With a commendable track record of advancing gender equality and equity, enhancing child protection, promoting inclusive development, driving growth, improving efficiency, and empowering women through access to economic opportunities, comprehensive leadership training and mentorship programmes, Lotanna Uzoka, MCIPM, FIMC, CMC, is a woman of many parts.

She currently sits as the Group Managing Director of Kennedia Group, which comprises Kennedia Consulting Limited (KCL) – a cutting-edge Human Resources Professional Services Company and Kennedia Health Maintenance Organisation (KHMO) – a World-class Health Services Company, located in Nigeria, West Africa.

The highly accomplished Group Managing Director with over 20 years of experience leading and scaling businesses in a variety of industries, including tech, telecommunications, cyber security, real estate, education, health, agriculture, finance, FMCG, construction, power, oil and gas.

Her leadership is marked by strategic acumen, innovative solutions, and a profound understanding of the Nigerian economic landscape; focused on fostering a culture that supports women’s advancement collectively, empowering women economically by promoting access to resources, skills and opportunities that enable their full participation in the economy, thereby contributing to Nigeria’s sustainable growth and development.

Her career path has been a very interesting journey, and she can confidently state that no one can achieve anything worthwhile career-wise without passion. “Passion often arises from within, driven by personal interests and desires. It’s something you do because you genuinely love it, not necessarily because of external rewards or expectations. When you are passionate about something, you are naturally drawn to it, and the mere act of engaging in that activity or pursuing that interest becomes intrinsically rewarding. Passion is what draws the right people to want to learn from or work with you. It is what makes you likeable, relatable, and intriguing,” she says.

Her greatest passion is developing people. “This passion has brought me thus far in my career. My focus is on building people, empowering people, and ensuring they have access to the tools to build their own better future. My energy grows exponentially from developing people, building ventures, growing businesses, attracting new customers, hiring new employees, motivating old employees, satisfying my clients at every interaction, and building a people-oriented and result-driven organisational culture. I am relentlessly impatient with the status quo, and I constantly strive to surpass my personal and corporate goals year in, year out. This narrative is what we are known for at Kennedia Group, where I oversee Kennedia Consulting Limited and Kennedia Health Maintenance Organisation (KHMO).”

Committed to building a resilient and responsive institutional framework in line with the mandates of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, under the leadership of the Minister, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, Mrs. Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, fsi, and in response to the clarion call to action for all stakeholders to join forces in addressing systemic challenges that have acted as a brake to progress in women empowerment and children protection for decades,     Lotanna continues passionately to spearhead a women – driven capacity building initiative facilitated by the Kennedia Academy, geared towards upskilling and reskilling the capabilities of women and girls in entrepreneurship, leadership, negotiations, business development, strategy execution, financial literacy, risk management, operational excellence and promote access to good health for women and girls through the Kennedia HMO platform.

Dedicated to women’s economic empowerment, child protection & development, institutional strengthening, continuous learning, creativity, and innovation, Lotanna founded Kennedia Consulting Limited and Kennedia HMO in 2016 and 2022, respectively – prominent employers of labour in Nigeria, and Africa as a whole.

Her values strategically aligns with the Strategic Action Plan of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, the Renewed Hope Agenda and Presidential priorities, the Nigeria Agenda 2025, Nigeria National Development Plan 2021-2025, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the AU Maputo Protocol, AU Charter on the Welfare and Rights of Child, the UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, AU Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality on Africa and other international agreements and commitments.

She explains “Poverty is a serious economic and social problem that afflicts a large proportion of the world’s population and manifests itself in diverse forms such as lack of income and productive assets to ensure sustainable livelihoods, chronic hunger and malnutrition, homelessness, lack of durable goods, disease, lack of access to clean water, lack of education, low life expectancy, social exclusion and discrimination, high levels of unemployment, high rate of infant and maternal mortality, and lack of participation in decision making. Because poverty has deleterious impacts on human well-being, its eradication has been identified as an ethical, social, political, and economic imperative of humankind. Thus, the eradication of poverty and hunger was a key target in the Millennium Development Goals that the United Nations adopted in September 2000, and continues to be a priority in the pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals that the United Nations General Assembly subsequently adopted on January 1, 2016.”

Kennedia Group is committed to creating an inclusive culture where employees feel valued and respected. “We have employee resource groups, knowledge sharing sessions, interactive team building & bonding initiatives, company-wide book review sessions that support diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and offer training and development programs to help employees build their DEI skills.” Kennedia’s approach to flexible work arrangements appeals to employees, allowing them to balance their work and personal lives better and encouraging a highly supportive company culture.

