Our Team
Bria Okonkwo is the Founder and Chief Executive. Her main focus is to raise awareness and support families of children with cancer. The vision and goals of Young Lives Trust are clearly captioned with short-, medium-, and long-term strategies for achieving this. She brings to the table a wealth of knowledge across borders and industries.
Her passion for healthcare can be attributed to her experiences whilst working in the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK on various projects across the 8 Care Pathway Model. She possesses a strong business and leadership record as CEO and has a deep understanding of our clients; having been through a similar situation as a parent of a childhood cancer survivor.
Dr. Okeke is a Kaizen-Spirited Physician Executive and an expert in healthcare delivery Integration. She has MBA & MSPM degrees from George Washington University; an MPH from Tulane University, and a Lean Six Sigma certification from Johns Hopkins. Has 10+ years’ experience in Management Consulting and 15+ years’ experience in Patient-Centered Care, Health Systems Operations, Community Services, & Population Health Management. A leader highly versed in development, implementation, management, and evaluation of strategic healthcare initiatives, and quality improvement processes. Led large multi-faceted programs at leading healthcare organizations. At Kaiser Permanente, oversaw telemedicine services operations, and capital projects on Care Access & Quality Improvement projects. Dr. Okeke also worked closely with regulators at the Center for Medicare (CMS), Department of Defense and Veterans Health Administration – served as faculty lead for the CMS and Comprehensive Primary Care Plus to develop and implement primary care practice transformation nationally, and served as healthcare SME to standardize & optimize VA enterprise-wide business processes to stand up a Community Care Network. Dr. Okeke currently serves as Special Projects Director at Johns Hopkins and is an independent consultant
Ed Nwobodo trained originally in Universities in Nigeria and the USA as a human physiologist. He was to retrain in Health System Education and Management in the United States. He is the foundation professor of physiology; pioneer Head of Department and first substantive Dean of Basic Medicine of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University at Nnewi. He served on the Technical Committees/Panels for establishment of five new Medical Schools in Nigeria between 1995 and 2009. He was severely honored for his diligence and received the best teacher awards for many years. He was an international scholar at Dartmouth College, NH, USA and in 2006 became a Fellow, with distinction, of the FAIMER Institute. He is an ECFMG-sponsored scholar at Maastricht University, Netherlands.
Over the last fifteen years, Ed Nwobodo has been working as a consultant in Health Systems Development, Public Policy and Strategy development and studies with international development partners/firms in Nigeria and West Africa including UNDP, UNICEF, DFID, PATHS1 and 2, MSH, ESSPIN, WYG London, HLSP London, Nigerian SLGP, SuNMaP, British Council/DELPHE Project, USAID/MAPS, SPARC and World Bank/IDA Projects in Nigeria. He consults for Nigerian States/ MDAs including the Federal Ministry of Health. He led the development of the National Coordination framework for HIV/AIDS; development of the National Health Insurance Policy as well as a Performance Management Framework for the Planning Department of the FMoH. He co-authored the novel District Health System approach to healthcare delivery in Enugu State.
Ed Nwobodo was elected PATHS’s most outstanding consultant in 2008. In 2013, he became the State Team Leader for PATHS2 in Enugu State and pioneered public-private partnerships in healthcare, community-based health insurance, and quality assurance mechanisms in service delivery. Working for SPARC, led the development of States’ Development Plans and Medium Term Strategies (MTSSs) for Governments of Enugu, Anambra, and Plateau States of Nigeria. He served on the Core Team that developed the implementation strategy for the CSDP Project in Nigeria. He worked for DFID in reviewing the implementation of UBEC funds and tracking the implementation and performance of MDGs in the southeast and for the development of feasible strategies for the implementation of SDGs in the region. Working for the World Bank HSDP II, he established the ‘drivers’ of high HIV prevalence in flashpoints in Enugu State through scientific inquiry and was the Principal consultant for the SuNMaP program where he led the work in developing feasible plans for control of malaria in Nigeria. He was part of the team that spread the concept and practice of an integrated supportive supervisory system (ISS) in Nigeria working for SuNMaP and USAID/MAPS. Professor Ed Nwobodo has over 80 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals; a book of poems and many contributions to national dailies and radio commentaries on contemporary issues. He is married to his lovely wife, Dr Fustin Nkoli Nwobodo with great children.
Dr. Brenda Ogechukwu Akanisi is a medical doctor with over 7years of experience in the healthcare sector both internationally and locally. She has served as a medical practitioner and has worked with some notable NGOs in Nigeria. Her drive is to ensure optimal healthcare services are attainable for everyone regardless of social status or income.
An experienced professional with strong development, fundraising, and project management skills. Having graduated with an MA in International Relations and Development, I have had advanced relationships with charity organizations in the UK to increase fundraising activities and delivered exceptional consultancy by facilitating training and support for new projects around the charity sector.
Is a dynamic business strategist with strong knowledge of Business Development, Analysis, and Financial structuring. She holds a First Class BSc(Hons) degree in Computer Communications and Networks from the University of Westminster, UK, and an MSc in Banking & International Finance, from the prestigious CASS Business School, London, UK. She started her professional career in IT project management business analysis and later investment structuring. She has worked across various sectors including IT, Telecoms, Transport, Banking, and Oil & Gas.
