Reclaiming Culture, One Story at a Time

About Yvonne Chiọma Mbanefo — Diaspora Heritage & Legacy Strategist

Yvonne Chiọma Mbanefo is a Heritage & Legacy Strategist who helps families, values-led communities, and culture-focused organisations preserve story, identity, and legacy — with systems that honour both culture and clarity. Her work is grounded in a deep commitment to Black and African heritage and the power of intergenerational storytelling.


For over two decades, she has worked at the intersection of digital media, education, information design, technology and ancestral knowledge — guiding families to document the stories of loved ones, and helping institutions ensure cultural accuracy, authenticity, and impact in heritage-based projects.


Yvonne has collaborated with the BBC, UK Cabinet Office, British Library, DuSable Museum of African American History Chicago, the UK Police and Courts, SOAS University of London, and other global institutions. She delivers culturally grounded strategies, inclusive training, and legacy-focused frameworks that support both community memory and institutional integrity.


She served as Executive Producer and Cultural Consultant on Equiano.Stories (Full film available on Instagram and Tiktok), a groundbreaking digital film produced by Stelo Stories that reached over 150 million viewers and was showcased at the United Nations Headquarters. The film is now a global reference in digital Black history education — and was also featured as in-flight entertainment on El Al Airlines.

Yvonne’s contributions brought cultural authenticity, narrative clarity, and educational value to the project, including curriculum development in partnership with the DuSable Museum of African American History, Chicago. (Read the press releases here and here)


As co-founder of the International Igbo Conference (in partnership with SOAS, University of London), Yvonne has been instrumental in shaping one of the most important global forums on African heritage. The Igbo conference is a unique forum that seeks to bring academics, students, members of the Igbo community and the public together for the purpose of knowledge sharing and exchange.

Leveraging this platform, she further spearheaded Igbo heritage Masterclasses/Seminars and impactful pop-up events across West Africa.


She was also a research associate on Re:Entanglements — a collaborative project between SOAS University of London and Cambridge University, re-examining colonial archives from Nigeria and Sierra Leone to uncover their meaning for communities today.

🔎 Core Programs

  • Our Legacy Club
    A guided system that helps families and communities document their stories, reclaim tradition, and build living cultural archives — so heritage doesn’t fade, it flourishes.

  • Smart Systems
    AI-powered, culturally aligned operations for legacy-led brands and values-driven professionals seeking clarity, voice, and growth — without compromising their roots.


  • Cultural Creator
    Ethical storytelling strategy rooted in cultural intelligence — helping museums, educators, and institutions present African and diaspora culture with authenticity and depth. Yvonne also advises on cultural inclusion, heritage policy, and identity-led communications across public and private sectors.


  • Learn Igbo Now
    Digital tools, language packs, and curricula that help the diaspora — especially youth — reconnect with the Igbo language, worldview, and cultural confidence.

    Her YouTube channel Learn Igbo now supports 35,000+ learners worldwide, and her bestselling children's Igbo dictionary Ọkọwa Okwu Igbo Ụmụaka remains a vital resource in the global Igbo community.


  • Black Uncovered
    Pan-African cultural education for those reconnecting with identity after cultural loss — offering digital courses, self-recovery tools, and the affirmation to “go back to go forward.”

Through these five programs, Yvonne supports families, communities, and values-led brands in preserving legacy, reclaiming identity, and growing with cultural clarity.

She has held leadership and consulting roles across national and international organisations, and lectured in Business Information Technology at the University of Greenwich, London for five years.


Yvonne holds a BSc in Digital Media, an MA in Information Design & Online Learning, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education. She is a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy (FHEA).


Her research interests include oral history, decolonisation, indigenous language documentation, digital humanities, and self-led cultural recovery in the digital age.

My Mission :


I’m committed to celebrating and safeguarding Black and African heritage — preserving our stories, language, and culture — while welcoming anyone who shares in this sacred work of honouring and protecting cultural legacy

“My work is about igniting a paradigm shift — transforming how Black and African heritage is presented, consumed, and reclaimed.”

Speaking Out: Global Platforms, African Stories

From international stages to influential media, I use every opportunity to amplify African voices and cultural truth.

At TEDGlobal 2017, Yvonne was invited by TED Conferences to talk about the decline of African languages and the power of stories for language and culture preservation.

Yvonne speaks on the global stage about saving African languages — and why preserving them is vital to protecting cultural legacy.

Yvonne Mbanefo & Dr. Kim L. Dulaney Speak On ‘Equiano Stories’, Black History, DuSable Museum and Social Learning at The Breakfast Club, an American syndicated radio show based in New York City.

Yvonne joins Dr. Kim L. Dulaney to explore storytelling, identity, and reclaiming African narratives through Equiano Stories.

Cultural Learning On-Demand

Explore a growing library of videos designed to help you reconnect with African languages, conversations, stories, and cultural identity — wherever you are in the world.

“Preserve the Past. Shape the Future.”


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Language. Story. Culture. Heritage. Legacy. | Legacy isn’t what you leave. It’s what you live.