Ukonwa has also served as Brand President at COVERGIRL and held brand and general management roles at Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser PLC, General Mills Corporation, and MeadWestvaco Corporation. Currently, she shines as the Founder/CEO of Zaia Ventures, a venture studio dedicated to building and scaling businesses that champion underrepresented and marginalized communities. Two notable launches from the Venture Studio include Zaia, a social networking platform on a mission to unite the global Christian community for good and Ada & Edith Inc, a pioneering luxury womenswear brand bringing a comfort revolution to fashion with handcrafted Italian pieces for the multi-faceted modern woman.
At Amazon, Ojo led a high-performing team to launch eight of the top ten shows in Prime Video's history, achieving its highest ever global customer subscription and engagement, including replacing Netflix as the #1 US Streamer. Her innovative marketing campaigns for Prime Video's blockbuster movies and series garnered numerous prestigious accolades, including Golden Globe nominations and wins, Oscar nominations and wins, Emmy nominations and wins, and Entertainment Clios. Throughout her career, Ojo has earned over 60 awards and honors, including Forbes World's Most Influential CMOs and Black Enterprise 25 Women Changing the World. She is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute, a Founding Member of the Black Executive CMO Alliance, and a Member of the Executive Leadership Council.
Ukonwa Ojo holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and is a graduate of the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina. With her exceptional leadership, commitment to serving marginalized communities and passion for apparel design, she continues to make a lastingimpact in business, technology, fashion and beyond. For more, visit: https://adaandedith.com/, https://www.zaiaventures.com or https://www.zaia.one/.
I founded a venture studio instead of a venture fund because I wanted the flexibility to create businesses run by the studio that address white space opportunities in the marketplace, as well as invest in incredible founders doing extraordinary things in the world. One business we’ve invested in that excites me is Taeps Animation Studios https://taepsstudios.com/. It is run by a visionary Founder/CEO, Adeoyin Okuboyejo, on a mission to make African stories commonplace worldwide. I am incredibly excited about the opportunity to combine cutting edge technology and compelling storytelling to share African stories to the world. You can read more about that here: https://variety.com/2024/film/global/ukonwa-ojo-taeps-animation-studios-1236033470/
Another business we’ve founded that I’m excited about is Zaia (https://zaia.one/), a social network on a mission to unite 2.6 Billion Christians worldwide. We launched last year on both the App Store and Google Play store and are very excited about the early momentum.
I started my career in Finance, but I was as creative as I was analytical, so I found the Finance role very limiting. I have always been both left and right brained. I went back to business school at Kellogg and switched to a career in Brand Management, with a focus on consumer driven industries, because Marketing was the General Management function. This gave me the opportunity to run businesses using my Finance background, but leverage my creativity to drive innovation and adoption. I spent about 20 years in brand management in incredible roles such as the Global Chief Marketing Officer and US General Manager for Amazon Prime Video and the Global Brand President for COVERGIRL. After decades of running and scaling other businesses and recognizing how few global scaled businesses were black-owned, I decided to step out on my own to build at least one, while supporting other underrepresented and marginalized Founders to do the same. My secret to career switching is to make sure it is led by a deep sense of purpose and that each move is orchestrated to bring you closer to the center of who you are. On a pragmatic level, I always recommend people live below their means, so they are able to amass a reserve of resources that make it possible for them to take career risks.
This is one of the reasons I’m so excited about Taeps Animation Studios scaling Nigerian and African stories to the world.
I simply wouldn’t be where I am without God’s favor on my life. I have been a Christian my whole life and He has been a part of every major decision I have ever made. Every other reason I tell you will have millions of people who share the same traits or circumstances, but didn’t achieve the same success. I don’t know why He chose to bless me, but He did. And for that, I am so grateful and I am committed to sharing that same grace and generosity with others.
My mom, Adaora Edith was the most eccentric, fun loving, generous human being I knew. She danced to the beat of her own drum and wasn’t afraid after having 5 children to travel to London to go to Fashion School. She taught me to be completely comfortable not fitting in a box and to be unafraid to redefine myself if and when needed. I started a Fashion Line in her honor, Ada & Edith https://adaandedith.com/, that really celebrates womanhood and all the commas in our lives that make us indispensable.
My Husband. He has been such a rock for me and is my biggest hypeman. This version of me, and our family that means the absolute world to me, wouldn’t have been possible without his unconditional love and partnership.And Laughter. And Dancing….but none of them are things lol. Things have never been my thing. I don’t need much and there is nothing I own that I couldn’t live without.
That the ubiquity of technology, data, and artificial intelligence has made us crave humanity and genuine connections more.
