Learn from people who
have actually done it

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Blessing Ngozi Omosebi

Cambridge Assessment Specialist & Head of Department

Greensprings School À Cambridge International Education

One of Africa's few educators certified as a Cambridge Assessment Specialist for both AS & A Level Economics and Business Studies, Blessing Omosebi has spent 13+ years at the intersection of teaching excellence and institutional transformation. As Head of Department for Commerce at Greensprings School ù one of Nigeria's leading international schools ù she has personally trained over 10,000 educators across Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa in Cambridge methodology and reflective teaching practice. A Best Graduating Student at the University of Lagos (MSc Management, CGPA 4.87), McKinsey Forward Program alumna, two-time published author, and Iconic Brand Africa's Top 10 Edu-Influencer of 2024, Blessing equips school leaders with both the pedagogical frameworks and data-driven systems to build institutions that perform at international standards.

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Folasade Adefisayo

Former Commissioner for Education, Lagos State | CEO, Leading Learning Ltd

Leading Learning Limited À University of Chicago Leadership and Strategy Institute

Folasade Adefisayo brings something no other mentor in this programme can offer: she has led from the school desk and the cabinet table. As the Honourable Commissioner for Education for Lagos State (2019û2023), she shaped education policy for Africa's most economically significant state. Before entering government, she spent 12 years transforming the Corona Schools Trust Council ù Nigeria's most prestigious private school network ù rising from Executive Director and CEO to Director, and leaving the institution measurably stronger. Today she leads Leading Learning Limited, hosts the Purpose-Driven School Leadership Webinar Series ù now in its 7th edition on school governance and sustainability ù and holds a Fellowship at the University of Chicago Leadership and Society Initiative. Holding an MA in Education (Distinction) from the University of Nottingham and an MBA from the University of Lagos, Folasade bridges policy, practice, and strategic leadership in a way that is uniquely valuable for school founders who want to build institutions designed to last.

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Tasiyiwa Katie Mapondera

ICF PCC À EMCC EIA | Executive Coach & Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Builder

Q L and D LLC À Empower World À EduMESS

Tasiyiwa Katie Mapondera is a dual-credentialed executive coach ù ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and EMCC European Individual Accreditation (EIA) ù with 17 years at the intersection of entrepreneurship, education, and leadership transformation. Based in Doha, she founded Q L and D LLC, an innovation strategy and learning & development consultancy, and Q Teacher Supply ù the first registered supply teacher agency in Qatar. As Co-Director of Founder Institute Qatar and Innovation & Entrepreneurship Specialist at the University of Doha for Science & Technology, she has built and mentored startup ecosystems across the Middle East and Africa. She serves as an Advisor at EduMESS, Associate Director at Empower World, and earlier in her career managed the EdTech Innovation Incubator at the Software & Information Industry Association in Washington DC and consulted for the Supreme Committee that delivered the FIFA World Cup Qatar. In the SMI programme, Katie brings the rigour of a credentialed coach alongside the street-level wisdom of someone who has founded institutions, mentored founders through high-stakes growth, and built learning ecosystems from the ground up.

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Kenechukwu Nsofor

Director | Multi-Campus School Builder

Field Field International School

Kenechukwu "KC" Nsofor is one of the few mentors in this programme who has done exactly what SMI participants are trying to do ù build a school from the ground up and scale it. Growing up in Onitsha, KC spent his school holidays working as staff in the family's K-12 institution, learning every layer of school operations from the inside. Upon graduation, he took over its management and over the next 17 years grew it into a network of four campuses serving over 2,500 students ù earning a top 10 ranking among schools in Anambra State. As Director of Learning at Field International School, KC brings knowledge no textbook can replicate: the operational realities of multi-campus management, teacher retention, school finance under pressure, and the systems that allow a school to grow without falling apart. When school founders in the SMI programme face the challenges of scale, KC has already lived through them.

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Adeleke Adesina

PhD | Business Systems Coach & School Founder | Lecturer, University of Lagos

ADELEKE ADESINA COMPANY À The Rock Empire Group of Schools

Dr. Adeleke Adesina holds a PhD in Chemistry Education from the University of Ibadan, an MEd from the University of Lagos, and certifications from the UK's Systems Academy, the School of Consulting London, and Finland's School of Education ù giving him a rare blend of academic depth and global practitioner credibility. A Lecturer at the University of Lagos for over a decade, he is also the founder of five businesses, including The Rock Empire Group of Schools in Lagos, which means he brings lived school-founder experience into every coaching conversation. As Founder of ADELEKE ADESINA COMPANY, he has spent 17 years helping executives build the systems, structures, and processes that move organisations from founder-dependency to scalable performance. In the SMI programme, Adeleke equips school leaders with the business architecture their institutions need ù the workflows, operational structures, and organizational design that allow a school to run profitably and grow without the founder being the bottleneck.

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Ayokanmi Moriyonu-Bamidele

Chartered Accountant & Financial Services Consultant

Skyelip International Limited

Ayokanmi holds four professional certifications ù ACA, ACTI, AAT, and CFA Level I ù alongside an MSc in Finance from the University of Lagos and alumni status from the McKinsey Forward Program, making this one of Nigeria's most comprehensively credentialed school finance profiles. As founder of Skyelip International Limited, Ayokanmi has spent over five years guiding SMEs through financial planning, tax compliance, investment strategy, and corporate governance. School leaders in the SMI programme gain a practitioner-led guide to building financially sustainable institutions ù from budget management and audit readiness to tax obligations and sound investment decisions.

