Olufunke Omoyemi-Baruwa is an international gender and development expert with over two decades of experience in gender and social inclusion. She is committed to leading meaningful impact at the intersection of gender, policy, and development. Her expertise lies in spearheading initiatives that advocate for including vulnerable populations and those at the margins of society, leading multi-million-dollar funded programmes.
Olufunke is adept at fostering partnerships across diverse stakeholders globally and excelling in results-based management, MEL, gender budgeting and knowledge management. Her track record of success in innovation, leadership and teamwork speaks volumes about her ability to navigate various cultural contexts seamlessly.
Omoyemi-Baruwa is passionate about driving change as evidenced by successful campaigns, programme development, and leadership roles in women’s rights organisations, government and international organisations.
Some of her outstanding achievements include: Developing a comprehensive 10-year strategy to prevent Gender-Based Violence (GBV), successfully raising awareness and driving stakeholders’ commitment to prioritising prevention as a response to GBV. Another is, leading the design and rollout of a 5-year multi-million dollar SCALE project to empower local Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to access USAID funding directly, fostering sustainability and impactful interventions.
Furthermore, Olufunke mobilised resources to support female politicians and empower over 3000 young women across 17 political parties, conceptualised and executed an emergency response to end high maternal and child mortality rates, resulting in a marked reduction in deaths and safe childbirth, and shaped national policies and interventions for gender and social inclusion, contributing to nationwide awareness campaigns and ensuring gender inclusion in government policies and interventions.
As former Program Officer, Ford Foundation, she played a pivotal role in shaping strategy and managing the Gender Racial and Ethnic Justice (GREJ) programme, which focused on addressing gender-based violence, particularly against women and girls. She contributed to team strategies and fostered innovative grant-making approaches.
There is more. As former CEO, Nigerian Women Trust Fund, Olufunke set the strategic vision and mobilised over 500million in resources for the Nigerian Women’s Trust Fund (NWTF). The fund is a technical and financial resource for women in democracy, leadership and governance to increase the representation of women in decision making processes at all levels and address the growing concerns about the gender imbalance in elective and appointive positions through democracy, leadership and governance.
As former Technical Assistant, Policy & Planning, Ministry of Communication, Innovation & Digital Economy, she was responsible for developing programmes to increase the use of ICT by marginalised groups and create opportunities for women and girls in ICT in Nigeria, supported the ideation, development and launch of the SheApp and the annual Girls in ICT Day.
