‘Gbenga is the Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative (PIN), a non-profit organisation that works to connect under-served young Africans with digital opportunities and ensures the protection of their online rights. Paradigm Initiative has also worked in communities across Nigeria since 2007 and across Africa since 2017, building experience, community trust, and an organisational culture that positions it as a leading non-governmental organisation in ICT for Development, Digital Rights and Digital Inclusion.

The organisation promotes a rights-respecting continent through teams in sub-regional offices in Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, with interventions spread across more than 27 African countries. Paradigm Initiative pushes for an Internet that is open, accessible, and affordable to all.

Gbenga’s journey into the technology and non-governmental sector was chartered with a firm foundation in Electronic and Electrical Engineering acquired at Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria. Having grown his career from local volunteering to the global stage, where he is shaping and influencing tech policies, his drive to effect positive change, empower young Africans, and ensure none is denied the opportunity to use a computer has propelled him into various leadership roles in the tech sphere.

As a staunch advocate of continuous education and learning, he has pursued Executive Education Programs at Lagos Business School, the New York Group for Technology Transfer, Oxford University, Harvard University, Stanford University, Santa Clara University, the University of the Pacific and INSEAD. His background and experience, along with consultancies and assignments completed for numerous institutions, including Microsoft, Harvard University and United Nations agencies, among others, in over 30 countries, have equipped him with a strategic approach to tackling global digital rights and inclusion challenges. This is also evidenced by his global influence. His contributions to international initiatives have been pivotal in addressing urgent issues in digital rights and inclusion, shaping policies and fostering ongoing discourse on matters such as internet freedom, emerging technologies, and artificial intelligence, among others.

‘Gbenga is among 10 high-level and eminent persons appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, to serve on his inaugural Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Leadership Panel.