Dr. Victoria Chibuogu Nneji
AKALAKA – MICRO Spring 2025
Published November 12, 2025
As part of our ‘Meet Our Founders’ series today, we introduce Dr. Victoria Chibuogu Nneji, Founder and CEO of AKALAKA based in Durham, NC. AKALAKA connects individuals with disabilities and their care partners with our supportive and resourceful peer network, empowering more people to flourish in our communities.
Q: What are you most excited about right now? What keeps you up at night?
A: Medicaid is on the chopping block yet again. The precarious nature of our public benefits system empowers me to build AKALAKA to better serve the growing population of people living with disabilities and/or caregiving responsibilities. So many lives and livelihoods are at risk with this widening gap of insurance coverage. I am thankfully not phased by the immense challenges our community faces and am excited that I am blessed to be a part of the solution.
Q: How will your NC IDEA grant funds advance your company?
A: The NC IDEA grant has been pivotal to enabling us to advance customer discovery and product development. We have been able to invest the grant in our team. The NC IDEA has been so helpful in giving us more flexibility to spend in areas that will help us grow. And, I have learned how to better budget for short-term milestones.
Q: When did you know you wanted to take an entrepreneurial path?
A: I realized I wanted to take an entrepreneurial path during my first semester of college at Columbia University in the City of New York. I was in an office hour with Professor Chris Wiggins about an idea I had on my journey from North Carolina to New York. I shared with Prof. Wiggins about how I was listening to NPR on the trip and learned of the significantly low high school graduation rates for NYC students who had similar socioeconomic backgrounds as I had and how there were even fewer pursuing science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM). This radio segment stuck with me because there I was at Columbia, in their engineering school.
I thought back to what led me to ever consider this possibility and remembered the spark I had when I was in middle school and began working at a computational science firm in downtown Durham. I learned how to develop software and build math models, all the while, I did not have a computer at home! A senior engineer at the firm realized this and connected me with a nonprofit in the Research Triangle Park where I learned how to build my first family computer. That computer then opened the doors for me to be able to spend late nights finishing homework, preparing applications, and submitting scholarship essays. With that computer, I earned admission into North Carolina School of Science & Mathematics. The SATs I took for NCSSM opened the door for me to be invited to Columbia Engineering and that led me to earn scholarships and apprenticeships with Google.
I shared with Prof. Wiggins about my desire to want to light similar sparks for middle school aged girls who were in the first generation in their household who lived in the neighborhoods surrounding the University. My idea was to garner used computers from local businesses, teach these girls how to refurbish them, and empower each girl to use that computer to launch her own venture. When I shared this idea with Prof. Wiggins, he said this sounds like “social entrepreneurship.”
This conversation inspired me to dig into what is social entrepreneurship? As I discovered, my heart leaped at the potential to build a business model for good– around solving problems that arise or persist in our society. I started a social venture on my idea to reduce electronic waste, decrease the digital divide, and increase the number of first generation women skilled in STEM. I joined the Columbia Venture Community, recruited a team, served our community, and ended up graduating from Columbia with a B.S. in Applied Mathematics and a minor in Entrepreneurship & Innovation!
Q: What other passions do you have besides your business?
A: I am passionate about Jesus Christ. I have been on a worthwhile journey of learning more and more about Christ each day. The time I spend on studying the Holy Bible and meditating in prayer at home and expressing my worship in community has remarkably expanded the time I have to accomplish every other thing I work on. I can tell the difference the love of Christ has in me. When I miss prioritizing time with Jesus Christ, my perspective gets out-of-alignment and the future doesn’t seem so bright. The moment I return to Christ, I find new strength in the truth in God’s Word, including the following in Jeremiah 29:11 (GNT): “I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for.”
While visiting Durham, Dr. Nneji recommends:
- If you are visiting Durham, North Carolina, I would suggest you come on a Third Friday of any month to experience the local arts – always something creative to enjoy!
Support AKALAKA and Dr. Nneji by:
- If you’re reading this, please support AKALAKA by sharing the following link for someone in your network to connect with us: https://hi.akalaka.org