Since its founding in 2016, the Group has continued to create bespoke solutions and professional business advisory services for all shareholders. Our extensive network of professional talents and consultants ensures that we have the right strategy for every problem, unique to every industry. We are fast-paced, meticulous, and thorough with our approach to business headaches, extensive in our application and with each client, and unique in our approach and service.  The drive to change the business landscape of the HR space within Nigeria and Africa as a whole, one business and one professional at a time, is at the forefront of all our operations.

“Our strategies are innovative, cutting-edge, and scalable to bring services and solutions, proven to be effective in not just guaranteeing business success but eliminating complications that grow from poor planning and execution. As one of our people’s strategy pillars, Kennedia Group takes an innovative approach to performance management – a continuous feedback system that promotes transparency and accountability in the workplace,” she shares..

Lotanna’s approach balances analytical skills with a visionary mindset, consistently leading teams to exceed market expectations. She leverages the use of the Monitoring and Evaluation framework to ensure impact, accountability, and adaptability within Nigeria’s unique socio-economic landscape. She leads a highly efficient and professional team of experts focused on driving solutions in collaboration with non-profit organisations, governments, customers and partners. Her team reinvents sustainable solutions that address societal challenges with regard to the planet, people and communities.

Some decisions are so complex that you must be highly intelligent and well-informed just to be unperturbed about them. Topline growth is one of those, especially when it comes to exiting an organisation you love and have worked with for almost a decade to explore the dividends of entrepreneurship – creating a new business venture. The challenges are vast, and it’s difficult to know how, or even whether, to move forward.  “I had mixed feelings. Should I stay or exit? Should I move on to the next big thing in my life or just remain an employee? How do I leave all my colleagues, who over the years have grown to be buddies and like my family? It was a tough decision! However, after a series of thought-provoking self-analysis and personal meditations, I decided to take the giant leap of moving on the growth trajectory from being an employee to being an entrepreneur. That decision finally gave birth to the Kennedia Group.

Becoming an entrepreneur is, almost by definition, entering a world of uncertainty. If you are the type of person who excels in a world of uncertainties and the associated opportunities, then you will love being an entrepreneur. Ultimately, after Kennedia Group was born, I began to ask myself why I hadn’t metamorphosed into an entrepreneur earlier. (laughs). Some people start a business because they want to sustain themselves and their families. For me, it was a different ball game. I just wanted to make the world a better place, and I was driven by a sense of purpose and passion of developing people, building ventures, creating valuable systems, alleviating poverty, providing job opportunities for our dear Nigerian youths, building a people-centered and result -driven organizational culture.”

She says, “So, my piece of advice to all who desire to step into the “uncertain world of entrepreneurship” is to just do it! Don’t look back! Don’t be afraid of the nay-sayers. Just roll your sleeves up and get on with it. Enjoy the journey. Have fun. Tons of it. You will need to be brave, take risks and believe in yourself. You will also need to be able to solve problems and admit when something has gone wrong. Staying positive, thinking creatively and being solution-minded are all valuable skills that will serve you well in life, as well as business.

Lotanna was featured on Nigeria’s prominent Newspapers, Nurtured by Truth, The Guardian Newspaper as one of “Nigeria’s Most Outstanding and Impactful Women in Leadership”, and “Nigeria’s fifty most Inspiring and Definitive Top CEOs” in 2024.  She is passionate about women economic empowerment, women’s right advocacy & awareness, access to health, child protection & development, improving lives, creating employment opportunities, driving economy growth, developing people, alleviating poverty, contributing positively to the vibrancy of the   nation’s economic growth and development.

A graduate of Political Science from the University of Jos, Nigeria, Lotanna is a Full Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (MCIPM), a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants (FIMC), a Certified Management Consultant (CMC), and a Full Member of the Association of Outsourcing Professionals of Nigeria (AOPN). Kennedia Consulting Limited (www.kennediaconsulting.net) is globally recognized for Quality Management Systems (QMS) – ISO 9001:2015, licensed by the Nigerian Council For Management Development (NCMD), Chartered

Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Oil and Gas Trainer’s Association of Nigeria (OGTAN), and a corporate member of the Nigerian Institute of Training and Development (NITAD), Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPMN) and Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).