About
Making institutions understood — and making them act
He started in Lagos, where he ran social media for Chocolate City Group, then moved through digital and strategic communications roles with corporate brands, global nonprofits, and government agencies across Africa, Europe, and North America. He now leads digital strategy for business communications at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group.
In 2017 he co-founded the Wole Ogunyemi Foundation, a 501(c)(3) working to increase access to education and economic mobility for young people in Nigeria and the United States. He funds it in part with 30 percent of his own salary, on one conviction: talent should never go to waste because of circumstance.
He is the convener of Better Life Nigeria, a research-oriented think tank advancing policy reforms for shared prosperity, individual liberty, and community development.
His essays — on development, education, artificial intelligence, leadership and change management, and the mechanics of social change — appear here and on Medium. Two books are forthcoming.
Dr. Bukola Ogunyemi
Washington, DC
Education
Doctor of Education, Organizational Leadership and Change Management
University of Massachusetts Global
2025
MSc, Digital Education
University of Edinburgh
Commonwealth Scholar
MA, Strategic Communications
Southern New Hampshire University
BSc, Biochemistry
Obafemi Awolowo University
Shell Scholar
Executive programs at Harvard Kennedy School, the University of Pennsylvania, Kellogg, and Cornell.
Fellowships & service
Abshire-Inamori Leadership Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Leadership Longevity Fellow with New Sector Alliance. Commonwealth Scholar at Edinburgh, Shell Scholar at Obafemi Awolowo.
Member of the Real Time Academy of Short Form Arts & Sciences, a judge for the Shorty Impact Awards, and a member of the editorial board of Youth Work: Theory and Practice.
Official bio
One line
Dr. Bukola Ogunyemi is a development communications and social impact leader who has spent more than a decade making institutions understood — and making them act.
Fifty words
Dr. Bukola Ogunyemi leads digital strategy for business communications at the International Finance Corporation, the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group. He co-founded the Wole Ogunyemi Foundation, a 501(c)(3) working on education access and economic mobility in Nigeria and the United States. His essays appear at bukolaogunyemi.com.