LUCY CHIZOBA ONYECHI
Founder & Program Director
Abuja
Summary
Senior global health and development leader with over 15 years of experience designing, operationalizing, and scaling gender-transformative, women-centered, and community-led health and economic empowerment systems across Nigeria and regional contexts. Recognized for translating complex gender, SBC, and advocacy frameworks into practical, measurable, and sustainable interventions embedded within large-scale donor-funded programs and indigenous institutions. Demonstrated leadership across women’s economic empowerment, SRHR, MNCH, nutrition, malaria, and primary health care strengthening, with deep expertise in systems thinking, adaptive design, policy engagement, and institutional capacity building. Currently leads a women-led indigenous organization focused on integrating economic agency, leadership, and health equity to sustain impact beyond donor funding cycles.
Overview
16
16
years of professional experience
Work History
SBC & Strategy Consultant
BBC Media Action
Nigeria
08.2025 - Current
- Supported portfolio design, theory of change development, and partner coordination for foundation-supported SBC investments integrating economic, gender, and social drivers.
Founder & Program Director
Luchon Thrive Initiative
Abuja
01.2024 - Current
- Provide end-to-end organizational leadership, including strategic visioning, governance support, program oversight, and institutional growth.
- Lead resource mobilization, including concept development, grant writing, donor engagement, and partnership development.
- Design and oversee integrated programs linking livelihoods, SRHR, gender norms, leadership, and community engagement.
- Manage multidisciplinary teams, consultants, and community facilitators, ensuring quality implementation and continuous capacity strengthening.
- Lead programs from funding acquisition through implementation, monitoring, learning, documentation, and reporting.
- Translate community insights into evidence, learning products, and scalable models.
- Represent the organization in national and global spaces, advocating for gender-responsive and economically grounded health systems.
- Founder and executive lead of an indigenous organization advancing women’s economic empowerment, gender-responsive health programming, leadership development, and social behaviour change to build long-term community resilience.
Program Lead & Knowledge Management Advisor (Consultant)
Global Health Leadership & Advocacy Accelerator (GHLAA)
Global
04.2025 - 12.2025
- Led coordination of a global youth leadership portfolio, overseeing recruitment, training delivery, evaluation, and alumni engagement across regions.
- Synthesized learning and evidence into concise briefings for senior leadership, strengthening learning-to-investment translation.
Acting Deputy Project Director / Senior Program Officer
Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP)
Abuja
01.2019 - 12.2025
- Provided technical leadership for SBC strategies across FP/RH, MNCH, nutrition, malaria, HIV, and PHC strengthening.
- Led human-centered design processes, translating community insights into scalable interventions.
- Designed adaptive implementation models, continuously refining interventions based on routine monitoring and learning.
- Developed tracking tools, dashboards, and performance review systems to compare state progress and identify gaps.
- Convened routine national–state–LGA learning sessions and led supportive supervision systems.
- Strengthened integration of SBC and gender into national and state planning processes.
- Supervised multidisciplinary teams, consultants, and partner organizations.
- Achieved measurable improvements in demand generation, community engagement, and service uptake across multiple states.
Health Communication Coordinator (Reproductive Health)
Society for Family Health (SFH)
Cross River State
10.2014 - 12.2016
- Achieved 80% FP uptake in target populations through provider mentoring, grassroots mobilization, and enhanced referral systems.
- Strengthened collaboration with state ministries, sustaining FP and MNCH interventions.
BCC Technical Advisor (HIV & AIDS)
Society for Family Health (SFH)
Cross River State
10.2012 - 10.2014
- Provided SBC technical direction for the State Agency for the Control of AIDS (SACA), contributing to reduced HIV prevalence trends.
- Trained 350+ mobilizers on HIV prevention, HCT demand creation, and community advocacy.
Program Administrator
Society for Family Health (SFH)
Abuja
04.2010 - 10.2012
- Coordinated multi-state reproductive health programs, budgets, and training systems, improving operational efficiency and partner engagement.
Education
Master of Education (M.Ed.) - Development Studies, Social Work
University of Calabar
NigeriaBachelor of Education (B.Ed.) - Educational Administration, Planning
University of Calabar
NigeriaSkills
SMART Advocacy
Systems Thinking
Policy Engagement
Strategic Communications
Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning
Affiliations
- Gates Institute Youth Network
- Founder, Luchon Thrive Initiative
Leadership Profile - Summary
Senior global health and development leader with over 15 years of experience designing, operationalizing, and scaling gender-transformative, women-centered, and community-led health and economic empowerment systems across Nigeria and regional contexts. Recognized for translating complex gender, SBC, and advocacy frameworks into practical, measurable, and sustainable interventions embedded within large-scale donor-funded programs and indigenous institutions. Demonstrated leadership across women’s economic empowerment, SRHR, MNCH, nutrition, malaria, and primary health care strengthening, with deep expertise in systems thinking, adaptive design, policy engagement, and institutional capacity building. Currently leads a women-led indigenous organization focused on integrating economic agency, leadership, and health equity to sustain impact beyond donor funding cycles.
Core Expertise
- Gender Equality, Social Inclusion & Systems Leadership (GESI)
- Women’s Economic Empowerment & Livelihoods Integration
- Social & Behaviour Change (SBC) Strategy & Design
- SRHR, FP/RH, MNCH, Nutrition & PHC Strengthening
- Advocacy, SMART Advocacy & Policy Engagement
- Human-Centered Design & Adaptive Programming
- Institutional Capacity Building & Leadership Development
- Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning & Knowledge Management
- Donor Engagement, Proposal Development & Resource Mobilization
Recognition
- 120 Under 40: Next Generation of Family Planning Leaders – Gates Institute
- Leadership & Advocacy Manager, Global Health Leadership & Advocacy Accelerator (GHLAA)
Timeline
SBC & Strategy Consultant
BBC Media Action
08.2025 - Current
Program Lead & Knowledge Management Advisor (Consultant)
Global Health Leadership & Advocacy Accelerator (GHLAA)
04.2025 - 12.2025
Founder & Program Director
Luchon Thrive Initiative
01.2024 - Current
Acting Deputy Project Director / Senior Program Officer
Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP)
01.2019 - 12.2025
Health Communication Coordinator (Reproductive Health)
Society for Family Health (SFH)
10.2014 - 12.2016
BCC Technical Advisor (HIV & AIDS)
Society for Family Health (SFH)
10.2012 - 10.2014
Program Administrator
Society for Family Health (SFH)
04.2010 - 10.2012
Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) - Educational Administration, Planning
University of Calabar
Master of Education (M.Ed.) - Development Studies, Social Work
University of Calabar