BIOGRAPHY
Tolu Olubunmi
Founder and CEO, Lions Write
Tolu Olubunmi is a Nigerian-born, American-raised chemical engineer turned strategist and entrepreneur working at the intersection of public policy and social impact. She began her career helping to build the largest immigrant youth movement in US history. An innovative thinker and determined change-maker, she has established and led numerous NGOs and campaigns focused on education, migration, economic inclusion, healthcare, and climate change.
Tolu is the founder and CEO of the social impact venture, Lions Write and host of the Microsoft docuseries - UN Innovation Room. In 2018, she was tapped by the Director-General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for a special appointment to the United Nations in New York. She ran the United Nations’ award-winning global climate action campaign, ActNow.
Tolu sits on the Board of Directors of the Anti-Defamation League, USA for IOM (UN Migration Agency), and the Board of Advisors at Washington and Lee University's Williams School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics. She also served on the World Economic Forum's Migration Council, co-founded Immigrant Heritage Month, and has helped draft and implement U.S. immigration policies. She is a skilled public speaker, connector, and respected social impact innovator who has worked closely with leaders in government, the private sector, and civil society to shift culture, influence public policy, and build strategic and mutually beneficial partnerships.
Her inspiring personal story and work have earned her several honors and awards, including being named by the World Economic Forum as one of 15 women changing the world and an outstanding woman entrepreneur. Her advocacy efforts, which led to protection from deportation of nearly 800,000 immigrant youth (DREAMers), earned her recognition as a person of extraordinary ability by the US government. She has been featured in several media outlets, including BBC, MSNBC, TIME, US News and World Report, CBS and others.
Tolu is an inaugural Leadership Institute Fellow at the Center for American Progress and holds a Chemistry-Engineering degree from Washington and Lee University.
Twitter handle: @tolu_olubunmi
