Adaeze Muonyelu

Based in Lagos, Adaeze Chidinma Muonyelu is Smile Train’s Program Assistant, Nigeria. In this role, she helps plan and implement local strategies to further Smile Train’s work sponsoring high-quality and safe cleft care across Nigeria.

Ada is a passionate advocate for maternal and child health, as well as an enterprising team player in fast-paced professional milieux.

She has worked in rural communities, where she focused on building women’s confidence, coordinating safe-space models, and changing narratives in West Africa through grassroots advocacy, planning, and managing multiple projects simultaneously. In these roles, she displayed dynamic leadership capacity and fostered wholesome cross-cultural relationships.

Prior to joining Smile Train, Ada worked with the World Young Women’s Christian Association (WYWCA) in Geneva, Switzerland for eight years as a digital engagement consultant and volunteer advocate for expanding leadership opportunities for young women. She spends her spare time volunteering with the Nigerian Red Cross Society and advocating with the African Union/UNICEF End Female Genital Mutilation and Child Marriage in Africa campaign.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University in Anambra State. Her interest in learning and understanding the traditional approach to health spurred her postgraduate studies at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, where she earned her master’s degree in pharmacognosy.

Ada enjoys dancing, watching documentaries, reading poetry, and engaging in women’s health development in underserved communities. She is excited to bring her energy to a results-driven environment at Smile Train, with the hope of helping the organization achieve its goals, one smile at a time.