Gideon Olanrewaju

Gideon Olanrewaju is a Nigerian educational development practitioner and the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of the Aid for Rural Education Access Initiative (AREAi), a community-based, non-profit organization that expands access to accelerated and alternative learning, employment, and empowerment programs for underserved populations through low-cost technologies.

With more than ten years of international experience across four countries and strong academic expertise in international education and development, Gideon has a proven record in EdTech program management, program design, strategic planning, technical leadership, and resource mobilization. He focuses on supporting education initiatives at the intersection of educational technology, digital learning, and humanitarian response. His work includes training, research, advocacy, program development, and the implementation of more than 25 projects in areas such as EdTech, girls’ education, gender-based violence prevention, and development across Nigeria, DR Congo, Uganda, and Ghana.

Gideon holds a Master of Arts in International Education and Development from the University of Sussex as a Chevening Scholar and a Master of Philosophy in Education, Globalization, and International Development from the University of Cambridge as a Magdalene College–Standard Bank Chairman Scholar. He has also completed executive education at the African Leadership Academy, Lagos Business School, Harvard Business School, and the University of Geneva.

He has received several global honors, including the 2022 Rare Rising Star Award, the 2023 UN ITU Equals in Tech Award, and the 2024 UNESCO International Literacy Prize. Gideon is an Ashoka Fellow, a Deloitte–One Young World Scholar, a Malala Fund Education Champion, and a U.S. International Visitor Leadership Program Fellow. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in digitalization for inclusive humanitarian access as an ESRC Scholar at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom.