Adaora Udoji

Adaora was a recent law graduate in Los Angeles when by chance, she become part of the team at ABC News covering the O.J. Simpson criminal trial. It was an unlikely launch for someone who planned on living out life as a tax lawyer. It was the beginning of an esteemed career across the full spectrum of broadcast and digital media platforms.

As a journalist, Adaora progressed from a television news producer to foreign correspondent, anchor then co-host, at ABC News, CNN Court TV and public radio, she covered some of the biggest stories of modern history, from the election of Barack Obama to the world economies through the economic meltdown of 2008 to Wimebeldon and the Tour de France to both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and just about everything in between traveling across five continents, dozens and dozens of countries and hundreds of cities. It’s added up to thousands of miles traveled, scenes described and people met, witnessed and stories told.

She was among those honored when CNN won a Peabody Award for coverage of Hurricane Katrina, as well as when the network received a Dupont-Columbia University Award for reporting on the 2004 Tsunami disaster in South Asia. The National Academy of Arts & Sciences cited her reporting during the Afghanistan war. She also was part of the team that produced a documentary on death row at ABC News that won a Cine Eagle Award. Adaora's other accolades include The Network Journal’s ‘40 under 40’ achievement award; The United Nation’s World Diversity Leadership Summit's Leadership Award; and recognition by Essence magazine as one of the most 25 Influential African-Americans.

As an entrepreneur, occasional angel investor and founder of the start-up outLoud, inc, Adaora is focused on cultivating the incredible potential of other people’s stories. outLoud, inc. is a digital and technology public speaking platform designed to help a wide variety of clients —from students and CEOs — tell their stories out loud in pitches, speeches, presentations and other forms of public speaking.

Prior to founding outLoud, Adaora served as interim president of the award-winning startup, News Deeply, which specializes in single-topic publishing and technology. Time Magazine hailed the company’s flagship, SyriaDeeply.org as, “The future of news.” It was a role she took on after coming into the innovation economy by way of the Pipeline Fund Fellowship, focused on angel investing.

She is associated with a number of startups, including: America Meet World; Cisse, Ltd; Hubster TV; Mogul. She has served as a mentor for Women Innovate Mobile, a startup accelerator and has a particular interest in startups at the nexus of new media and technology, such as Single Palm Tree Productions.

In 2014, Black Enterprise magazine recognized her among the 20 Black Angels Worth Knowing For Minority Startups.