For more than 5 years, Oyetola Oduyemi has been an integral part of the END Fund, starting off as an advisor on the Public Affairs team, to becoming a Senior Director in the Investor Relations and Sustainability team. Based in Lagos, Nigeria, her work focuses on fundraising, partnerships, advocacy and domestic resource mobilization – ensuring the continued success of tackling neglected tropical diseases in Africa.

Passionate about sustainable development, her effort is more than just a professional mission, it is her North Star.

“Tackling neglected tropical diseases is multifaceted. You cannot talk about ending cycles of poverty without addressing the diseases that keep people in those cycles,” emphasizes Oyetola. 

“You cannot say you’re addressing hunger or malnutrition without addressing the worms that keep children malnourished. You cannot improve educational outcomes without addressing the diseases that keep children out of school or affect their cognitive development.”

With sustainable development in mind, Oyetola prioritizes galvanizing local support by acknowledging the importance of gaining support from African leaders, champions and advocates from the philanthropic and private sectors.

Since joining the END Fund, her team’s fundraising in Nigeria has grown by over a hundred fold, however, her journey in resource mobilization is more than just numbers; it is about storytelling, relatability and connection – often demystifying the technicality of neglected tropical diseases on her LinkedIn profile and in conversations. 

Through driving awareness and visibility to form deeper understanding, she has seen this become key for her team when building out an ecosystem of partners and collaborators.

“Guiding prospective partners to understand how these diseases affect people and explaining that they can be prevented, treated and eliminated and then showing the economic impact that is supported by research, there is usually a light bulb moment and they get excited to get on board.” she says.

Notably, Oyetola and her team’s largest success remains Nigeria, leveraging on how her strong networks have budded into building partnerships with sister organizations in priority countries. They have also made significant growth in Kenya by signing a partnership agreement with the County First Ladies Association with the idea to utilize their influence to galvanize leaders from the private and philanthropic sectors.

Oyetola is most proud of the tangible impact she has seen in the communities where she has worked. Spend even an hour speaking to her and you will quickly learn about her twin sons, who are a driving force behind her work. Her biggest hope is to contribute to the creation of a more sustainably developed Africa with more opportunities for advancement for them and their generation.

“There’s a saying we have in this part of the world, ‘I am because we are’. It’s not only laser focused on them [my children], it’s ensuring that I do what I can to drive further development of my continent so that my children and their generation have more opportunities for success than I did. It encapsulates why I’m so focused on the sustainable development of Africa.” she emphasizes.

True to her attitude that the work is never done, Oyetola is on the verge of concluding an executive doctorate program, focusing on building business purpose as a driver of sustainable development

She hopes that the success she has seen in Nigeria can translate to scaling partnerships in new countries and expanding our network of champions in/from the African business and philanthropic communities.