Modupe (Mo) Olateju

Modupe (Mo) Olateju is a fellow with the Center for Universal Education in the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings. She is an international development specialist with expertise in public-private partnership in education with additional research interests in education innovation and foundational learning. She established The Education Partnership (TEP) Centre and led the organization’s pioneering work in applied education research in Nigeria and across Africa for 10 years. In this capacity, she co-led the establishment of LEARNigeria, Nigeria’s citizen-led assessment, advocacy, and action program that implemented a model of effective public-private collaboration in education. LEARNigeria provides rich evidence on learning outcomes of thousands of children across Nigeria and implements an accelerated learning program to address learning poverty at scale. She also initiated the annual pan-African education innovation summit (NEDIS), which is now in its eighth year, and its accompanying civil society network, the National Innovation Collaborative on Education.

In her role as a policy adviser, Olateju has supported policymakers, international think tanks, and corporations, and led workstreams on a range of education sector support initiatives funded by government agencies, multilateral organizations, and corporations. She drafted a section of Nigeria’s 2011-2015 education strategy, was a member of the technical team that developed Nigeria’s Medium- and Long-Term Strategic Plans in 2020, and in 2023, served on a three-member Policy Advisory Council, articulating education policy priorities for Nigeria’s recently inaugurated national government.

As an applied research practitioner and civil society representative, Olateju has supported several evidence ecosystem-strengthening initiatives including as a commissioner on the Global Commission on Evidence to Address Societal Challenges (Evidence Commission) at McMaster University, and as a member of the steering committee for the Enhancing Education Research in Africa (EERA) consultation. She has also provided advice and guidance on technical review and advisory committees convened by the UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report, the Independent Evaluation Office of UNDP, Education Cannot Wait , Global Partnership for Education (GPE), Global Schools Forum (GSF), Lego Foundation, Lever for Change, and several FCDO (U.K. government)-funded programs including Education Research in Conflict and Protracted Crisis (ERICC) and Education Data, Research and Evaluation in Nigeria (EDOREN). She also offered technical advice on scaling education innovation to the Millions Learning project at Brookings. She has led capacity development activities with stakeholders in African countries including Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, and Uganda.

Olateju is the chair of the international board of Malala Fund, and serves as a trustee of Human Capital Africa and Slum2School U.S. Her previous work experience in the private sector included organizations like Accenture where she was a management consultant, and Junior Achievement of Nigeria where she was a regional vice president.

As the IOE Centenary Scholar for Africa, she graduated from University College London’s Institute of Education with a doctorate in education and international development and, prior to that, earned a master’s degree with distinction from the same university. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in educational administration from the University of Lagos and is a fellow of the Asia-Global Institute at the University of Hong Kong.