Speakers

Grace E Olugbodi

Founder, BeGenio

Dr. Grace E Olugbodi is the creator of the multi-award winning maths board game, Race To Infinity (part of her series of 5 games) and the author of Make Maths Fun: How to Increase Your Child’s Grades and Confidence Through Games.

Grace graduated with 1st Class Honours in BSc Computing with Information Systems from London Guildhall University (2000) and holds an MSc in Financial Markets with Information Systems from London Metropolitan University (2003). In 2000, she became an Investment Banker and Java Software Programmer and worked in five different Investment Banks over many years. 

Grace’s educational solutions support parents and teachers to use a special method that makes maths fun, increases confidence, reduces mathematical anxiety and helps increase children’s opportunities and life chances.

She has also run a Master Dealership for 13 years distributing specialised healthy kitchen equipment for families.

Grace struggled to excel at maths when she was ten years old. During her summer holidays, her father taught her how to enjoy maths by making it fun and creative.

Her attitude to maths changed and she loved maths from then on. Grace started to excel at maths and won the school prize for maths, out of over 350 students. 

Grace learnt that anyone can enjoy maths when maths is made fun and creative. She credits all her career success to her parents and the confidence she gained through having fun with maths.

Grace is on a mission to change the way children learn maths, so that they are equipped to fulfil their potential in life.

She is the Chair of Governors and Trustees of a Primary School and the Chair of the Finance Committee. She is also the Governor in charge of Creative Curriculum, teaching and learning for the school; as well as a former Trustee and Director on the SU Board of one of Central London’s largest Universities. 

She is also a Director & Trustee on a Multi Academy Trust (MAT) comprising 6 Primary and Nursery Schools. 

Her Race To Infinity game launched in December 2016 and has won several National & International Awards and has been endorsed and approved by organisations including National Numeracy, Tower Hamlets Education BP and the Good Toy Guide. Grace has also won numerous awards in the last few years, including the Micro to Small Business Award 2019 for the Royal London Borough of Greenwich Business Awards 2019. She was a Judge alongside the now Mayor of Greenwich on the 2020 Awards.

Many Headteachers, Heads of Maths Depts, teachers, parents, children, tuition centres and tutors have all enthusiastically endorsed the game.

It has been awarded the prestigious Amazon CHOICE BADGE and the Amazon BESTSELLER BADGE multiple times by Amazon.Co.Uk and Amazon.com. In 2018, Amazon asked to partner directly with Grace’s company and became a partner, so Amazon now buys the Race To Infinity game wholesale and sells retail. 

Partnerships also include an ERDF-Funded (European Regional Development Fund) project to produce a digitised version of Race To Infinity as an Augmented-Reality APP which uses Artificial Intelligence and provides a truly inclusive support system for children and families to learn through play. Additionally, Grace partners with Berkeley Homes and Peabody Trust, to use Race To Infinity within Schools. Furthermore, the University of Greenwich and The Royal Borough of Greenwich are partnering with Grace in a research project which is assessing Race To Infinity against the 3 key aims of the National Curriculum in schools. 

Grace has been interviewed on BBC NEWS Live and BBC World and spoken at Barclays Plc, Department of International Trade, FCDO (Foreign & Commonwealth Office) and the London School of Economics events.

She is a Speaker for Inspiring the Future and a National Numeracy Challenge Champion. She has also been quoted on NBC, FOX, ABC, and CBS News, and has been featured in UK local, national and international media including the UK Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and several international newspapers including The Guardian. 

In 2019, Grace was awarded a Honorary Doctorate Degree from London Metropolitan University in recognition of her work in helping children fall in love with Mathematics.

UK’s Department of International Trade has recently named Dr. Grace Olugbodi a DIT Export Champion for 2020 and for 2021.