nneka.onyilofor@mcnallysmith.edu

A Milwaukee, Wisconsin native with direct Nigerian ancestry, Nneka Onyilofor attained her B.S. in Family Social Science and Masters of Liberal Studies (M.L.S.) degree from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Being passionate about her community, Nneka expanded her mission to West Africa, as she completed her master’s thesis on globalization in West African contemporary culture, with a major focus on Ghanaian hip-life music. She has studied in Ghana, French-speaking Mali and Rio de Janeiro and Salvador (Bahia) Brazil, to learn more about the African diaspora.

Nneka has worked at African American Family Services and at the University of Minnesota as an Admissions Counselor. She was also the lead instructor for three black history courses in the University of Minnesota’s African American and African Studies Department . Additionally, she has coordinated and taught a community based college preparation course to high school students.

Her other interests include writing, as she was a freelance writer for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder Newspaper and has been published in various local publications such as the African News Journal and the St. Paul Almanac. She was the founder of Moonlight Poetry, an open mike venue in Minneapolis and she participated in the 2008 Givens Black Writer’s Retreat in Minnesota. She is also a program director with a locally based networking and entertainment group called African Global Roots.

Residing in St. Paul, Minnesota, she currently holds a full time position as an Outreach Counselor at the University of MN. She also holds an adjunct faculty position at McNally Smith, teaching Diaspora of African Music.