Dr Osasuyi Dirisu is the Executive Director of the Policy Innovation Centre (PIC) and Senior Fellow at the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG). Osasuyi is a seasoned development and gender expert with over 20 years of experience designing and implementing research and development programmes across education, social development, public health, economic and social inclusion.  She was formerly Research Director at the Population Council and in that role, her work explored the context of poverty, gender norms and social inequalities to develop evidence for policy and practice across sectors in Nigeria.  In her current role at the PIC, she leads a portfolio of work to support evidence for better policies and outcomes for women, children, and other vulnerable populations.

Osasuyi conceptualized the National Gender and Inclusion Summit in 2022, one of Africa’s largest platforms for advancing gender and social inclusion. The Summit is attended by thousands of participants annually and has been institutionalized as a platform for exploring approaches for advancing gender equality, accelerating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and strengthening gender-responsive governance. She has also led pioneering initiatives, She led development of the National Gender Based Violence (GBV) Dashboard, an innovative data management and visualization platform for the collation of validated, real-time GBV data in Nigeria.

Osasuyi served as Commencement Speaker at the 75th Foundation Anniversary and Convocation Ceremonies of the University of Ibadan in 2023. She holds an MB; BS degree from the University of Ibadan; an MPH from the University of Lagos, an MBA from the Pan-Atlantic University and a PhD from the University of Leeds as a Commonwealth Scholar. She is also an alumnus of the Harvard Kennedy School and the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. Osasuyi is recognized as a thought leader in gender and development; she is a widely sought after speaker and is listed as one of the top 100 career women in Africa.