The Women’s Leadership Board of the Women and Public Policy Programme at the Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United States of America, has invited Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode onto its board.
Oyebode, lawyer, administrator and Philanthropist, is the CEO of the Murtala Muhammed Foundation (MMF), a non-governmental organisation.
The Women and Public Policy Programme is a centre of the Harvard Kennedy School that specialises in groundbreaking gender research, teaching, training and policy translation.
Comprised of leaders from the most senior levels of business, government, academia, and the non-profit sector, members of the Women’s Leadership Board and the Women and Public Policy Programme aim to create gender equality and improve the lives of women and men around the world, focusing on rigorous, high-impact research that furthers a shared mission of closing gender gaps in the areas of economic opportunity, political participation, health and education.
By her membership of the board, Muhammed-Oyebode joins a dedicated group of women who are committed to deepening their participation in gender research and to interface with high-level policy and decision-makers to deploy interventions and Women and Public Policy Programme expertise to close gender gaps in their spheres of influence.
The news of this appointment was well received by Muhammed-Oyebode who is one of the few Africans on the board.
“The Harvard Kennedy School is a globally reputed institution and I feel honoured to have been selected as a member of such a prestigious and illustrious board. I will surely contribute my best to make Nigeria proud.,” Muhammed-Oyebode said while responding to her honour.
The Murtala Muhammed Foundation of which Aisha Muhammed-Oyebode is the founding CEO was established with a humanitarian mission to improve the living conditions of Africans through the reduction of poverty and the elimination of conflict, while promoting self-reliance of African people and communities. This mission has been practically implemented by the foundation through numerous humanitarian programmes covering core thematic areas such as education and capacity development, disaster risk reduction, good governance and policy compliance among others.
Inaugurated in 2001 to promote the ideals of the late General Murtala Muhammed, Muhammed-Oyebode’s father, the NGO, works closely with government, international organisations, local and international NGOs, religious institutions, professional organisations and relevant stakeholders, to address social issues both locally and internationally through building partnerships for development.
Muhammed-Oyebode has an LLM in Public International Law from the prestigious King’s College, University of London. After which she was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1989. She also has an MBA in Finance from the also prestigious Imperial College, University of London as well as various local and international certifications.
