Theresa Tolulope Gbenro
Tolulope Theresa Gbenro is an award-winning Social Impact Activist and ESG consultant with over 6 years of experience. She is currently a 2024 Women Voices Fellow at the Global Strategic Communications Council. Tolulope is the Director of Monitoring and Evaluation at the Youth Sustainable Development Network (YSDN).
She is a winner of the 2023 International Climate Policy Competition organised by The International Climate Policy Solution (ICPS). She is a recipient of the 2022/2023 Nigerian Youth Future Fund Youth Leadership Fund worth $1000 which was used to execute a climate education project in Ilorin, Kwara state, and a finalist of the UNITAR Through the Lens of Youth Documentary.Her work revolves around climate action, renewable energy, women empowerment, and youth participation in governance, WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene), and climate migration. Tolulope has spoken at global conferences like COP28 in Dubai, the 2024 Youth Sustainable Development Conference in Morocco among others.
Tolulope is passionate about contributing to the development of Nigeria and Africa at large. As such, she shares valuable tips for corps members and graduates via her initiative Hone NYSC. Tolulope is a finalist of the Active Citizenship Award for Climate Change in Nigeria by Noble Mission for Change Initiative. She is also a 2022 Nominee for the Tállberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize.
She is an alumnus of numerous organisations like Enactus, Hult Prize, Leap Africa, Millennium Campus Network, iLEAD Africa among others. She has been featured on numerous media platforms. Tolulope holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Physics-Applied Geophysics from Covenant University and has been trained on Climate Change and Negotiation by the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning.
Why did you want to be involved in the YAL project as YAB?
From my experience, I understand the importance of youth-led funding in moving from conversations to sustainable project implementation and the intricacies involved in selecting grantees. I believe young people deserve a seat at the table and deserve to be competently represented at the table.
How do you see the future of the AU-EU Labs?
The future of the AU-EU Labs amplifies meaningful youth engagement by involving youth leadership in co-creation that promotes power shifting by empowering over 110 youth-led organisations within the AU&EU impacting over 10,000 young people while focusing on capacity building and empowering underrepresented youths.
