Ifedinma Nwigwe

Ifedinma is the co founder and Executive Director of Maple Leaf Early Years Foundation. A graduate of English from the University of Nigeria also of Early Childhood Education from the Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, Toronto, Canada, Ifedinma has been an advocate for children and their rights to education for over 20 years, including during her undergraduate years. Ifedinma has also been trained in and facilitated a specialized program for children with special needs called the Son Rise Program through the Autism Treatment Centre of America. Since the inception of Maple Leaf Early Years Foundation, Ifedinma has been a fierce advocate for the rights of children to basic education, particularly those in displaced settings, hard-to-reach and rural communities, encouraging and implementing programs of inclusion of children with special needs as well as those with learning, psychosocial and physical disabilities. She believes no child should be left behind because of their disabilities or inabilities, and she extends this inclusivity to teachers with disabilities as well, preferring to see them as inspirations to the children they work with. Ifedinma is also passionate about reading and creative writing, having written children's books as well. In addition to the work she is doing with children in displaced settings, Ifedinma is also passionate about ensuring each of these children are entitled to a lunch at school through the organization's Lunch@School Program. She continues to look for ways to bring attention to the plight of children in different difficult circumstances with a view to finding sustainable solutions for them.