President’s Welcome Address
Kayode Anifowose: NPG President/ Founder
On behalf of the executives of the Nigerian Professional Group (NPG), welcome to the first Annual Gala & Awards. Our welcome is heartfelt as you join us on a journey in celebrating excellence. We are confident that you will enjoy this maiden event, although modest, we have lined up a worthy show.
This has been an extraordinarily challenging year, as we battle the disruptions to our lives and livelihoods due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we continue to have great concern about our health and the health of the people we love.
Yet, despite this hardship many of us have continued to chase our professional careers, working from home, staring at the wall or looking out a window and hopping from zoom call to zoom call.
However, some who work in the Healthcare industry still had to keep working in the “eye of the storm” endangering their lives to save lives. An industry that is too busy to relax and rarely celebrated for the important role they play in keeping us healthy.
Tonight, in addition to launching NPG’s foremost annual event with the theme – inspiring excellence, we want to celebrate all those who helped our society, and our communities endure and overcome these tough times, through their commitment, hard work, and often at great personal sacrifice.
During this difficult year, we at NPG have embraced transformation, innovation, resilience, and a new bias for action. I want to express my gratitude to all our visionary advisers, executives and volunteers for demonstrating all those qualities and much more. We cannot achieve our goals without you. We need your continued participation, feedback, ideas, and yes, even your constructive criticism. NPG was founded for transformative collaboration amongst Nigerian Professionals in the diaspora. Our membership is an unparalleled group of working professionals, entrepreneurs and students.
I personally invite you and everyone in our community to join us in our work and become an active participant in our commitment to the future narrative of Nigerians in the diaspora.
Thank you for joining us, and I hope you enjoy your evening.
Yours Sincerely,
About the NPG Gala & Awards
A baby does not walk at birth, the bundle of joy is carried, nursed, and nurtured till the baby learns to crawl before he can walk. The primary principle is that growth is evident in movement. Since its inception 3 years ago, the Nigerian Professional Group have continued to take bold strides in nurturing its vision of building a thriving, collaborative and formidable professional community.
The NPG Gala & Awards is an annual initiative geared towards promoting the endeavors, exploits, achievements of Nigerian professionals and their impact on their community. Our commitment is to stay in tune with our professional community and help showcase the achievements of Nigerians in the diaspora and celebrate their contributions.
We will take charge of shaping the narrative of Nigerian professionals within the global professional community.
This year, we have taken the leap of faith, and embarked on a great journey. For our first edition, we have chosen the theme: Inspiring Excellence. This is our declaration of what this initiative will represent for our community and within the global awards space.
2021 AWARD CATEGORIES
For our first edition, in a year fraught with the COVID-19 pandemic, our focus is to recognize the outstanding work, and the exploit of remarkable Nigerian healthcare workers in the healthcare sector, with emphasis on our local community within the New England area.
During this difficult year, we at NPG have embraced transformation, innovation, resilience, and a new bias for action. I want to express my gratitude to all our visionary advisers, executives and volunteers for demonstrating all those qualities and much more. We cannot achieve our goals without you. We need your continued participation, feedback, ideas, and yes, even your constructive criticism. NPG was founded for transformative collaboration amongst Nigerian Professionals in the diaspora. Our membership is an unparalleled group of working professionals, entrepreneurs and students.
I personally invite you and everyone in our community to join us in our work and become an active participant in our commitment to the future narrative of Nigerians in the diaspora.
Thank you for joining us, and I hope you enjoy your evening.
Yours Sincerely,
VISIONARY AWARD
The Visionary Award honors leaders whose trailblazing work impacts the ongoing drive to shape the foundation of Africans and create a sense of belonging within our community for African in diaspora. This award also seeks to recognize the commitment, support, and visionary input that continues to shape NPG goals and strategy.
Olukayode Olatilu
CEO and co-founder of EpicGRO Corporation.
Visionary Award
Ohi Omoruan
VP, Surety Plus, Liberty Mutual Surety.
Visionary Award
Ibraheem Badejo, Ph.D
Senior Director - External Front End innovation, Ethicon R & D
Visionary Award
Professor Nimi Wariboko
Professor of Social Ethics at Boston University, United States
Visionary Award
IMPACT AWARD
The Impact Award honors leaders whose commitment, sacrifice and advocacy work drives positive impacts in our community The award recognizes work that presents innovative ideas and contribution to knowledge that has proved influential and impactful in our community.
Ethel A. David
MD, Premier Health Systems Inc (PHS)
Impact Award
Frances Igiebor
MD, Angel Care
Impact Award
Group Picture: Honorees & NPG Leadership Team
Event Highlights
After Party: DJ Emteezy rocked the Gala After Party
One of Naija’s best DJ on the east coast, Boston based – DJ Emteezy will be dropping the finest Nigerian Afrobeats and so much more…as we celebrated another eventful year.
DJ emteezy has always been an avid listener of music of all genres since late childhood and started DJ’ing several years ago at events in the Boston and New-England area. His musical versatility helped him expand from his initial comfort zone to unfamiliar musical territories and he has developed his signature style and become a DJ without musical boundaries. DJ emteezy has a BS in Biochemistry and Masters’ degrees in accounting and Business Administration and is also a Certified Public Accountant.