Oluwatamilore Oni

Master of Public Policy 2023
Research Fellow, Oxford Martin School

Oluwatamilore is a Yorùbá name from southwest Nigeria meaning “God has given me a gift.” She often jokes that she is the gift that keeps on giving and has dedicated her life and career to positive social impact.

Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, she started out her career with degrees in Architecture and Urban Design, spearheading urban resilience and development projects in local non-profits supported by international organisations. Realising the urgency and far-reaching effects of economic inequality, she transitioned from the built environment to focus on economic development. From 2019–2023, she led strategic giving in Emerging Markets across the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region on Google’s technology-focused philanthropic team. She managed a USD 40M+ grants portfolio focused on projects that improve economic well-being in underserved communities.

Her work includes initiatives such as setting up a COVID-19 relief fund that supported 115,000 individuals and families, delivering 50,000 digital skills scholarships in 20+ countries across EMEA, supporting skills acquisition interventions for 60,000 farmers in rural Kenya, and providing cash grants and training to 1,000 African women entrepreneurs.

Tamilore’s family is a big part of her life. She comes from a heritage of social impact; her mother founded and runs a shelter for women survivors of domestic violence.

She is very proud of her newest family, Keble College, and considers herself an ambassador of Keble community’s history, ideology, and legacy. During her year as a Master of Public Policy student supported by the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust, she participated in the annual telethon campaign and hosted over 50 friends, family, and colleagues to tour the College using nuggets from Chaplain Kramer’s guided tours.

Tamilore is currently a Research Fellow on the Future of Development programme at the University of Oxford Martin School where she is curating an evidence synthesis series on the potential of digital skills training to address unemployment in Africa.