We are Africa's leading emotional intelligence and life skills academy for children and families — built by Africans, for Africans, wherever in the world they call home.
The Roots & Wings Story
Roots & Wings Academy was born in Lagos in 2019 from a simple but urgent conviction: African children — whether growing up in Ibadan or in London, in Accra or in Atlanta — deserved access to high-quality emotional intelligence education anchored in who they are.
Mainstream educational programmes were not designed with our children in mind. They didn't speak to the particular weight of dual identity, the silent pressure to assimilate, the absence of African values in the curriculum, or the complex emotional landscape that comes with being young, Black, and navigating the world.
So we built something that did. Today, Roots & Wings is a fully online, globally delivered academy serving children aged 5 to 17 and their families across four continents — with a team of qualified African child development experts who understand the communities they serve.
African values, proverbs, and storytelling woven into every session.
Curriculum grounded in child psychology and emotional intelligence research.
Fully online, time-zone flexible, serving families on four continents.
Peer cohorts, parent sessions, and alumni networks that last beyond the programme.
To equip every African child with the emotional intelligence, cultural pride, and life skills they need to thrive — in Africa and across the world.
We believe that academic excellence without emotional grounding is an incomplete education. Our mission drives everything — from the programmes we design to the facilitators we train to the families we serve.
Make the life skills that schools don't teach — self-awareness, empathy, resilience, emotional regulation — accessible to every African child, regardless of where they live.
Give children a framework to understand, embrace, and take pride in their heritage — turning identity complexity from a burden into a superpower.
Support parents alongside their children. When caregivers are equipped with language and tools, the home becomes the most powerful classroom of all.
Connect children and families across borders so that no child ever feels alone in navigating the unique experience of growing up African in today's world.
We measure our success not only in the children we reach today, but in the generation of emotionally whole, culturally rooted African adults they will become.
We envision a generation of African children — from Lagos to London, Nairobi to New York — who are emotionally equipped, culturally confident, and ready to lead.
A continent and diaspora where emotional intelligence is valued as highly as academic intelligence — from the home to the boardroom, from childhood to leadership.
A generation of African children for whom their heritage is not a source of confusion or shame, but a source of unshakeable strength, creativity, and purpose.
A thriving network of African families across the world who support, uplift, and inspire each other — bound by shared values and a shared vision for their children.
A future where educational institutions across Africa and the diaspora integrate emotional intelligence into their curricula as standard — inspired by what we have proven is possible.
Parents and caregivers equipped with the language, tools, and community they need to raise emotionally whole children — bridging the gap between the old world and the new.
Children who grow up with emotional intelligence raising their own children with it — creating a ripple of positive impact across generations and communities.
Qualified, passionate, and deeply invested in the communities they serve. Every member of our team brings lived experience alongside their professional expertise.
Founder & Executive Director
Born in Enugu and raised between Lagos and London, Dr. Adaeze Okonkwo-Briggs spent her childhood navigating the beautiful complexity of dual identity — and emerged from it with a calling. After over a decade working in child development, education, and family therapy across the UK, Nigeria, and the United States, she founded Roots & Wings Academy in 2019 to give African children the support she wished she'd had.
Her approach weaves clinical expertise with African cultural wisdom — drawing on Igbo proverbs, oral storytelling traditions, and community-centred values to create programmes that feel both rigorous and deeply human. She is a sought-after speaker, a published author on African child development, and a mother of three who still takes time to personally review every family's application.
Emeka holds an MSc in Educational Psychology from the University of Ibadan and brings 8 years of curriculum design experience across secondary schools in Nigeria and the UK. He oversees the pedagogical rigour of all three Roots & Wings programme tiers and leads facilitator training. A Yoruba speaker fluent in the cultural nuances of both Lagos and diaspora life, he ensures every module speaks truthfully to the children it serves.
Chidinma is the warm, attentive voice that many families first encounter at Roots & Wings. A trained counsellor with a BA in Social Work from the University of Manchester, she manages all family onboarding, handles sensitive enquiries, and coordinates the parent coaching components of each programme. Having grown up in Manchester as the daughter of Nigerian immigrants, she brings authentic personal insight to every conversation.
Jide is a certified life coach and youth mentor with a background in adolescent psychology (PGDip, Ryerson University, Toronto). He splits his time between Lagos and Toronto, which makes him uniquely equipped to facilitate the Wings programme for teenagers navigating life between worlds. His sessions are widely described by participants as the highlight of their week — part coaching, part storytelling, part big-brother wisdom.
Funmi is a qualified Early Childhood Education specialist (BEd, Obafemi Awolowo University) with 11 years in nursery and primary settings across Oyo and Lagos States. She designed the foundational play-based methodology behind Little Roots, ensuring that emotional intelligence concepts are delivered in ways that 5–8 year olds find genuinely joyful. Parents consistently describe her sessions as transformative — and hilarious.
Tokunbo is the architect behind the seamless digital experience that makes Roots & Wings truly global. A Computer Science graduate of Covenant University with a background in EdTech product management, he oversees the Academy's online learning infrastructure, payment systems, and the technical integration that allows families in Lagos and Los Angeles to participate in the same live session without a hitch.
Dr. Ngozi holds a PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of Ghana and leads all research, evaluation, and impact measurement at Roots & Wings. She ensures that programme outcomes are rigorously tracked, that the curriculum evolves with the latest evidence, and that the Academy's impact is documented and shared with the broader African education community. Her work underpins the credibility that families trust.
We are always looking for qualified child development professionals, coaches, and educators who share our mission. If you have the expertise and the heart for this work, we would love to hear from you.