Bekeme Masade-Olowola is a Nigerian social entrepreneur, a member of the Board of Directors of the

Global Reporting Initiative The Global Reporting Initiative (known as GRI) is an international independent standards organization that helps businesses, governments and other organizations understand and communicate their impacts on issues such as climate change, human righ ...

(GRI) – the world's leading sustainability impact measurement and reporting standards body – and the Chief Executive of CSR-in-Action, a group made of a consulting firm, a think tank and a training institute dedicated to corporate social responsibility, policy development, advocacy, empowerment and sustainable development in the region.

Biography

Bekeme Masade-Olowola was born and raised in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

. She graduated with a second class upper degree, BA (Hons) English, from 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 ...

in 2004. In January 2008, she was selected as one of 18 young professional contestants chosen from Africa and the Diaspora to participate in ''

The Apprentice Africa ''The Apprentice Africa'' is an African version of the original American Reality TV format, ''The Apprentice'', hosted by Donald Trump. The show was hosted by Mr. Biodun Shobanjo, an advertising magnate, co-founder of Insight Communications and ...

''. As a social entrepreneur, Bekeme Masade-Olowola is the Chief Executive of CSR-in-Action, a social business networking platform and advisory enterprise, dedicated to

corporate social responsibility Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a form of international private business self-regulation which aims to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropic, activist, or charitable nature by engaging in or supporting volunteering or ethicall ...

, women and youth empowerment, and

sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

in Nigeria. Under Masade-Olowola, CSR-in-Action has promoted sustainable measurement and reporting using the GRI framework, specifically, since 2011, and has catalysed the growth of sustainability adoption and transparency in the region through consulting, training and advocacy interventions. CSR-in-Action produced the pioneer sustainability investment report in Nigeria The Collective Social Report: Nigeria (now The Corporate Sustainable Investor Report), endorsed by the

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established an international environmental treaty to combat "dangerous human interference with the climate system", in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in th ...

(UNFCCC), and supported by

United Nations Global Compact The United Nations Global Compact is a non-binding United Nations pact to encourage businesses and firms worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation. The UN Global Compact is a princ ...

(UNGC), in March 2012; a first of its kind compendium which includes a rating of business sustainability performance. The 2013 report saw the organization's introduction of a sustainability ranking index. In 2014, CSR-in-action was lobbying to unlock over $100 billion in mineral resources potential. Masade-Olowola helped establish the Business Coalition for Sustainable Development Nigeria (BCSDN) in May 2014, an initiative affiliated with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), made up of a coalition of leading businesses across all sectors to drive collective development. Masade-Olowola has engaged stakeholders throughout the economic value chain – government, business, civil society organisations and communities – and recently spearheaded the design and development of a Community Engagement Standards framework to facilitate the Federal Government agenda for promoting peace through equity in oil and gas communities in Nigeria. Masade-Olowola is a board member of several non-profit and for-profit organisations and is convener of the annual Sustainability in the Extractive Industries Conference, the largest development focused gathering for extractives now in its eighth year, and producer of The Good Citizen Radio Show.

Awards

*Merit in international human resource management & employment relations (MSc) from the

Queen Mary University of London , mottoeng = With united powers , established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College , type = Public researc ...

. *Design named among the top 10 of the next generation competition in by the

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

in 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masade-Olowola, Bekeme 1982 births Living people Social entrepreneurs People from Lagos Alumni of Queen Mary University of London University of Lagos alumni