History

The She-EO dream began with a day dream in class at the University of Oxford in 2014. While waiting for a class session to begin, Tope Fajingbesi began imagining how powerful and impactful a similarly purposeful gathering of women of African descent would be. Ideas began to flow, and she eagerly scribbled them down! She dreamed about creating a safe platform to break barriers and speak truthfully about the visible and invisble obstacles that often keep women from thriving at work and in most African communities. The ideas were great, however, execution wouldn’t happen until the first She-EO on August 19th, 2017. But once the train left the station on that beautiful Fall day in August, there was no stopping the movement. A global mission was born.

Prior to launching She-EO, Tope created and hosted Impact Africa, a radio program on Voice America, and later, a video show, to inspire Africans in the diaspora to participate actively in African development, from 2013 to 2015. Tope also founded United for Kids Foundation, an organization she continues to serve as its coordinating trustee.