Sylvia Nzekwu

Sylvia Nzekwu is the Principal Consultant of SHAN Consulting Limited and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Association of Law Firm Administrators Nigeria (ALAN). She specialises in working with Professional Service Organisations and has over three decades’ combined experience in the fields of Banking, Trade Development / Regional Integration, Human Resources Management, Administration, and Consulting.

Her professional career started at ICON Limited (Merchant Bankers) and Century Merchant Bank where her team jointly pioneered the development and administration of trade finance instruments and services in the non-oil export sector of the economy. Thereafter, she served as ECOWAS Liaison with The West African Enterprise Network (WAEN), a Private Sector Organisation with headquarters in Ghana which sought to improve regional trade and investment; and as National Focal Point of the Sahel & West Africa Club, a Development Directorate of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) Paris, that analyses and supports regional integration transformations and perspectives within the ECOWAS sub-region.

Sylvia played a pivotal role as Practice Manager at Aluko & Oyebode, handling the core areas of strategic planning, human resources management, financial planning, administration, and facilities management. She revamped internal processes and controls which boosted productivity, efficiency, and accountability across the firm; coordinated various Change Management initiatives; and influenced the cordial relationship between lawyers and Support Staff which resulted in a connected company culture.

She has pioneered and developed resources and initiatives to strengthen partnership systems, enhance employee engagement, and improve the performance, profitability, and sustainability of the Strategic Business Units of law firms. Some of these include the ‘‘Law Firm Compensation & Benefits Survey Report’’ – a unique resource designed to benchmark trends and practices amongst Nigerian law firms; the ‘‘Law Firm Administrators Roundtable (LFAR)’’- a focus event that stimulates the discussion of critical issues confronting firms; the ‘‘Law Firm Management Roundtable (LFMR) – a forum designed for Managing Partners of small-sized law firms (1-10 lawyers) to explore the challenges, obstacles, and opportunities their firms face; and the training programme – ‘‘Essential Competencies for Law Firm Administrators’’. As a Retreat Experience Designer and Facilitator, Sylvia employs creative problem-solving techniques at numerous Strategy Retreats and Learning Sessions.

Sylvia is driven by a love of family and strong personal values. She is bilingual (English and French), enjoys mentoring people, reading biographies, exploring new locations and cultures, and preserving memories for future generations through scrapbooking.