Nnenna O. Akotaobi

Founder & Principal

nnenna@122consultinggroup.com

Nnenna Akotaobi, EdM., is the founder and principal of 122 Consulting Group, and also works as a freelance diversity and leadership consultant, speaker, and facilitator. Prior to transitioning to consulting full time, Nnenna served as the Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Senior Woman Administrator (SWA)/Title IX Deputy Coordinator at Swarthmore College for eight years. At Swarthmore, Nnenna supervised critical infrastructure related to internal operations, student-athlete well- being, diversity/equity/inclusion, and professional development of staff and coaches. She served in various leadership roles on campus including campus CARE team, the President's diversity leadership team, and as a liaison or facilitator for various campus initiatives. In addition, Nnenna taught and facilitated over 60 workshops per year for the campus community on a variety of topics including healthy relationships, consent, team culture, anti-hazing, harassment prevention, diversity and inclusive excellence, restorative justice practices, and leadership development.

Prior to arriving at Swarthmore, Nnenna worked at Grinnell College, where she was the coordinator for diversity and inclusion in athletics and assistant coordinator for athletic facilities and event management. In a first of its kind role for NCAA Division III, Nnenna worked to promote diversity within the department and was responsible for the retention and recruitment of student- athletes from underrepresented backgrounds. Nnenna was the Director of Championships and Assistant to the Commissioner at the Midwest Conference before arriving at Grinnell. In this role, she managed championship operations and diversity projects for the conference’s member institutions. While at the Midwest Conference, Nnenna designed a diversity assessment metric still used nationally by many conferences and institutions.

A native of Thornton, Colorado, Nnenna is a graduate of the University of Denver, where she was a standout student-athlete on the Pioneers' Division I basketball team during her four-year playing career. She completed her master’s work with a concentration in diversity and equity in education (DE) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign program for Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership.

Nationally, Nnenna has served as a member of the NCAA Division III Management Council (2014- 18) and chaired the Management Council Subcommittee on Legislative Relief during her tenure. She was also chair of the NCAA Minority Opportunity & Interests Committee (MOIC) from 2016-18 and served on that committee for six years. Her national leadership and diversity and inclusion issues in higher education led to her appointment to the NCAA Board of Governors Ad Hoc Committee to Promote Cultural Diversity and Equity in 2016. Locally, Nnenna is active in the Philadelphia area, and was appointed to the DiverseForce on Boards nonprofit board training program at the University of Pennsylvania in fall of 2019. Nnenna has served as a panelist, speaker, presenter, and consultant locally and nationally on a variety of topics ranging from gender equity and sexual violence prevention, to diversity and inclusive excellence in higher education. She is a certified facilitator and trainer of several psychometric assessment and leadership development tools including the Everything DiSC ® and the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) ®.