Joel is an inspirational human rights advocate. After experiencing extremely challenging times, they felt compelled to tell his story authentically.
Joel is an inspirational human rights advocate. After experiencing extremely challenging times, they felt compelled to tell his story authentically.
Joel organised Nigeria's first all-inclusive LGBTQ+ protest and sought safety in the UK after becoming a person of interest. They survived a life-threatening attack, resulting in homelessness, but continues to volunteer and advocate for change.
Despite adversity, in 2015 Joel founded the Mordi Ibe Foundation (MIF), Nigeria's only charity catering for LGBTQ+ and other vulnerable students to keep them in school, including young girls experiencing period poverty. The foundation has so far impacted over 100,000 young people and is the largest non-profit localising the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in across schools in Nigeria.
Joel has been invited to speak at prestigious events, including parliament and universities. His human rights campaign was featured in the 2022 "Times Higher Education Awards" and his interview with Channel 4 on government cruelty went viral.
Having grown up experiencing bullying behaviour at school, Joel created Nigeria's first ever anti-bullying policy across schools in Delta state to combat children targeted for being different and further dropping out of school.
Joel's resilience and dedication to creating change inspire others globally. They say, “pain is my power and propels me into doing the unthinkable”.
