June 21-24, 2021 •

Speaker

Speaker Headshot

Oreoluwa Lesi

Founder & Executive Director, W.TEC

Oreoluwa Lesi is a STEM & Gender Specialist with over 19 years professional experience. She is also a Nonprofit and Social Entrepreneurship consultant. Oreoluwa speaks and moderates at high-impact conferences and discussions centered around themes closely related to the STEM gender divide, teaching STEM effectively, Nonprofit Sustainability, and principles of Social Entrepreneurship. She is the Founder and Executive Director of the Women's Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC), a Nigerian nonprofit organisation committed to building a more inclusive technology ecosystem, with the next generation of women technology creators, entrepreneurs, and leaders. Since 2008, W.TEC has encouraged over 31,000 girls and women across Nigeria to pursue STEM careers, and has supported women to use technology confidently to increase their economic power and ability to speak about issues affecting their lives. Oreoluwa is also Director of Patabah Books, a family-owned bookshop in Lagos and the Creator and Host of The Other Room, an interview-style podcast that explores African women's career journeys. She has been recognized as OkayAfrica 100 Women for 2020, One of the 5 Women Who Defined the Nigerian Tech Space in 2019 by Technext.ng, the Her Network Technology Woman of the Year 2018 award, and as one of Leading Ladies Africa's 2018 100 Most Inspiring Women in Nigeria. As well, Oreoluwa is a 2014 Vital Voices Lead Fellow (awarded to emerging and established women leaders across the world), 2013 Ashoka fellow (a network of the world's leading social entrepreneurs), and a recipient of the Anita Borg Change Agent Award (for her commitment to supporting women in computing in Nigeria). She was recognized with a 2014 "Chosen Youth" Leadership Award from LaRoche Foundation and as one of YNaija!'s Top 100 Young People in Technology of 2014 and 2016.