Ayoade (Yodi) Alakija, Chair

Dr Ayoade Alakija currently serves as World Health Organization (WHO) Special Envoy for the Access to COVID19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, Chair of the African Vaccine Delivery Alliance (AVDA) and Chair of FIND.

Dr Alakija is a visionary leader, strategic thinker and vocal advocate for equity and justice with a global presence and ability to inspire and catalyse action at scale. As a medical doctor with over two decades experience working across Asia, the Americas, the Pacific region, Europe and Africa, she is expert in global health, development and humanitarian relief. She brings unique insights from working at every level of the health and development architecture- local, national, regional and global.

Driven by a deep commitment to achieve social justice and equity through humane approaches for transformational change at individual, community and systems level, she has been a leading voice calling for the urgent reimagining of how the globe should respond more consciously to the inequities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In her previous Minister-Counsellor role as Chief Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, she led the integrated humanitarian response and spearheaded the Oslo Humanitarian Conference for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region, working with governments and multilateral institutions to mobilize resources for some of the most under-recognized humanitarian crises in the world. Dr Alakija is also the founder of the Emergency Coordination Centre in Nigeria which promotes the rights of women and girls in education and health.

Twitter: @yodifiji
Substack: ayoadealakija.substack.com