RISE by She-EO’s Virtual Experience is about inspiring, enabling, and empowering women to rise—wherever they are. Join us (January 29-31) for a transformative virtual experience as women come together to share real stories, exchange powerful ideas, and build meaningful connections across borders. This is your space. This is your moment. This is sisterhood in motion—online and intentional.
HOST
Tope Fajingbesi is a social impact entrepreneur, a published author, and an educator. She is the founder and president of The She-EO – a global platform for women of African descent to have important conversations that matter. In addition to being the founder and coordinating trustee of United for Kids Foundation, Tope created and hosted the Impact Africa radio show, which inspired Africans and Africans in the diaspora to participate consciously and actively in African development from 2013 to 2015. Impact Africa earned Tope an invitation to a meeting with Senior White House officials during the planning stage of the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit in 2014.
Tope frequently speaks to global audiences with a mission to inspire. She delivered a powerful address at Hillary Clinton’s final presidential campaign rally in Michigan in November 2016, the keynote speech at Grand Rapids City High School’s commencement ceremony in June 2017, and one of the two keynote speeches at the Future Harvest Conference in January 2021. Prior to becoming a full-time social impact entrepreneur, Tope worked for 2 of the “Big Accounting” Firms, a Fortune 100 energy company, and notable nonprofit organizations in Washington D.C. She also taught agricultural business courses at the University of Maryland, College Park until May 2022. She is an alumnus of the University of Lagos in Nigeria, Emory University, Salzburg Global Seminar in Austria, and the University of Oxford. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, and a United States of America Certified Public Accountant.
Tope is dedicated to serving her community. She served as the Treasurer of Future Harvest from 2020 to 2022, as the interim chairperson of the Women’s National Democratic Club’s Foreign Policy and National Security Task Force in 2021, and as a member of the Montgomery County Maryland County Executive’s Economic Recovery Advisory Group in 2020.
Tope is married to Niyi Balogun, who she co-owns Dodo Farms, a Certified Naturally Grown produce farm in Montgomery County (Maryland) with.
SPEAKERS
Tola Akinsulire is a global real estate executive and commercial strategist with over two decades of leadership experience across Africa and Europe. He is Group Chief Commercial Officer at Mixta Africa, where he leads commercialization, market expansion, and revenue growth across major developments.
His work spans development, investment analysis, and housing finance, including engagements with international Development Finance Institutions. He has led delivery and commercialization for flagship projects such as Lakowe Lakes Golf & Country Estate, and served on the implementation team for Nigeria’s Ministry of Finance Incorporated Real Estate Investment Fund (MREIF), a PPP mortgage intervention fund that has raised ₦250bn to support affordable mortgages for Nigerians.
Dr. Muti'ah Badru, MRCOG is an Obstetrician-Gynecologist with expert interest in Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH). After over 18 years in clinical medicine, witnessing how a lot of the problems she came across could have been avoided and mitigated with the proper education and support, she started SRHEd. SRHEd is a social enterprise that provides evidence based, culturally sensitive SRH information and support to young people and women from religiously conservative (particularly Muslim) backgrounds.
Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli is the President/CEO of the ONE Campaign. She has over 25 years of international development experience and has been deeply involved in fostering impactful solutions in the global social innovation landscape, with a focus on Africa. Ndidi started her career at McKinsey & Company’s Chicago office and returned to Nigeria in 2000 to serve as the pioneer Executive Director of the FATE Foundation. She is the founder of LEAP Africa, a non-profit committed to developing dynamic, innovative and principled African leaders and African Food Changemakers, which provides support for African entrepreneurs to start and scale resilient and sustainable agribusinesses. She is also the co-founder of Sahel Consulting Agriculture & Nutrition Ltd. and AACE Foods Processing & Distribution Ltd.
Ndidi serves on the boards of the Rockefeller Foundation, Stanbic IBTC Group, the Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum, and the Bridgespan Group.
Ndidi holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree with honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She was a Senior Fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business & Government at the Harvard Kennedy School, a visiting Scholar at Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University, an Aspen Institute New Voices Fellow, and an Eisenhower Fellow.
Ndidi is a TED speaker, and has been recognized internationally for her contributions, including as a Schwab Fellow and a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and receiving a National Honor by the Nigerian Government and the Harvard Business School Distinguished Alumni Award. She is also a published author on topics related to entrepreneurship, social innovation, and resilient agriculture businesses in Africa, including “Social Innovation in Africa: A Practical Guide for Scaling Impact,” and “Food Entrepreneurs in Africa: Scaling Resilient Agriculture Businesses,” and “Walking for God in the Marketplace.”