Maryanne Ogeyi Ngban is a purpose-driven leader, transformational coach, author, speaker, and social impact advocate with over three decades of leadership experience in human resources, capacity development, and organizational transformation.
Following a distinguished career in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, where she served in senior human resource leadership and spent many years preparing professionals for life beyond work, Maryanne recognized a deeper challenge facing individuals and communities: many people retire from their jobs without discovering their true purpose, while countless young people struggle to find meaningful opportunities in a rapidly changing world.
This realization inspired her to establish ARK OF CYPRESS Inc. a nonprofit organization committed to transforming lives through education, empowerment, leadership development, entrepreneurship, and sustainable community impact.
The vision of ARK OF CYPRESS was born through years of humanitarian outreach to underserved communities around Abuja, Nigeria. During evangelistic missions, Maryanne encountered women unable to support their families, children who could not afford school, and young people without hope or opportunities. Rather than simply identifying these challenges, she responded by mobilizing practical solutions—supporting children’s education, creating youth development initiatives, partnering with organizations to provide entrepreneurship training, and empowering vulnerable communities to build sustainable livelihoods.
Maryanne is also the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Maryogey Global Consultancy Limited, where she developed the *Purpose Driven Income Strategy (PDIS)*—a transformational framework that helps professionals, entrepreneurs, retirees, and young graduates discover their purpose and convert their knowledge, experience, and expertise into solutions that create lasting influence, meaningful impact, and sustainable income.
She is the author of Seven Keys to Living a Fulfilled and Balanced Life in Retirement and is widely recognized for her work in retirement transformation, leadership development, purpose discovery, and personal reinvention. Her passion is helping people move beyond survival to significance by discovering who they were created to become.
Maryanne holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English from the University of Lagos and a Master’s Degree in Human Resource Management from Rome Business School, Italy. She has also completed executive education programmes, including negotiation studies at Harvard University.
Her life is guided by the conviction that every individual is created with a unique purpose and that sustainable development begins by empowering people to discover their identity, create value, and become agents of transformation within their communities.
Through ARK OF CYPRESS Inc., Maryanne continues to champion initiatives that advance education, youth and women empowerment, leadership development, poverty reduction, entrepreneurship, and community resilience, while contributing to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Nigeria Public Servant | Disability Advocate | Professional Sign Language Interpreter | WASLI Board Secretary
Timothy Tinat Gwazah is an accomplished Nigerian Public Servant, dynamic Disability Advocate, and Professional Sign Language Interpreter with a distinguished track record of bridging communication gaps and driving institutional inclusion. Serving globally as the elected Secretary of the World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI) for the 2023–2027 tenure, Timothy pairs high-level international governance with concrete grassroots impact. His career spans administrative excellence in Nigeria’s public sector, legislative and structural policy development, and cross-sector partnerships aimed at building sustainable equity for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities.
Pauline Ngban is a biomedical scientist and clinical research professional based in the United States who is passionate about empowering the next generation through education, mentorship, and community service. She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Biomedical Science from the United Kingdom and combines her scientific background with a heart for helping others reach their full potential.
Pauline is committed to developing programs that inspire young people to believe in their potential, make informed life choices, and build skills for future success. Through school talks, youth empowerment initiatives, health education, and community outreach, she hopes to encourage individuals to become confident leaders and positive agents of change. She is dedicated to advancing the nonprofit’s mission of creating stronger, healthier, and more empowered communities.
