About Dami

Damilola Akinyele-Wolfgarten is a global development leader with over 12 years of experience in strategy, philanthropy, leadership development, education, and international programs. Her work connects strategy, education, policy, and innovation, helping organizations and communities design solutions that are relevant, sustainable, and inclusive.

Damilola has led organizations and managed international programs and partnerships across the United States, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Her executive experience spans organizational leadership, governance, operations, financial management, risk, partnerships, fundraising, policy advisory, program design, diversity, equity, and inclusion, team leadership, monitoring and evaluation, public speaking, and institutional transformation. Throughout her career, she has worked with governments, foundations, corporations, universities, and nonprofit organizations to strengthen institutions and empower leaders.

From 2021 to 2025, she served as Executive Director of Princeton in Africa, where she led the organization’s strategic direction, governance, and operations. During her tenure, she secured $3 million in new funding, deepened donor partnerships, and advanced long term sustainability. She also launched the Nexus Program, an Africa based co-fellowship initiative that pairs African Fellows and United States educated Fellows within leading African institutions to promote mutual learning, shared leadership, and equitable partnerships in global development.

In recent years, she provided vision and leadership on social justice, equity, and inclusion practices for 38 faith based nonprofits in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Africa, managing a $2 million operational budget. She directed fundraising strategy and exceeded donations revenue in 2019 and 2020. 

At World Learning, she designed and implemented programs that advanced United States Department of State objectives on education and exchange, managed special envoy programs in more than 160 countries, and oversaw a $1.8 million grant in coordination with local partners and international government entities. She also designed training for more than 200 U.S. diplomats and envoys. From 2016 to 2018, she designed and implemented educational learning experiences for Iraqi Young Leaders focused on peacebuilding, reconciliation, youth activism, and civic engagement. During her time at World Learning, she also co-chaired and helped launch the organization’s first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Taskforce.

Through the years, Damilola has consulted with the Ministry of Education in Nigeria, where she hosted youth leadership and teacher training workshops and developed active learning strategy manuals. She has also worked with IREX, where she designed research based toolkits on gender and technology that were used to train teachers from 13 countries.

Damilola has undertaken additional teaching, training, and facilitation engagements with institutions in Europe, the United States, and Africa. As a lecturer with the German Academic Scholarship Foundation, she designed and delivered a Summer Academy exploring perspectives on Africa and Europe and facilitated policy simulations. As a consultant to the German Development Agency (GIZ), she designed and facilitated a diversity, equity, and inclusion leadership workshop for senior executives from more than 10 country offices. She has also contributed as a guest lecturer at George Washington University and as a moderator and speaker in programming associated with the African Union Development Agency.

As the founder of ETRAssociates, Damilola designs education and leadership programs in Nigeria that are grounded in research, community context, and long term impact.

Earlier in her career, Damilola worked with DLA Piper in Baltimore, supporting legal teams on administrative and research projects. As a Teaching and Research Assistant at Morgan State University, she facilitated adult learning and supported a sociology professor on published research.

Damilola holds a Master’s degree in International Training and Education from American University in Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Morgan State University. She completed the Implementing Public Policy Executive Program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

She enjoys spending time with her family, reading, traveling, engaging in politics, attending the theater, canoeing, and good coffee.