles (see below).
What’s next for Afrinanny? We plan on being live by the middle of March this year, with Dallas/Fort Worth as our first launch cities.
Favorite book or inspirational quote? “Don’t let your income determine your outcome.”
Source: Celebrating Business Queens / Urban One
CONTACT THIS QUEEN
- Website: www.afrinanny.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/Afrinanny
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/Afrinanny
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/
Irene Okoronkwo, Founder, Afrinanny was originally published on thebeatdfw.com
