Royal DSM, a global science-based company active in health, nutrition and materials, announces that Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli has joined its Sustainability Advisory Board.

Ndidi Nwuneli is a Nigerian social entrepreneur. She has 19 years of experience in international development and business management working with multinational firms, the public sector, and international organizations. She is the founder of LEAP Africa and co-founder of AACE Food Processing & Distribution Ltd. (AACE Foods), an indigenous agro-processing company in Lagos, Nigeria. She is also a partner at Sahel Capital, an advisory and private equity firm focused on the agribusiness and manufacturing sectors in West Africa.

Ndidi Nwuneli holds a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Business. She received her undergraduate degree with honors in Multinational and Strategic Management from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She sits on the Boards of LEAP Africa, AACE Foods, Sahel Capital, Nestle Nigeria Plc, Cornerstone Insurance Plc, and Nigerian Breweries Plc.

DSM’s Sustainability Advisory Board has been set up as a sparring partner for the Managing Board and senior executives in the company. Established in 2011, it supports DSM in sharpening its focus on strategic issues, deepening its understanding of external stakeholder needs, conducting advocacy efforts and handling dilemmas. The board comprises a diverse international group of thought leaders on key sustainability topics. Ndidi Nwuneli’s fellow board members are:

  • Paul Gilding (m): Independent writer and corporate advisor on sustainability. Fellow at University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (UK). In 2011 he published his book “The Great Disruption”. In the 1990s, he was executive director of Greenpeace International.
  • Pamela Hartigan (f): Director of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Saïd Business School in Oxford (UK), Associate Professor at Columbia Business School (New York, USA) and founding partner of Volans Ventures.
  • Sir David King (m): Special representative for climate change of the UK government since 2013. From 2008 to 2012, he served as the founding director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford (UK). Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK government 2000-2007.
  • Ye Qi (m): Cheung Kong professor of Environmental Policy and director of Brooking-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy at Tsinghua University in Beijing (China). Before he joined Tsinghua, he taught at Beijing Normal University, and the University of California at Berkeley (California, USA).