CEBAH Presents 2025 Fall Innovator in Residence Alumna Grace Adofoli

The College of Education, Business and Allied Health (CEBAH) welcomed back Founder, CEO and Alumna Grace Adofoli, in her Innovator in Residence keynote presentation, “We Don’t Patch Cracks: Rebuilding Leadership from the Inside Out.”

On Wednesday, Oct.29, Adofoli presented her take on leadership and principle, focusing on who the person is before they focus on a business.

Every semester the program calls for a new representative, a person who has in one way or another raised the bar for innovation and business flow all together. Searching for the person with that “it” factor. This semester UWRF welcomed Adofoli home as she was selected to be the Fall 2025 Innovator in Residence speaker.

The Innovator in Residence program hadn’t featured a speaker since 2022 due to the selection process, requiring a speaker who is capable in participating in a three-part series; An in-class engagement session for students within the college of business and economics, a luncheon for students and faculty, and the keynote Innovator in Residence presentation open to the campus community.

Programming for the Innovator in Residence began in the early 2000s as “Executive in Residence” with the intention to create a platform that could allow students the ability to visualize their future in a way that provided engagement, inspiration, and “out of the box” thinking.

The earliest recorded program through the UWRF website is 2016, when president of a data systems company known as American Government Services (AGS), Derrick Edwards, presented his talk “Bridging Views of Innovation”. Each year CEBAH begins their search for their potential residence for the academic semesters.

Dawn Hukai, Accounting professor and Associate Dean CEBAH, worked restlessly to produce a speaker this year after receiving a recommendation from the office of University Advancement and Alumni Relations. After an encounter with Adofoli in the spring of 2025, faculty member Pedro Renta shared the news of her appearance on campus and instantly got talking about the ways Adofoli could continue her legacy with the university, according to Hukai.

Hukai viewed the Innovator in Residence program as the perfect opportunity for Adofoli to not only share her profound wisdom through her experience out in world, but also share her own new work in the world of innovation.

Shifting Waters Leadership Institute (SWLI), is Adofoli's newest establishment and approach in world-wide leadership. SWLI, an institute with the goal of instilling leadership through holistic practices, is a long awaited passion project turned life work for Grace Adofoli.

Grace Adofoli graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Psychology in 2013, as a student Adofoli spent her time well at the university, participating in clubs such as the Black Student Union, where she held the position of president and was even awarded the highest non-academic achievement, the Chancellor's Award.

Even through her career as a student she exemplified what it meant to work relentlessly to pave a road of success. Her ambition and vision, however, did not stop there.

After graduation, Adofoli's accolades grew numerously as she went on to become an award-winning global public speaker, advisor, coach, and consultant. With her name and experience spanning across more than 30 countries in Africa, the Americas and Asia.

UWRF could not have asked for a better representative to re-ignite the Innovator in Residence program. "Grace's accomplished career certainly made her an appropriate keynote presenter!... a terrific Innovator in Residence...", said Rick Foy, Assistant Chancellor for University Advancement.

Hukai said that the overall goal was "for them [students] to visualize what things will look like five years from now- 10 years from now- the different trajectories- the ways that careers can grow- that what you do in your major, some people end up doing that and their really happy, other people they start off with their major but they go off in this other direction..."

The connection created during Adofoli's presentation was truly a sight. She commanded the room without force and spoke with power and knowledge. From her simple statement..."come close, I want to be able to touch you" when telling the room of people spread out between rows of chairs to move closer to the front, and closer to one another- To her drawing the crowd in through engaging conversations by walking around the room looking for responses from the audience. Grace Adofoli's presence was truly one to remember.

After the presentation audience members were given the opportunity to come up and speak with Adofoli, faculty and students gave her praises, while others inquired more about her work with SWLI and what inspired her. Stephanie Shipp, Campus Reservations Coordinator, was a faculty member who attended the presentation and felt the experience was "really impactful".

During her presentation the audience was asked to reflect on this question, "Who are the people who have shaped you?" Adofoli requested they think about one who shaped them positively as well as negatively. "I have been reflecting on it since she spoke...I felt like it was outside of the box of what we would normally do in a work day..."

Faculty weren't the only ones who walked away inspired from the experience, many students who had the opportunity to speak with Adofoli during her classroom engagement also attended the keynote presentation while others were hearing her speak for the first time.

Student Jacee Frank, sophomore, attended the presentation after hearing about the event.

“Being able to hear experienced leaders speak about their career journeys is an opportunity everyone should jump at headfirst,” Frank said.

Frank was one of the many students who heard Adofoli speak for the first time and it’s safe to say it was a fulfilling experience.

“With only one hour of her time, her story strengthened my passion to lead and uplift those around me,” Frank said.

It wasn’t just the UWRF community that reflected so deeply on the events that had just taken place. When asked how much this opportunity meant to Grace Adofoli, she had this to say.

“Returning to UWRF was more than just a visit — it felt like coming home… Standing there, presenting my work to the next generation of students, was both humbling and deeply fulfilling. I was reminded of the mentors, programs, and experiences that shaped me… What made it even more meaningful was seeing the same spirit of curiosity and courage in today’s students — the willingness to ask big questions and create impact beyond themselves. To be recognized by the very place that helped me begin this journey was a full-circle moment of gratitude, reflection, and renewed commitment to continue leading and giving back.”

Adofoli’s commitment to present to the UWRF community not only re-shaped their view of leadership and innovation, but also her own, aiding in continuing full circle moments to come.