Oley Dibba-Wadda empowers African women and youth through leadership, education, gender equality, and policy advocacy.
Oley Dibba-Wadda has dedicated over 25 years to shaping Africa’s development landscape through initiatives in education, gender equality, youth empowerment, human capital development, and peace and security. The Gambian expert is recognised as one of the continent’s most respected social development leaders and strategic analysts, skilfully balancing grassroots mentoring with high-level policy influence.
She currently holds three influential positions: Executive Director of The Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Centre for Women and Development and Executive Secretary of the Africa First Ladies Peace Mission. Each role embodies a different facet of her mission to advance women’s leadership, strengthen peacebuilding across Africa, and prepare the next generation of leaders.
In 2017, she founded Gam Africa Institute for Leadership (GAIL), her flagship organisation dedicated to equipping African youth with vital life, leadership, and emotional skills. The institute emphasises African values, ethics, communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving, aiming to produce confident and ethical leaders capable of driving sustainable development. Her work at GAIL reflects her philosophy that leadership is rooted in knowledge, character, and cultural identity.
Dibba-Wadda’s career has spanned some of the most significant institutions driving Africa’s growth. At the African Development Bank, she served as Director of Human Capital, Youth and Skills Development, overseeing portfolios that included education, youth employment and entrepreneurship, social protection, nutrition, and public health security.
Before that, she was Executive Secretary of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), a pan-African body hosted by the Bank. Earlier, as Executive Director of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), she championed girls’ education across 32 African countries, helping millions of young girls access and remain in school. She also led Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS), an organisation that integrates women into peace and security processes across the continent.
Beyond these executive roles, Oley Dibba-Wadda has worked with various international development agencies, including Oxfam Great Britain, the Commonwealth Education Fund, and Concern Universal. She has also held governance and advisory positions, chairing the board of the Gam Africa Institute for Leadership, the Advisory Council for Teach for All Africa, and previously the Board of Trustees for Concern Universal. Additionally, she is a Global Ambassador for 10X10 and Concern Universal, and has been an active voice in campaigns such as the Gender is My Agenda Campaign (GIMAC).
Her influence has also expanded into the political sphere. Between 2019 and 2021, she developed a five-point agenda and manifesto for a prominent Gambian political party ahead of the 2021 presidential elections, shaping national governance priorities. The development expert has also been selected for international leadership programmes, notably the Amujae Initiative by the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Centre in 2020, where she was part of the inaugural cohort of 15 African women leaders prepared for high public leadership roles.
Oley Dibba-Wadda is also a certified life coach and mentor, having supported African youth for over two decades by building resilience and emotional skills. She chronicled her journey in Memoirs of an African Woman on a Mission, published in 2013, which combines her personal story with her broader mission of service.
Her work has garnered numerous recognitions. She received the Inspiring Woman of Excellence Award in The Gambia in 2012 and the African Woman Leadership Award in 2013. She was also nominated for the New African Woman in Education Award in 2017 and the She Awards for Outstanding Woman Writer in 2020.
