Writing with Juliet Iwelunmor

It’s been three months since I transitioned to a much more supportive institution and space for my research with some really heavy weights in Global Health, D&I and grant-writing. Here are some key highlights: 1) Know your worth; 2) Dream about your worth even if for yourself alone: 3) Speak eloquently and proudly about your worth; 4) Leave any space and people who do not recognize your worth; and 5) Still know your worth in any new space and with new people.

My name is Juliet Isioma Iwelunmor-Ezepue. I love to dream and write about my dreams via grants. I am a proud believer as Toni Morrison once eloquently stated that “only dreaming will save us.” So I dream by day and night with all my grants as stories. My middle name Isioma means good knowledge in Igbo. So from infancy, I have been predestined to be in this space and at this time, to dream about complex issues of our times. I thank my family and the love of my life for first naming, defining, guiding and reminding me always to never forget my worth.

In the three months since I transitioned, I have sat in rooms with people I never imagined I would sit next too. I have raised funding, yes, raised funding even after the receipt of grants. I never knew you could even raise funding within academia after you have gotten a grant. Plus if you know the $, you will stand in awe of one who first formed your worth. I am still speechless. I stand in awe too of all the support around me. I am so grateful to everyone coming along to this dream phase of my life.

Last thing, keep, keep & keep a mentor turned guide, turned do-dreamer, who knows your worth, helps you dream about your worth, will pick up the phone in the middle of the night for your worth, and teach you how to meditate and sit in kindness & grace with your worth. So grateful for @CAirhihenbuwa what a year!

We just did the unthinkable, today too, within 3 months of start, with a stellar group that will now push this grant writing thing to the moon and beyond. To be in this space at this time, with the right dreamers, leading the way, is without a doubt priceless for a dreamer like me…’Know your worth.’