“It’s not every time you get to do something where you get to meet the beneficiaries of the work you do. It’s the most rewarding feeling to point at the work you do and the impact it’s having at the level of the individual.” ~ Bunmi Banjo, Head of Brand & Digital Skills at Google
Summary: Bunmi Banjo is a business leader, a marketing and strategy professional, with a career spanning the industries of social services, oil and gas, financial services, and technology. She is currently responsible for Google’s Brand and Reputation in Africa. She leads the company’s effort to provide digital skills to millions of youth across the continent. Her previous work experience include stints at Chevron Corporation, Discover Financial Services, and TD Canada Trust. In 2012, she joined Google where she currently leads the company’s effort to train millions of people through Google’s Digital Skills for Africa programme. In March 2017, Google met its goal and committed to training one million more.
Nationality: Canadian
Industry: Technology & Activism
Q: You’ve played a pivotal part in setting up the programme to train hundreds of thousands of youth on the African continent. How did that come about? on memeburn.com
A: Developing youth in Africa is something I am very passionate about. With 75% of our population under 35 years old and 500M people of working age in the next 5 years, it is imperative that we create opportunities for young people and equip them with the tools with which they can secure a good future. I’m fortunate to work for an organization that encourages its leaders to drive initiatives that they are passionate about, and so this has been something that I’ve been doing for the last several years. The truth is that for organizations that are in Africa for the long haul, it’s almost impossible to ignore the youth. The entire future of your business depends on them; if they don’t have disposable income, you don’t have a business so it makes sense to invest in their development now.
