Fellow:Chiamaka Uwagerikpe
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Bio
Chiamaka Uwagerikpe lives life as an adventure. She is guided by curiosity and community, and the journey has been great so far. Her parents, Nigerian immigrants, always tell stories about life “back home.” Because of this, Chiamaka embraces diverse perspectives and looks to build robust cooperatives.
This enthrallment with the world around her has taken her to many places and privy to great company. One of the most transformative communities she has been a part of is the global nonprofit Gurls Talk, for which she served as an ambassador. Through this organization, Chiamaka helped plan social media campaigns and lead strategy calls with her team, augmenting the skills she learned in her marketing and advertising classes. More importantly, however, Chiamaka learned how to build camaraderie with individuals from all walks of life and how to show up authentically. The community taught her how to advocate for others to make real change. Chiamaka also learned how to ride a mechanical bull with the encouragement of her Gurls, but that's a story for another time.
Chiamaka's inquisitiveness and love of good company also shape her involvement at the University of Georgia. She was a founding member of Strike Magazine Athens, a fashion and culture magazine in her college town. In addition to establishing the values and tone of the publication, Uwagerikpe wrote, ideated, pitched, and directed concepts. Other times, she modeled on the other side of the camera. She is also a tour guide on campus, welcoming visitors to UGA. Wonder abounds as she gives her tours, connecting with families from all across the globe. Chiamaka loves the opportunity to practice the art of storytelling and engagement as she helps students embark on their own journeys into higher education.
One of her favorite aspects of her adventure has been the Student Industry Fellows Program at UGA. As an Innovation Fellow, Chiamaka helps a wide variety of clients solve complex problems. She has worked with Cox Enterprises to improve workplace culture, Delta Airlines to decrease single-use plastic consumption, and WorldStrides to reimagine the study abroad experience in the digital world. She also got to represent her program in Tel Aviv while learning about innovation and risk-taking. She has also worked for Reckitt and IHG Hotels & Resort as a marketing and communications intern. In these roles, she aided the onboarding of C-level executives, wrote articles, created media lists, facilitated brand partnerships, analyzed intranet UX/UI, and managed multiple media channels. She also enriched her experience by having an egregious amount of coffee chats with her colleagues because she believes knowing your community makes you a better communicator.
In her free time, Chiamaka enjoys spending quality time with friends and family, making Spotify playlists, recording episodes of her podcast, being active, and traveling. Chiamaka Uwagerikpe's dream job is to get paid to have interesting conversations. Currently that aspiration is realized through work in social marketing or community strategy where she can help create empowered and resilient collectives. She hopes to create impact on a international scale with plans of moving abroad, even for a little while. Chiamaka Uwagerikpe is eager to learn how to operationalize innovation as a University Innovation Fellow Candidate. She is excited to see where her adventure will take her next.
Achievements
Presidential Leadership Scholar
Gurls Talk Ambassador
Honors International Scholar
Student Industry Fellow
Social media profiles
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