Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi is a Feminist Activist, Gender Specialist, Policy Advocate, Social Change Philanthropy Practitioner and Writer. She has a BA (1984) and MA (1988) in History from the University of Ife, Nigeria (now Obafemi Awolowo University). She also received an MA in Gender and Society (1992) from Middlesex University, UK.
She served as the Director of Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA), an international development organisation for African women based in London, UK, with an Africa regional office in Kampala, Uganda, from 1991-2001. While she was the Director of AMwA, she established the African Women's Leadership Institute (AWLI), a training and networking forum for young African women which has produced well over 6,000 women leaders across Africa. She co-founded the African Women's Development Fund, (AWDF) - the first Africa-wide grant-making foundation for women’s organisations based in Ghana, and served as the first CEO from 2001-2010. AWDF has supported thousands of women’s rights organisations in 42 African countries with millions of dollars in grants. Mrs Fayemi is founder of Above Whispers Media Foundation specializing in leadership development for women. She served as a United Nations Women Nigeria Senior Advisor (2017-2018) and is currently a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Africa Leadership Center, King’s College, London.
As First Lady of Ekiti State, Nigeria (2010-2014 and October 16th 2018 - October 16th 2022) Bisi used her platform to influence legal and policy frameworks and to mobilise resources from a wide range of stakeholders, for the promotion and protection of the rights of women and girls. She was also Chair, Nigerian Governors’ Wives Forum (2020-2022) and under her leadership, the NGWF became a visible and active platform for the protection of women and children. It was the NGWF that facilitated the State of Emergency against Gender Based Violence declared by the Nigeria Governors Forum during the Covid19 pandemic in June 2020.
She serves on a number of boards around the world and is the author of several publications on feminist theory and practice.
Membership Type: INDIVIDUAL