Oley Dibba-Wadda

Ms. Dibba-Wadda is a social development executive and strategic analyst with over 20 years of leadership and management experience. She is an expert in African and international policies on education, gender equality and youth development. She is currently the Executive Committee Chairperson of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa and former Director for Human Capital, Youth and Skills Development at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

Before joining the AfDB, she was the Executive Secretary of ADEA. She had earlier worked as the Executive Director of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), a pan-African organization for promoting the education of girls across sub-Saharan Africa. She had also worked as the Executive Director of Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS) - an Africa-wide organization on women, peace and security in Africa.

Ms. Dibba-Wadda has held several other management and advisory roles in various international development agencies, including Oxfam (UK), the Commonwealth Education Fund and Concern Universal. She is a Global Ambassador for 10X10 and Concern Universal. She chairs and sits on several Advisory Boards and Committees across the globe.

A certified life coach, Ms. Dibba-Wadda has over the past 19 years been providing coaching and mentoring support on emotional life skills to several youths across the African continent. She is the founder of the Gam Africa Institute for Leadership (GAIL) in the Gambia and a strong advocate and champion for youth development in Africa.

In recognition of her exemplary contribution towards human development, she was awarded the “Inspiring Woman of Excellence” in 2012 and the “African Woman Leadership” in 2013. She was one of the nominees for the “2017 New African Woman in Education.”

She holds a Master’s degree in Gender Analysis in Development from the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom and a Diploma in Gender and Development.