Background
Born in Nigeria, Chike Ukaegbu is one of six siblings currently living in 5 countries on 4 continents. A well travelled lover of people and cultures, Chike draws inspiration from the beauty in the things that both bind us together as well as those that make us unique. He is an ardent believer in the social and economic benefits of inclusive diversity and continues to advocate for its adoption.

Chike studied Venture Capital & Investments at Stanford, General MBA courses at UPenn, Executive Leadership and Management at Cornell University, and Biomedical Engineering at The City College of New York, where he taught Math for seven years and served as Entrepreneur-in-Residence for two.

THE JOURNEY: ABA BOY TO NYC RISING STAR

Passion
Chike left Aba for UNILAG at age 17. At 19, he left Nigeria for New York City to study biomedical engineering. At 25, Chike began teaching Math at The City College of New York, where he would stay on as an educator for seven years, while pursuing other endeavors that helped shape his experience.

Chike became a Colin Powell Fellow on Public Policy in 2004. His passion to find the right solutions to curb youth poverty and disconnection, educational disadvantage and opportunity divide resulted in the development of the HEROES Model for effectively engaging youths and communities in 2006. In 2009, Chike used his HEROES model to co-found Re:LIFE Inc, a nonprofit organization with a mission to empower at-risk and disconnected youth populations through tech, entrepreneurship and education.

In 2014, Chike launched the Education and Entrepreneurship Leadership Fund in Nigeria that awarded 13 academic scholarships, as well as seed capital to students and youth entrepreneurs. In 2015, Chike founded Startup52, NYC’s premier and award winning diversity-focused accelerator to provide better access to capital and resourceful networks for founders from untapped communities – People of Color, women, veterans, founders with special abilities, immigrants, seniors,and other marginalized groups. Since its launch, Startup52 has been called America’s Most Diverse Tech Accelerator, recognized by NYC’s Mayor De Blasio, named one of America’s  Best Entrepreneurial Businesses by Entrepreneur Magazine, a Top 20 Business Accelerator by Small Business Trends, among other accolades.

Chike  is an Educator, Entrepreneur, Investor, Humanitarian, Biomedical Engineer and more, who is passionate about empowering untapped communities and increasing representation through diversity and inclusion in tech, corporate, educational and entrepreneurial spaces. As a leading voice on several topics relating to millennials and untapped communities (empowerment, engagement, diversity, inclusion, and more), Chike continues to develop and implement effective frameworks, models and novel methodologies relevant to effectively building, inspiring and engaging audiences and communities.

Chike has also consulted and advised several international delegations, including those from China, England, South Africa, The EU, Brazil, Denmark, Argentina, Chile, Nigeria, etc. on engaging millennials and Gen Z, supporting founders and building inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems.