Oley Dibba-Wadda

Oley Dibba-Wadda, Executive Director of The Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development; President and CEO, Gam Africa Institute for Leadership.

 

Bio: Oley Dibba-Wadda is a social development executive and strategic analyst with over 25 years of leadership and management experience. She is an expert in African and international policies on education, gender equality and youth development. She is currently the Executive Secretary of the Africa First Ladies Peace Mission and the Founder, President, and CEO of the Gam Africa Institute for Leadership (GAIL). Prior, Oley was the Director of Human Capital, Youth and Skills Development at the African Development Bank (AFDB). Before joining the AFDB, she was the Executive Secretary of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) – a pan-African Institution (hosted by the African Development Bank). Oley also worked as the Executive Director of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE); a Pan African organization for promoting the education of girls across sub-Saharan Africa as well as the Executive Director of Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS) – an Africa-wide organization working on women, peace and security in Africa.
Ms. Dibba-Wadda has held several management and advisory roles across various international development agencies, including Oxfam Great Britain, the Commonwealth Education Fund and Concern Universal between 2011 and 2013. She has equally chaired several Boards and Advisory Committees including the Gender is my Agenda (GIMAC) Campaign Movement across Africa; the Association for the Development of Education in Africa amongst others. She is the current Chair of the Advisory Council of Teach for All Africa and a Global Ambassador for 10X10 and Concern Universal. Between 2019 and 2021, Oley developed the 5-Point Agenda and Manifesto for one of the largest Political Parties in The Gambia in preparation for the 2021 Presidential Elections of The Gambia.
A certified life coach, Ms. Dibba-Wadda has, over the past 20 years been providing coaching and mentoring support on emotional life skills to several youths across the African continent. She is the author of “Memoirs of an African Woman on a Mission.” In recognition of her exemplary contribution towards human capital development, Ms. Dibba-Wadda was, awarded the “Inspiring Woman of Excellence” in 2012 and the “African Woman Leadership” in 2013. She was one of the nominees for the 2017 New African Woman in Education and one of the nominees for the 2020 “She Awards” for Outstanding Woman Writer. In March 2020, Oley Dibba-Wadda was selected amongst the first cohort of 15 African women across Africa as a Leader of the “Amujae” Initiative for the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (EJS) Presidential Center for Women and Development. The EJS Presidential Center’s “Amujae” Initiative seeks to inspire and prepare women to take up roles in the highest echelons of public leadership across Africa.