Betty Irabor is a Nigerian columnist, philanthropist, writer, publisher, and founder of Genevieve magazine. She previously had a column in Black & Beauty magazine in the United Kingdom. She also has a foundation that promotes breast cancer awareness, early detection, and treatment.
Irabor studied English in university and then ventured into publishing. She worked as a journalist at Concord Newspapers, and took freelance writing jobs at the Vanguard, The Guardian, This Day as well as Black & Beauty magazine and others abroad. She later ventured into telecommunications. In 2003 she founded Genevieve Magazine, which has been described as “Nigeria’s leading inspirational and lifestyle magazine“, one of the most-read lifestyle, fashion, and beauty magazines in Nigeria.
In 2005, Irabor launched the Genevieve Foundation, which holds an annual Pink Ball as a fundraiser for breast cancer victims. She also hosted and presented a talk show “Life’s Lessons with Betty Irabor,” which aired on LindaIkejiTV in December 2017. She was honored by the Association of Professional Women Bankers as the Most Accomplished Female Publisher in Nigeria in 2011.
In 2018, her memoir – Dust to Dew was published. In it, she chronicles her struggles with depression.
Born and raised in Nigeria, Irabor has been married to Soni Irabor for over 35 years, with whom she has two children.
PHILANTHROPY
Betty Irabor founded Genevieve Pinkball Foundation (GPF) in 2005. The foundation is a non-profit initiative of Genevieve Magazine to increase breast cancer awareness, prevention, education, screening, and treatment in Nigeria.
Genevieve Pinkball which started out as a platform for creating awareness for breast cancer has grown into a foundation that offers treatment to cancer patients that cannot afford it. They hold events annually to raise funds used in providing free surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and breast reconstructive surgery to patients.
The foundation donated a mammography machine to Lagos State Teaching Hospital for early diagnosis of breast cancer. In 2014, GPF partnered with Access Bank and other leading brands to stage an annual Run/Walk/Cycle for breast cancer awareness.