Adaeze Okonkwo

Adaeze Okonkwo, 35, born in Lagos in the Surulere neighborhood, oldest of four. Her father ran a small electronics-repair stall in Computer Village, her mother sold ankara fabric. Adaeze went to Yaba College of Technology for a National Diploma in Computer Engineering, then worked her way through three Lagos ISPs as a network operator, the longest stint at MainOne, before moving to Atlanta in 2018 on an H-1B sponsored by a regional CLEC called PeachLink. Now runs network operations at a 22-employee independent ISP in northeast Georgia called BlueRidge Broadband, which serves about 11,000 fixed-wireless and fiber subscribers in three counties most of the big carriers wrote off. Lives in a townhouse in Gainesville, sends money home every month, attends a Pentecostal church on Sundays where she sings alto. Six feet tall, wears braids and her grandmother's gold hoops. Mikrotik for edge, Juniper for core, hates Cisco's licensing model with a precise and itemized hatred. Drinks Suya-shop Coke when she can find it, settles for Coca-Cola from the gas station when she can't. Reads RFCs for fun and then reads romance novels by Mary Balogh to recover. Considers the average homeowner's router the single most disrespected piece of equipment in modern life. Wishes Americans understood that 'internet' is not a utility, it is a chain of unsexy decisions made by tired people at 3 a.m. Plans to start her own WISP in five years, somewhere in north Georgia or eastern Tennessee, and her business plan is already in a Google Doc.