In a world where gender often dictates opportunity, Abisoye Ajayi-Akinfolarin is rewriting the script. Imagine a young girl from an underserved Nigerian community facing a future dictated by poverty and societal norms. Now, imagine that same girl learning to code, creating solutions, and changing her destiny.
This is the reality Ajayi-Akinfolarin is shaping. A social impact entrepreneur, tech visionary, and advocate for women’s empowerment, she is breaking down barriers that have long kept girls out of technology. Through Pearls Africa Youth Foundation, she equips young women with coding, digital literacy, and problem-solving skills, ensuring they use technology and create it.
From being named a CNN Hero to training over 10,000 girls, her impact is undeniable. But behind her success is a journey of resilience, determination, and the belief that every girl deserves the chance to build her own future, no matter where she comes from.
The Early Years: Overcoming Adversity
Abisoye Ajayi-Akinfolarin’s journey began in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria, where she was born into a modest home. Life took a difficult turn early on—she lost her mother at just three years old. Raised in a challenging environment, she faced emotional and financial struggles that would have discouraged many.
At 15, she made a life-altering decision—she left home. The continuous verbal abuse and neglect from her stepmother and biological father forced her to seek a new path. Alone and uncertain of the future, she knew one thing: education was her ticket to a better life.
Despite the odds, she persevered. University seemed out of reach, but technology found her first. She enrolled at the National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT), where she discovered computer programming and data analysis. What started as curiosity soon became a passion that would reshape her future and the futures of thousands of young girls.
Determined to push forward, she later earned a degree in Business Administration from the University of Lagos and became a Harvard Kennedy School Mason Fellow. But even as she built a career, she couldn’t ignore the glaring gender gap in the tech industry.
Ajayi-Akinfolarin had beaten the odds, but she wasn’t satisfied with her success—she wanted to create pathways for others to rise.
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The Birth of Pearls Africa: Turning Pain into Purpose
As Abisoye Ajayi-Akinfolarin climbed the ranks in Nigeria’s tech industry, one thing became clear: women were missing from the table. She worked as a data analyst and IT consultant, but she was often one of the few women present in boardrooms, coding boot camps, and tech conferences.
The realization hit her hard. While she had fought her way into the world of technology, thousands of girls from underserved communities would never get the chance. Many were trapped in cycles of poverty, early marriage, and societal limitations, never knowing that they, too, could build a future in tech.
In 2015, she changed that narrative and founded Pearls Africa Youth Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to empowering girls through technology education and mentorship.
She launched GirlsCoding, the foundation’s flagship program, which teaches young girls from slums, correctional centers, transit homes, and IDP camps how to code. But it wasn’t just about learning programming languages but about showing them a world beyond their circumstances.
Since its inception, Pearls Africa has trained over 10,000 girls, equipping them with coding, app development, and digital skills that open doors to economic independence. For many of these girls, technology became more than just a tool—it became a ticket to freedom.
What started as a small initiative was quickly becoming a movement. But Abisoye wasn’t just teaching girls how to use technology—she was showing them how to build it.
Breaking Barriers: Teaching Girls to Create, Not Just Consume Technology
For many girls growing up in underserved Nigerian communities, technology is something they use, not build. Social norms and limited opportunities have conditioned them to believe that coding, app development, and software engineering are reserved for men.
Abisoye Ajayi-Akinfolarin is dismantling that mindset. Through Pearls Africa’s GirlsCoding program, she shows young girls that they are more than just consumers of technology—they can be creators.
She believes technology isn’t just about learning how to type or use Microsoft Office—it’s about problem-solving, innovation, and empowerment. Under her mentorship, girls don’t just learn to code; they identify problems in their communities and develop tech solutions to solve them.
Through the program, girls from slums, correctional centers, and IDP camps are learning to build websites, apps, and digital tools that address real-world challenges. Some have developed platforms to report gender-based violence, while others have created apps to help their communities access vital information and services.
But beyond coding, Ajayi-Akinfolarin is giving these girls something even more powerful—confidence. She is proving to them that they can challenge stereotypes, break barriers, and step into spaces where women have long been underrepresented.
For the girls in her program, coding isn’t just about technology—it’s about rewriting their futures.
International Recognition: A Global Force for Change
Abisoye Ajayi-Akinfolarin’s impact hasn’t gone unnoticed. Her tireless work in empowering young girls through technology has gained international recognition, cementing her place as a leading voice in women’s empowerment and digital education.
In 2018, she was named a CNN Hero, a prestigious honor given to individuals making extraordinary contributions to society. That same year, she was featured on the BBC 100 Women list, highlighting the most influential and inspiring women worldwide.
Her accolades don’t stop there. She has been recognized by ONE’s Women of the Year, YTech100, and the United Nations Interagency Network on Youth Development. She is also an alumna of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), where she engaged in global conversations about education and activism for young women.
However, for Ajayi-Akinfolarin, awards are not the goal—they are a testament to the importance of her mission. Each recognition brings more visibility to the girls she trains, the communities she serves, and the systemic barriers she is determined to break.
Through her work, she proves that African women can be pioneers in technology, not just participants. She is shaping the future of tech in Nigeria and influencing global conversations on gender, education, and digital inclusion.
Her work is more than a movement—it’s a revolution.
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Advocacy for Women and Systemic Change
For Abisoye Ajayi-Akinfolarin, teaching girls to code is just one part of the solution. True empowerment goes beyond technical skills—it requires systemic change.
Nigeria, like many parts of the world, remains deeply patriarchal. Women and young girls, particularly those in underserved communities, face barriers to education, economic independence, and leadership opportunities. Many girls in slums and rural areas are forced into early marriage or domestic labor, cutting short their chances of building careers in technology or any other field.
Ajayi-Akinfolarin is tackling this issue from multiple angles. Through Pearls Africa, she is equipping girls with tech skills and advocating for policy reform and accountability in education. She works closely with local and state governments, demanding better educational infrastructure in slum areas and pushing for programs that keep girls in school.
Beyond government policies, she is also changing mindsets. She understands that many obstacles girls face come from deep-seated societal beliefs. She is shifting perceptions about what girls can achieve through community engagement, mentorship programs, and grassroots activism.
Her vision extends far beyond Nigeria. She is part of global advocacy groups, including the United Nations Interagency Network on Youth Development and the YALI Network, working to create policies that foster gender equality and digital inclusion worldwide.
By fighting educational and cultural barriers, Ajayi-Akinfolarin ensures that young girls don’t just learn how to code—they learn how to take control of their own futures.
A Call to Action for a More Inclusive Future
Abisoye Ajayi-Akinfolarin’s story is proof that one person’s vision can transform thousands of lives. She turned her own struggles into a mission, ensuring that young girls—especially those from underserved communities—have access to opportunities that once seemed impossible.
Her work is far from over. There are still millions of girls in Nigeria and across Africa who lack access to education, digital skills, and economic independence. The question now is: How can we all contribute to this change?
You can support organizations like Pearls Africa, mentor young girls, advocate for better education policies, or simply amplify these stories. Every effort counts.
Ajayi-Akinfolarin has laid the foundation. Now, it’s up to all of us to build a future where every girl has the tools, the knowledge, and the confidence to create her own success story.
Because when you empower a girl, you empower a nation.