Nigerian born, American raised Opeyemi ‘Ope’ Awe is a  perpetually curious, globetrotter with a passion for governance and economic development in Nigeria. Ope was awarded the prestigious Posse Scholarship to attend Grinnell College. During her undergraduate studies, she studied International Affairs where her research interests focused on institution and infrastructure development in Sub-Saharan Africa. During this time, she explored her broad interests in Africa through critical internship experiences at Challenging Heights in Ghana and at the US State Department Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan. After these experiences, Ope was awarded the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to study the interplay between governance and entrepreneurship. Her project, Entrepreneurship as a Vehicle of Economic Development, explored the motivations, challenges, and conditions required for sustainable public-private partnerships. During this fellowship year, Ope engaged with government officials and entrepreneurs from primarily in South Korea, Indonesia, Brazil, Rwanda and 6 other countries. 

Opeyemi is currently on sabbatical from her fulltime role as a Consultant with Deloitte’s Government and Public Sector practice. She is pursuing a Masters in Global Affairs at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China as a Schwarzman Scholar. Her current research interests center around China’s rising investments in startup ecosystems around Africa, specifically Lagos. Her future aspirations include finding creative ways to entrepreneur good local governance and a sustainable business ecosystem in Nigeria.