Abisoye Ajayi-Akinfolarin (born Abisoye Abosede Ajayi, 19 May 1985) is a social impact entrepreneur and human development expert whose work cuts across education, youth development, and public leadership. She is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Pearls Africa Youth Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on educating young girls and women in underserved communities through providing access to technology proficiency and mentoring for the overarching purpose of economic independence. In the year 2018, in November, Ajayi-Akinfolarin was named one of the top ten

CNN Heroes ''CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute'' is a television special created by CNN to honor individuals who make extraordinary contributions to humanitarian aid and make a difference in their communities. The program was started in 2007. Since 2016, the ...

. She was listed as one of

BBC 100 Women ''100 Women'' is a BBC multi-format series established in 2013. The annual series examines the role of women in the 21st century and has included events in London and Mexico. Announcement of the list is the start of an international "BBC's women ...

in Tech in the same month. Abisoye is a shrewd professional with years of experience in Information Technology, Computer Programming, Data Analysis, and sustaining devotion to creating a difference. __TOC__

Early life and education

Abisoye was born into the family of late Chief James Olaniyi Ajayi and Christina Titilayo Ajayi in

Akure Akure is a city in south-western Nigeria. It is the capital and largest city of Ondo State. The city had a population of 403,000 as at the 2006 population census. History Pre 1914 Rock engravings dating back to the Mesolithic period, hav ...

Ondo State Ondo State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Oǹdó) is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It was created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. It borders Ekiti State to the north, Kogi State to the northeast, Edo State to the east, Delta State to t ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. She attended the Nigerian Institute of Information Technology (NIIT), she further attended the

University of Lagos The University of Lagos, popularly known as UNILAG, is a public research university located in Lagos, Nigeria and was founded in 1962. UNILAG is one of the first generation universities in Nigeria and is ranked among the top universities in th ...

where she earned her Bachelor's Degree in

Business Administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

, a course based on core business functions that accentuate the application of information technology, teamwork, and problem-solving. Abisoye is a

Mason fellow Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cutt ...

with a Mid-Career Masters of

Public Administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

, an alumnus of the

Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

. She is also an Adrian Cheng Fellow, a fellowship for change-makers committed to addressing pressing social problems in new and creative ways.

Professional career

Ajayi-Akinfolarin started her career in EDP Audit and Security Associates as a trainee consultant, 3 years later she worked as a full-time Associate Consultant and Data Analyst for 5 years. Ajayi-Akinfolarin founded Pearls Africa Youth Foundation in 2015, an NGO that is focused on stimulating the cause and advancement of susceptible young girls and women. Ajayi-Akinfolarin believes strongly in the importance of girls and women being not only consumers of technology solutions or products but also creators. Thus these ladies and women are empowered to solve problems in their communities and develop a value for themselves, this gave birth to GirlsCoding, a flagship program of Pearls Africa. Wanting to help close that gap and encourage more women in her field, Ajayi-Akinfolarin established her own non-profit organization. In 2012, Ajayi-Akinfolarin founded Pearls Africa Youth Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organization that assists girls in developing technology skills through various programs including; ''GirlsCoding'', ''G.C Mentors'', ''GirlsInSTEM'' and ''Empowered Hands''. Since 2012, the organization has trained over 10,000 young women to code.

Awards and recognition

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

Heroes honoree, 2018 *

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

100 Women, 2018 *ONE's 2018 Women of the Year Awards

References

External links

official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ajayi-Akinfolarin, Julienne Nigerian women's rights activists Nigerian women in business BBC 100 Women Living people 1985 births Yoruba women in business Yoruba women activists Nigerian social entrepreneurs University of Lagos alumni People from Akure Harvard Kennedy School alumni Mason Fellows