Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji, named by Forbes as one of the 20 most Powerful Young Women in Africa is a Social
Entrepreneur whose work is at the Intersection of Entrepreneurship, Youth Education/Human Development and Public
Sector Leadership. She is the Founder / CEO of RISE NETWORKS, Nigeria’s leading Social Enterprise whose mandate
focuses on using Tech Innovation to create advocacy, skills empowerment and learning opportunities for the inclusive
growth of Youth with the core objective of preparing them for effective Value Based Leadership at all levels in the
Public, Private and Social Sectors. Their flagship project, Passnownow.com is Nigeria’s most used mobile learning
portal with access to curriculum-based education content with standardized assessments and exam review questions in
digital format distributed via web and mobile to underserved high School Students and Teachers. RISENetworks
also owns The Rise Labs, a talent pipeline and work readiness center that leverages artificial
intelligence, big data and people analytics to improve the skills sets of job seekers for industry fitness
before matching them with Jobs within Organizations. They designed and built the first Career Coaching
Chatbot in West Africa.
Toyosi is an Edward Mason Fellow and Master in Public Administration from Harvard University Kennedy School of
Government where she also served as Vice President for International Student Affairs and Chair of the International
Student Affairs Committee. Her 2nd Book, ‘WE HAVE TO BELONG – Why the Poor Majority of my Rich Country
cannot wait anymore’ was also launched at Harvard University in 2017. She also studied Strategic Management at
Executive Level at Cambridge University’s Judge Business School, has a Certificate in Youth Inclusive Financial Services
from University of New Hampshire, holds a Certificate in Media Enterprise from the School of Media and
Communication, Pan Atlantic University. She studied Digital Marketing Strategy at the UK Institute of Digital Marketing
and received a 2nd Class UPPER Bachelors’ degree in Civil Law from the University of Jos.
Toyosi has been honored as a new Leader of tomorrow by Crans Montana Forum in Europe, she’s an Alumni of the
International Visitor Leadership Program of the United States Government and she’s been a Judge of the NESCAFE Get
Started Africa Entrepreneurship Challenge and a Judge of the Bank of Africa’s African Entrepreneurship Awards. In
2018, she was a Judge on the Young Women Transform Prize organized by USAID, Volvo and Standard Chartered to
provide sustained long-term Economic Empowerment for young female entrepreneurs across the World.
A recipient of numerous awards including Recognition by This Day Awards for Nigeria’s Women of Distinction, Young
Entrepreneur of the Year of Success Digest Entrepreneurial Awards, the Excellence Awards of the School of Media and
Communication, Pan African University, The Future Africa Awards for Best Use of Advocacy and the Nigerian Youth
Leadership Awards jointly organized by Leap Africa, International Youth Foundation and NOKIA.
She has been listed as Top 40 under 40 by Business Day, she is also one of the honorees of the Top 100 Young
Leaders’ Recognition by the Federal Government of Nigeria and is a Nigeria Leadership Initiative’s Future Leaders
Fellow. NLI is a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Toyosi, perhaps, one of the most respected emerging Leaders of Africa’s new generation, maintains Board Positions in
The Right to Know Initiative, a Nonprofit focused on Human Rights, Free Speech and Government Transparency and
the Rule of Law and the Victims of Terrorism Support Fund Foundation. She is also the Founder of Print Magic Limited
and Fordeo Foods, the former being a fully equipped printing company that uses cutting edge innovation and
machinery to deliver design and print services to individuals and organizations while the latter is a food processing and
distribution company leveraging the opportunities on the agricultural value chain to provide a wide range of decent
and affordable food products to small and middle income families.