With a B.S. from Stanford University, Nigerian-American filmmaker Iquo B. Essien began her career at a communications firm serving global health clients like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. Driven to combine her passion for social change and the arts, she received her MFA in Film from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she was nominated for the 2013 Student Academy Awards, 2015 Africa Movie Academy Awards, and won the Spike Lee Production Fund grant for her short Aissa’s Story.

Ms. Essien recently raised $35k on iFundWomen to transform her family’s historical land in Nigeria into the Elizabeth's Daughter Memoir Gallery & Artist Residency—to exhibit an archive of audio recordings, photos, videos, and writing she’s amassed over 10+ years of memoir research. When she’s not making art, Iquo teaches people how to tell their stories, market their work, and raise money through her online course and consultancy, Crowdfund Your Dream. She's helped her clients raise $300K+ to fund their dreams.