Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Emil Ekiyor left his family (7 sisters and two brothers) in Lagos to pursue Educational opportunities in Daytona Beach, Florida age 15. Emil participated in Basketball, soccer, and football in high school and received a full athletic scholarship to attend the University of Central Florida.  At the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Emil was named a captain on the football team.  After an outstanding college career, Emil went on to play six years in the National Football League with the Tampa Bay Bucs, Atlanta Falcons, and Oakland Raiders.

Upon retiring from the National Football League, Emil has started several businesses in the USA. Launched several projects in Nigeria as CEO of  EnabekSolutions, a company that works with US and Sub Saharan Africa companies to expand and take advantage of the rapid growth in Sub-Saharan imports and exports. Emil also Served as National Executive Director for the GEO Foundation, a nonprofit organization that partners with local community leaders to start, support, and manage high-quality K-12 charter schools in the country.

Emil served as the President of the Indianapolis Chapter of Indiana Black Expo, President of Indy Youth Sports, Indianapolis Prayer Breakfast Leadership Team, and Board of Directors for the Friends of Education, a nonprofit corporation dedicated to improving K-12 education in Minnesota since 1999. The organization authorizes 12 charter schools serving more than 10,000 students

Growing up in Nigeria and then coming to the USA without family and persevering gave Emil a unique perspective on the gaps in Black communities in Sub-Saharan African and in the USA. These experiences and the desire to close the wealth and opportunity gaps for African Americans and Africans were the driving force behind the creation of InnoPower.