Nmadili Okwumabua is a cultural designer, urbanist and educator in African architecture and community planning. Her passion for design is rooted in a vision where communities in Africa and the Diaspora are developed with new architectural languages that preserve heritage, and are culturally and environmentally sustainable. In 2005, she founded Southern Sahara USA, an international consultancy specializing in the research and development of this new architecture. 

Nmadili Okwumabua attended the University of Tennessee and Georgia State University, where she pursued undergraduate studies in architecture and urban studies. She holds a masters degree in African and African American studies from Clark Atlanta University, where her research centered on the evolution of modern vernacular architecture in Nigeria. In 2013, the fruits of these efforts gave birth to the Community Planning & Design Initiative, Africa, (CPDI Africa), a research-based, culture-inspired initiative created to develop new African architectural languages through design competition. Believing that the redevelopment of Africa's built environment should be as it has always been, built as a collaborative effort between the community members and designated master builders, Ms. Okwumabua engages participation from the design community throughout the African Diaspora, for the accomplishment of the CPDI Africa vision.

In this episode we dive deep into Nmadili's journey in the world of architecture and design, some challenges she took on while exploring what architecture meant for her and why she founded CPDI Africa as well as what the future looks like for her organization.

Link to CPDI Africa: https://cpdiafrica.blogspot.com/