Ebele Okobi

Ebele Okobi is a principled leader, advisor, and board member with 25 years of experience in building mission-driven global teams and organisations at some of the world’s leading companies. Having worked with influential companies such as Yahoo, Nike, Facebook/Meta, OpenAI, and Ada Ventures, Okobi has deep and compelling insights on what it takes to build companies and brands. She has outsized expertise in creating, building and sustaining high-performing teams and coaching leaders, particularly focusing on recruiting and retaining top talent from the Global South and underrepresented groups.

Okobi began her career as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer at Davis Polk and Wardwell in New York, London, and Paris. Transitioning to civil society, she worked as a health policy advocate at Consumers Union and developed equity strategies at Catalyst. Okobi also led brand initiatives at Management Leadership for Tomorrow and participated in Nike’s EMEA leadership program. In tech, she served as Yahoo’s Senior Legal Director and Global Head of Human Rights, creating the first human rights team focused on multiple global regions. At Facebook, Okobi led policy teams for Africa, the Middle East, and Turkey, advising senior leadership and engaging with civil society and government. After a stint as a Venture Partner at Ada Ventures, she is now a Senior Policy Advisor at OpenAI, focusing on emerging market policy and AI partnership strategies.

Outside of tech, Okobi is a leader in the art and culture space. She is the chair of the Patrons Council for the UK Pavilion of the 2024 Venice Biennale in honor of globally renowned artist John Akomfrah. She also currently chairs the development board of one of the most ambitious cultural infrastructure projects in Africa, the Museum of West African Art in Nigeria’s Benin City.

Okobi attended the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, Columbia Law School in New York and HEC-Paris. She and her husband, a documentary filmmaker raised one adult foster daughter (who graduated from Harvard Law in 2023) and are raising three young third-culture children.