Bolu Temitope Adeleye

Nigerian social entrepreneur empowering girls through education and technology

Bolu Temitope Adeleye is the founder and CEO of Bridging the Gap Initiative (BTG), a non-profit organization that has impacted over 100,000 young people across Nigeria since its establishment in 2009. Born in Lagos in 1980, Adeleye's work focuses on educational access, leadership development, and digital literacy for marginalized girls. Her initiatives include the Tech Girls Will Lead program which trains girls in coding and entrepreneurship, addressing Nigeria's gender digital divide where only 14% of tech professionals are women.

Adeleye pioneered Nigeria's first national girls' hackathon in 2016, creating a platform for 500+ students to develop tech solutions for community challenges. Her advocacy led to partnerships with UNESCO and the World Bank, expanding BTG's reach to include STEM scholarships, mentorship networks, and community radio programs that educate over 2 million listeners weekly. In 2020, she launched the BTG Ignite initiative providing emergency education kits during school closures caused by the pandemic.

Her innovative approach to combining education with technology earned recognition as a Ashoka Fellow in 2014 and a Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 honoree in 2017. Adeleye's work directly addresses Nigeria's 10.5 million out-of-school girls, demonstrating how localized solutions can scale nationally while maintaining cultural relevance. Her current focus on policy advocacy aims to institutionalize girls' education in national curriculum frameworks through collaborations with Nigeria's Ministry of Education.