Sheila Ojei – Director of Strategy, Partnerships and Stakeholder Management at the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF)

Sheila is a versatile and results-oriented executive leader with a proven ability to lead cross-functional teams successfully and career achievements in impact communications, partnership development, digital transformation, innovation, stakeholder management, strategy development and implementation.

Sheila serves public, multinational, development and private sector institutions on partnerships, stakeholder management, board relations and impact communications. Some notable achievements include establishing partnerships in youth development, skills acquisition, MSME support, and organising several round-tables featuring policy actors, industry leaders, and development partners in the creative, digital, and agriculture sectors.

She is the Director of Strategy, Partnerships and Stakeholder Management at the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), an agency under the Lagos State Government with the mandate to create an enabling environment for job and wealth creation for Lagos residents.

Sheila developed a viable model to identify relevant funding sources and partners, which help to ensure the overall sustainability of the organisation’s ability to support small businesses and generate employment in Lagos state.

She drives strategic alliances with major local and international partners for special-purpose projects. Before LSETF, she led the marketing and communications team at Jobberman Nigeria, a technology recruitment firm and a subsidiary of The African Talent Company (TATC), she was responsible for formulating and executing the short, medium and long-term communications strategy for the Jobberman brand and partnerships, which led to improved employee engagement by 60%, increased media engagement and top of mind awareness by over 100%.

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Furthermore, she drove and led key cost-effective and creative campaigns and partnerships to improve customer experience and audience development. She was also instrumental in designing and implementing the Young Africa Works communications strategy, a $25 million partnership between Jobberman and MasterCard Foundation to upskill five million young Nigerians over five years.

Her impact communications work has spanned local and international organisations such as United Nations Women, Shehu Yar’adua Foundation, Ford Foundation, Macarthur Foundation, WIMBIZ, Heritage Bank, Flour Mills of Nigeria, and many others.

Creatively, Sheila is known for her electrifying performances as a spoken word artist, which has led her to perform at different stages, including the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York. She is also known for her stage play production ‘Single in Gidi’ and ‘Still Single in Gidi’, which debuted as part of the Lagos Theatre Festival in collaboration with the British Council.

Sheila serves on the Board of a Pan-African salt refining company where she previously worked as the Chief Commercial Officer, overseeing all commercial activities across sub – Saharan Africa.

She holds an MBA from Trinity College Dublin, a Master of Arts (MA) from Regents University UK, and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from St John’s University, USA.