Foluke is a social change leader, shaped by her eclectic journey that has focused on driving sustainable change for children and women through policy advocacy, strategic planning and outcome monitoring that involves analytical rigor and collaborative leadership. Foluke's current specialisation has evolved from personal observation of unaddressed gaps in how advocacy for and implementation of social policies compare with the actual progress that happens in the lives of children and women.
From volunteering as a teenage public health educator for children and women, Foluke has had the privilege to work in tough and hard-to-reach communities, to lead projects and collaborate at sub-national, national, regional, and global levels. Foluke joined UNICEF in Nigeria in 2016 and in 2020, she was assigned to serve at the Headquarters in New York as an international civil servant with UNICEF in the Division of Global Communication and Advocacy.
Foluke's international development and social change leadership journey began in childhood, living in Kano city, Nigeria, and observing deep levels of socio-economic inequities. With an eclectic and wide-ranging experience, her portfolio covers strategic planning, data analytics, monitoring, and reporting for systemic change, health and social policy, policy advocacy, social protection, child poverty, public health, and public finance.
Before her current assignment with UNICEF Headquarters in New York, Foluke led the process for developing and finalising the first set of sub-national social protection policy and legislation for six states in Nigeria, four of which were approved and signed into law by the state governments. During COVID, Foluke received the solidarity grant awarded to Senior Fellows, and she led a personal project, the Mirrors of Inequity—Alabaru Project, to empower a selected group of female head porters and document the lived experiences of women at the bottom of the open market ecosystem in Lagos, Nigeria.
Academically, she has a Master of Public Health (Epidemiology) from Nigeria's premier University of Ibadan and Master of International Development Policy (MIDP) from Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy.
Technology gives me hope because it has provided a platform for me to hear from far and wide about the inequalities that girls and women face. It has broken barriers and merged a vast global space. Technology keeps alive the flame of working to end inequalities in my lifetime, to pursue knowledge and exchange ideas, and to document what generations yet to come can learn from. Technology gives me hope for the future that improvements can be realised and barriers can be broken. Through technology I hear a steady rhythm to keep working, keep reaching out, keep writing and most importantly keep up hope: this is the right cause to remain committed to!Foluke Ojelabi