My name is Chioma Nwakalor. I am beautiful, intelligent, driven, God fearing and filled with resilience. I am from the great country of Nigeria! The giant of Africa, armed with the most diligent and hardworking people I have ever come across. My advocacy is to promote and empower young African women and girls in Engineering. I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering concentrated in Biomedical Engineering and a minor in Biology. I currently work as a Quality Engineer. I enjoy going to church, reading, cooking, watching movies and helping people. I believe that to truly love, you must give. The Miss Africa USA pageant will give me the opportunity to not only amplify my platform but also give my skills, my resources and myself while expressing my love for humanity. 

During my time in secondary school in Nigeria, I enjoyed science and mathematics classes. However, due to lack of female representation in engineers around me, I chose not to pursue an engineering degree. Overtime, I realized that my purpose was and still is in Engineering. With my desire to live a purpose driven life, I began to pursue an engineering degree and career. I overcame many challenges as an African woman during my tenure in engineering college. A major challenge was the lack of African and black women in the engineering community. To combat this,I embraced myself into leadership positions at various student body organizations and founded an on campus church organization. I became an active member of the Society of Women Engineers and led various collegiate groups in the organisation. One of my most rewarding experiences was tutoring black girls in low income high schools in neighboring districts. The look of admiration, awe and pride from these young students seeing an African female engineer forever warmed my heart and fueled my passion to encourage young black and African girls to pursue engineering careers. This experience coupled with the lack of black and African women community in Engineering, motivated me to create a community for black and African women in Engineering. With this platform, I plan to not only serve as a role model, leader and inspiration for young black and African women with a passion for engineering, but also create a non profit foundation to support them emotionally, professionally, financially, spiritually and physically. 

Winning Miss Africa USA would be an absolute dream come true. My platform and morals fall in line with the values of a true Miss Africa USA queen steering change in the next generation of African female Engineers.