Meet the Jury

Three experienced education professionals leading our selection process

Iyeyinka Kusi-Mensah

Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Adjunct Lecturer |Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (C-CAMH), University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Iyeyinka Kusi-Mensah is a postdoctoral research fellow and an adjunct lecturer at the Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (C-CAMH), University of Ibadan, Nigeria where she teaches courses on literature review writing and ethnography. She is a research affiliate in the Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge. She obtained her MPhil and PhD in Sociology from the University of Cambridge. She completed her bachelor’s degree magna cum laude with highest honours and Phi Beta Kappa in Social Anthropology and African Studies at Harvard University with a citation in French. Her research interests lie at the nexus of youth employment and wellbeing. She is passionate about helping to create an environment where African youth can have dignified and fulfilling work and lives. She founded a reading programme in a low-income neighbourhood in Ibadan called Readers are Leaders in 2011, as well as a free summer school in the Alagbagba area of Ibadan in 2013. During her National Youth Service Year between 2017 and 2018, she enjoyed teaching mathematics to Senior Secondary School 2 students in Anglican Commercial Grammar School, Ibadan as well as founding a reading and music club. She is excited about celebrating teachers who are invested in ensuring their students succeed.

Oluwatoyin Ajilore

STEM Education Researcher | Tufts University

Oluwatoyin Ajilore is a STEM education researcher and PhD student at Tufts University with more than 5 years of experience in teacher training and education reform. Formerly a faculty at the University of Ibadan, she bridges education practice and research with policy advocacy. She is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Governance and Economic Transformation, where she advises African governments on education reform. She is also a public scholar who writes an education column for a leading Nigerian newspaper. Oluwatoyin’s research focuses on helping university faculty create student-centered classrooms that foster authentic scientific thinking. In 2024, she was awarded the Tufts GSAS Dean’s Innovation Fellowship for her groundbreaking research, and in 2022, she received the Tufts Provost Leadership Fellowship for academic excellence, leadership, and civic engagement. She is also the founder of Oak Nation Entrepreneurial (ONE) Foundation, a nonprofit supporting youth-led enterprises with education, mentoring, funding and advocacy in Nigeria. A passionate advocate for transforming education systems, Oluwatoyin challenges education stakeholders toward a thinking-focused approach and sees her role on the jury as a way to celebrate teachers making lasting impacts in education.

Olalekan John Adepoju

Surgical Registrar & Medical Educator | NHS Scotland & University of Aberdeen

Dr. Adepoju pursues a tripartite career of Surgical Practice, Clinical Research and Medical Education, and has been leading initiatives in medical education for about a decade, catering for individuals in undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He graduated summa cum laude of his medical school class at the University of Ibadan, winning multiple University awards. He is currently studying part-time for a postgraduate degree in Health Professions Education at the University of York and is an honorary associate in medical education at the University of Aberdeen. He serves as an instructor on the Royal College of Surgeons of England/American College of Surgeons Advanced Trauma Life Support and the Stop the Bleed® courses. Ola mentors several junior colleagues with similar career pursuits, bringing on board his passion for shaping the next generation of health professions educators. He sits on the board of a few NGOs, advocating for cultural intelligence, ethical leadership and equitable resourcing. He has peer-reviewed abstracts for education-related international conferences and hopes to bring this experience into serving on this jury to celebrate teaching excellence.