The Malala Fund, an international non-profit organisation dedicated to ensuring every girl has access to 12 years of free, safe, and quality education has appointed Nabila Aguele as its new global CEO.
The fund Co-founded in 2013 by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai and her father, Ziauddin focuses its advocacy and grant-making efforts in regions where adolescent girls face the most significant barriers to schooling.
About Nabila Aguele
Nabila was previously Chief Executive, Nigeria at the Malala Fund, and a member of the global Executive Leadership Team. In this position she led the organisation’s Nigeria strategy and operations and oversaw the country’s external affairs portfolio.
An accomplished lawyer, public policy expert and advocate for gender equality with more than 20 years of experience, Nabila is an expert in sustainable development and employs data-driven and narrative-based advocacy to drive policy change and shift societal norms. She is a Non-Resident Fellow with the Center for Global Development and a Senior Fellow with the African Center for Economic Transformation.
Nabila also serves on the boards of Women for Women International, INSEAD, and Girl Rising. At Girl Rising, she is Vice-Chair of the Board and Chair of the Nominating & Governance Committee. She is a member of the INSEAD Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Taskforce, and served on the board of INSEAD’s “Force for Good” Campaign, which raised over Є300 million.
Public Service Career
Before joining Malala Fund, Nabila served as a Special Adviser to Nigeria’s Minister of Finance. In her role, she championed gender-responsive fiscal policies and budgets and helped craft Nigeria’s Integrated National Financing Framework.
Prior, she was a Special Adviser to Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, co-leading the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiatives; and a Technical/Special Assistant to Nigeria’s Minister of State for Budget & National Planning.
Educational Background and Stint in Academia
A global citizen, Nabila grew up in Nigeria, England, Qatar, and Canada. She has a B.Sc. from the University of Toronto, a Juris Doctor from the American University Washington College of Law, and an MBA from INSEAD, where she was Valedictorian.
Prior to transitioning into the policy and governance space, Nabila served on the full-time faculty at American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL), co-leading the Glushko Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic (an in-house pro bono law firm).
She also designed and taught the school’s first Patent Litigation course. Before that, she represented Fortune 500 companies in complex civil patent litigations at large law firms, including Morrison Foerster, and was appointed Special Assistant Attorney General with the District of Columbia Office of the Attorney General, on secondment.