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Ify Obidi-Essien

Founder & CEO

Tech-Savvy Teacher International

Ify Obidi-Essien is a Microsoft Global Training Partner and the founder of Tech-Savvy Teacher International, an EdTech organisation she has led for nearly a decade from Lagos with active operations across Nigeria, Dubai, Rwanda, and Kenya. Her most distinctive credential: she was among the practitioners who contextualised Microsoft's certified educator (MCE) curriculum for African classroom realities, making globally recognised teacher-tech certification accessible to educators across the continent. A Certiport Authorised Testing Centre operator and recipient of a Women and Leadership certification (Grade A, European Business University of Luxembourg), Ify bridges corporate technology standards and frontline education. Her T.E.D.A. (Tech Executive Development Academy) coaching programme develops education leaders, and her work as Project Consultant on the Charterhouse School Lagos initiative ù West Africa's first British Independent School ù demonstrates reach across elite and community education contexts alike. Ify has spoken at eLearning Africa and other international platforms, and is completing a Master's in Digital Transformation at Nexford University. She brings to SMI participants a rare combination: deep technical certification expertise, a proven system for scaling digital skills across African markets, and nearly a decade of institution-building experience.

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Toyin Sam-Emehelu

PhD | Founder, CoreSkills Transformational Academy | John C. Maxwell Foundation

CoreSkills Transformational Academy À Equip Nigeria

Dr. Toyin Sam-Emehelu has spent 13 years doing one thing: developing leaders who transform institutions. Holding a PhD in Educational Management and Planning and an M.Ed in Educational Psychology from the University of Lagos, she founded CoreSkills Transformational Academy Limited and serves as Director of Partnerships at Equip Nigeria ù the John C. Maxwell Foundation's African arm ù working with school leaders, NGOs, and SMEs across five African countries. An Accredited and Licensed Management Trainer by the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CMD), Fellow of the Pan African Consultant Association, and active mentor with the MasterCard Foundation, Tony Elumelu Foundation, and Teach For Nigeria, Dr. Toyin is among Africa's most credentialed practitioners in education leadership and human capital development. She has distilled over a decade of field experience into 33 published books on leadership, coaching, and organizational transformation.

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Chisom Ekwerike

Brand Growth Strategist & Associate Chartered Marketer (CIM)

BuildurBrand

Chisom Ekwerike is an Associate Chartered Marketer (CIM, UK) and brand growth strategist whose work sits at the intersection of storytelling, consumer psychology, and data-driven positioning. Holding an MSc in Digital Communication with Distinction from the University of Chester, she has trained 100+ business owners on how to clarify brand positioning, build audience trust, and convert visibility into revenue ù delivering a 45% engagement increase and 30% conversion improvement for the brands she has led. As Senior Brand Marketing Manager at BuildurBrand and formerly a Customer Insights Analyst for Hastings Direct, Chisom brings both the creative and analytical sides of brand building. For school leaders, she addresses one of the most neglected assets in education: a school's brand ù how parents perceive it, how communities talk about it, and how it earns trust long before enrolment conversations begin.

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Chike Okoli

Co-Founder & CEO | EdTech Innovator

Feeabe, EduMESS

Chike Okoli has spent 14 years solving one problem: making African schools easy to run. As Co-Founder and CEO of EduMESS, a school management platform with 60+ features covering academic, operational, and financial administration ù he has implemented the system in hundreds of K-12 institutions across Africa and forged a strategic training partnership with Sterling Bank to help school owners build stronger management practice. A First Class Honours Computer Science graduate from Tansian University (CGPA 4.57/5.0), Founder Institute Lagos alumnus, and the subject of features in Punch, Vanguard, and The Sun, Chike also brings government-scale execution credibility ù having led the deployment of over one million biometric ID cards across all 36 Nigerian states. In the SMI programme, he equips school leaders to understand, adopt, and leverage the technology systems that allow schools to operate efficiently and grow without founder dependency.

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Adebisi Alex Olalekan

Leadership Coach & Organizational Development Consultant

Global Leadership Transformational

Adebisi Alex Olalekan is a leadership coach and organizational development consultant who has spent 8 years building leadership frameworks for individuals, communities, and institutions in Lagos. As Founder and CEO of Global Leadership Transformational, he champions a conviction that leadership is a formal discipline ù not a subset of management skills ù and that Africa's transformation hinges on embedding it into education at every level, from nursery school to the boardroom. His background spans nearly seven years of youth pastoral leadership at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, where he developed and led community transformation programmes, combined with business management credentials from Tekedia Institute (Mini-MBA, Distinction), Accra Business School, and Miami University's Innovation and Creativity programme. In the SMI programme, Adebisi works with school leaders on the often-overlooked dimension of leadership character ù the values, influence, and internal frameworks that determine whether a school's culture outlasts its founder.

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Harmony Chris Igbala

Co-Founder & COO, EduMESS | CEO, FUCHI HUB TECHNOLOGIES

EduMESS À FUCHI HUB TECHNOLOGIES

Harmony Chris Igbala is the co-founder and COO of EduMESS ù the school management platform that powers the administrative backbone of SMI participant schools. With roots going back to 2014 when he co-founded Activescholar (EduMESS's predecessor), he has spent over a decade building the technology that helps African schools manage academic, financial, and operational activities from a single platform. As CEO and Co-Founder of FUCHI HUB TECHNOLOGIES, he brings full-stack technical capability across database management, data science, mobile and web development, and AI ù combined with 7 years of large-scale operations management with the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria. Currently completing a PhD in Leadership and Administration, Harmony helps SMI school leaders understand, adopt, and extract full value from the technology systems that separate well-run schools from struggling ones.