CELESTINE OKEKE

Established SMEDAN's first Program Management Office, designing its charter, governance framework, and hybrid operating manual to standardize program delivery across the organization.

Managed delivery of 6+ concurrent workstreams across 6 geopolitical regions and 10+ institutional partners, coordinating change management, stakeholder engagement, and fundraising.

Configured and deployed a Project Portfolio Management system, replacing fragmented tracking with a real-time executive dashboard for senior leadership visibility.

Achieved approximately 35% improvement in overall program delivery efficiency and grew available donor and grant funds by over 450% through structured resource mobilization.

Reframed the MSME development mandate, shifting the organization from service-provision to systems-change, repositioning SMEDAN as a convener of a multi-stakeholder national MSME ecosystem.

Developed a National MSME Development Plan, a strategic roadmap for coordinated, multi-stakeholder development, based on comprehensive ecosystem review findings.

Built KPI dashboards and performance tracking tools for PMO's executive reporting, enabling real-time monitoring of portfolio delivery and evidence-based decision support.

Managed three national program workstreams, including Employment and Reintegration, Promoting Employment, Youth Economic Inclusion, and Child Labour Elimination in Nigeria.

Achieved 85% milestone delivery across all four programs over a 2.5-year implementation period, improving program reporting quality by approximately 40% through strengthened documentation and tracking systems.

Delivered change management programs for ERN and YEI initiatives, driving adoption of new operational standards for Migrant Resource Centres and the Nigerian Youth Employment Action Plan.

Established and operationalized the National Youth Employment Action Committee and state-level action committees for the NIYEAP Implementation Roadmap 2021-2024.

Led research and analysis of Nigeria's National Employment Policy (NEP) and Nigerian Youth Employment Action Plan (NIYEAP) implementation progress, informing policy revisions.

Provided technical guidance for developing the operational framework for returnee migrant reintegration and a draft feasibility study on youth unemployment.

Managed M&E compliance for 8 sub-grants, developing grant-specific performance plans, overseeing data collection, and producing consolidated M&E reports for governance bodies and donors.

Improved program M&E reporting quality by approximately 40% through strengthened data collection systems and capacity building for implementing partners.

Delivered the N-Power national youth employment program exit strategy for 500,000 beneficiaries across 2 batches and 50+ community sites in 6 geopolitical zones.

Achieved 100% disbursement in full compliance with DFID and World Bank donor requirements, demonstrating all program performance metrics were met.

Led the change management program to reform the framework governing national youth employment programs, addressing systemic failures for sustained, non-dependent employment outcomes.

Redesigned the program delivery model to eliminate double-dipping, introduce structured graduation protocols, and create managed transitions to independent employment or enterprise.

Translated N-Power and N-Build program policy documents into operational delivery standards, accountability frameworks, and compliance requirements governing implementation across 250+ sites.

Designed and managed the M&E system for tracking quarterly disbursement compliance metrics, ensuring each tranche met defined performance conditions for subsequent release.

Developed the M&E framework for the reformed youth employment delivery model, establishing sustainability indicators to track whether program graduates achieved independent employment or enterprise outcomes.

Co-authored a working paper (March 2019) on corruption in Nigeria's MSME development ecosystem, published through Carnegie's international networks.

Conducted original qualitative and quantitative research, analyzing financial records and institutional data across SMEDAN, ITF, BOI, and NEDEP.

Estimated the scale and mechanism of resource misallocation within the MSME development ecosystem.