# Uche Pedro

Uche Pedro (born by Uche Eze; 26 July 1984) is a Nigerian entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of BellaNaija, a media tech brand known for entertainment and lifestyle content. Under her leadership, BellaNaija's social footprint has grown through its collective brands - BellaNaija.com, BellaNaija Weddings and BellaNaija Style - to be the largest on the African continent with more than 200 million impressions each month.

## Early life and education

Uche was born and raised in Nigeria, where she finished her primary and secondary school education. Uche holds a Honors Business Administration degree from the Ivey Business School, where she graduated with distinction in 2006. In 2020, she graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School with a master's in public administration.

## Career

Uche worked for Shell Canada, Cadbury Middle East & Africa Unit in the UK, and Cadbury in Nigeria. In July 2006, she founded BellaNaija.
She claimed the idea for establishing BellaNaija came while she was studying at a university in Canada, where she had a two-week holiday and soon got bored. inspired to start something that represented this exciting young vibe in the country when she came to Nigeria and observe the growing improvements in fashion, entertainment, and business.
Uche is a Fellow of TEDGlobal and a Nigeria Leadership Initiative associate.
Uche realized the potential of what she was building, and she went ahead to organize the business. Taking a step in organizing the business by registering a parent company, BainStone Limited. BainStone Limited is focused on developing and managing innovative and exciting online media content for Africans. The company was among the 50 high potential SMEs chosen and awarded a British Airways, Opportunity Grant.
In 2013, Uche was honored as the British Council International Young Media Entrepreneur of the Year for Nigeria. In 2014 and 2015, Forbes Magazine Online listed Uche among the 30 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs in Africa. In December 2015, she was listed amongst the Most Influential CEOs of 2015 by Ventures Africa as well as New African Woman's Women of the Year for 2015 and made the QUARTZ’S List of 30 African Innovators.
In 2016, she won the African Blogger of the Year award at the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards. In 2017, Uche was invited as a civic leader making a difference around the world for the first-ever Obama Foundation Summit and participated in the Stanford Seed Transformation Programme. In February 2018, Uche featured in the annual OkayAfrica100 Women campaign, celebrating extraordinary women from Africa and the diaspora making waves across a wide array of industries, while driving positive impact in their communities and the world at large. Uche was selected to participate in the 2018 campaign for Bill and Melinda Gates.
Uche Pedro received an invite to The Obama Foundation Summit; a 2-day gathering of about 500 civic leaders from around the world. The BellaNaija team completed the Stanford Seed Transformation Program in 2017, a 12- month program where high potential leaders are challenged to assess their companies’ vision and redefine strategies.
Uche is passionate about impacting her community and nurturing the next generation. She is the founder of #BNDoGood - an impact -driven initiative which consistently supports a wide variety of non-profits and social impact organizations including LEAP Africa, Slum2School, Django Girls, Junior Achievement Nigeria and a long list of others. In 2018, Uche co-founded PVCitizen, an initiative to encourage millennials and Generation Z to register to vote and become active citizens. In November 2018, Uche received an ELOY Award for Innovation/Invention, reserved for a woman who has used her skills to create innovative ways to solve problems and also invented solutions to different challenges. In addition, she was honored with a Frown Awards by UNFPA/UNICEF for her efforts to protect the right of every girl child and contribution to the Abandonment of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Nigeria. Uche served as a host for the TEDxLagos Spotlight event in August 2018.

## Personal life

On 16 June 2012, Uche married Bode Pedro, a son of former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Femi Pedro. She gave birth to a set of twins in 2015.

## Recognition

* 2023: World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders Class of 2023
* 2020 Forbes: "Africa's 50 Most Powerful Women"
* 2019 Speaker BBC "Countering Fake News" Event.
* Speaker 2018 "Bloomberg Africa Business Media Innovators" Forum.
* Keynote Speaker #ADICOMDAYS2018
* OkayAfrica100 Women campaign.
* Gates Foundation/Gates Africa #GatesLetter Campaign.
* 2017 Obama Summit - "Civic Leader Making a Difference around the World"
* Stanford Seed Transformation Programme.
* SME 100 List of 100 most innovative female-owned businesses in Nigeria.
* Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards - African Blogger of the Year.
* Nigeria's 100 Most Inspiring Women – #YWomen100 #LLA100Women 2016
* Forbes 30 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs in Africa- 2015
* QUARTZ’S List of 30 African Innovators.
* Ventures Africa - Most Influential CEOs of 2015
* Tiffany Amber Women of Vision Honoree - 2014
* Forbes 30 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs in Africa - 2014.
* New African Magazine's "50 Trailblazers under 50 Made in Africa" List.
* Forty-Forty: A Compendium of Young African Legends by Ventures Africa.
* New African Woman Magazine - 10 Young Nigerian Women to Watch.
* Nigeria Leadership Initiative (NLI) Future Leaders Seminar.
* TEDGlobal Fellow.

## Awards

| Year | Award | Prize | Result |
| 2010 | The Future Awards | Young Person of the Year | Nominated |
| 2010 | The Future Awards | The Best Use of Technology | Nominated |
| 2010 | African Fashion Week | Outstanding Contribution to Fashion Communication Award | Won |
| 2012 | FAB Awards | Online Publication of the Year | Won |
| 2013 | The Future Awards | Young Media Entrepreneur of the Year | Won |
| 2013 | TW Magazine Phoenix Gala Awards | Business Protege Award | Won |
| 2013 | The British Council | Young Media Entrepreneur Award | Won |
| 2014 | WIE Africa Conference | WIE Next Generation Leader Award | Won |
| 2015 | Creative Industries Awards | Creative Industries Awards for Bloggers | Won |
| 2016 | Kids' Choice Awards | Best African Blogger | Won |
| 2016 | La Mode Awards | BellaNaija Style - Outstanding Recognition for contribution to the Fashion and Entertainment Industry | Won |
| 2016 | Nigerian Fashion and Style Awards | BellaNaija Style - Fashion Support | Nominated |
| 2016 | African Entertainment Award | BellaNaija - Most Popular Site | Won |
| 2016 | Beatz Awards | BellaNaija -Best Blog | Won |
| 2017 | APPOEMN's TEIC | BellaNaija Weddings - Wedding/Event blog of the Year Award | Won |
| 2017 | Corporate Communications Award | BellaNaija - Special Media Recognition | Won |
| 2017 | Beatz Awards | BellaNaija - Best Blog | Won |
| 2017 | Glitz Style Award | BellaNaija Style - Fashion Blog of the Year (Africa) | Won |
| 2018 | Beatz Awards | BellaNaija - Best Blog | Won |
| 2018 | ELOY Awards | Innovation/Invention Award | Won |
| 2018 | The Frown Awards 2018 by UNFPA/UNICEF | For efforts to protect the right of every girl child and contribution to the Abandonment of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Nigeria | Won |
| 2018 | Spice Lifestyle Honours | Social and Digital Media Person of the Year | Won |