Damilola 'Ifenla' Oligbinde
Ifenla Oligbinde is a Nigerian lawyer, inclusion advocate, a former HOA Candidate, and the National Director, Communications and Public Affairs, ADC in Nigeria.
About Ifenla
Academic background
Bachelor of Law (LLB), OAU, Nigeria. African Civic Engagement, University of Georgia. Leadership in Public Management, Cornell University.
Areas of interest
Peacebuilding, conflict resolution, political participation, youth and women development, democracy and good governance.
Languages spoken
Yoruba, Pidgin and English.
Damilola 'Ifenla' Oligbinde
Ifenla's story
Ifenla Oligbinde is a lawyer, inclusion advocate, and a former HOA Candidate, 2023 General Election. She is the National Director, Communications and Public Affairs, ADC in Nigeria. As a major actor in the 2023 General Election, she has designed and executed policy frameworks and projects for youth and women participation in politics, and also been a member of different alternative dispute resolution committees for disgruntled aspirants after party primaries.
With a keen interest in furthering democratic principles through the intersection of peacebuilding, social cohesion, gender equality and good governance, she plans to help institutions create processes that include women and youths in marginalised communities, and find measures to reduce violence against women and youths during election periods.
Ifenla is the founder of Ark and Rainbow Development Foundation, a non-profit organisation that has impacted young women in six local government councils in Abuja, Nigeria through the SHAPPE (Strengthening Her Aspirations for Peacebuilding and Protecting the Environment) Project, with funding from the Rotary Club of Ithaca. Through this project, beneficiaries have been empowered and equipped to use alternative dispute resolution tools and global ideas to solve conflict and climate challenges in underserved communities in Northern Nigeria.
She is a 2024 "Young Woman in Africa" Laureate (WIA Philanthropy); 2024 Civic Charge Fellow - Accountability Lab; 2023 Mandela Washington Fellow (studied Leadership in Public Management at Cornell University, New York); 2023 McCain Global Leader; 2020 Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Regional Leadership Center Fellow, amongst other leadership experiences.
Ifenla is a recipient of numerous awards, most recent being the 2024 Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni Association of Nigeria Hall of Fame Awards and Mallam Aminu Kano Leadership Award on Community Engagement, CSR-IN-ACTION.