Adeola Olufunke Akinsulure

Adeola Olufunke Akinsulure is a transformational Nigerian educator whose work has redefined STEM learning, championed girls’ empowerment, and expanded global citizenship opportunities for underserved students. With a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry, a Postgraduate Diploma in Education, and a Master’s degree in Business Administration (Marketing Management), she blends rigorous academic training with innovative pedagogy. Her Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program experience further strengthened her expertise in global best practices and culturally responsive instruction.  

Her journey is rooted in personal resilience. After struggling with science for years, she discovered – while studying marketing – that subjects become exciting when “rebranded.” This insight shaped her teaching philosophy: learning must be engaging, relatable, and empowering. Today, she brings biology alive through role play, edutainment, animations, and indigenous storytelling, using low-cost technology such as rechargeable projectors and mobile power stations. As a result, her students’ Biology pass rate skyrocketed from 45.3% in 2021 to 99% in 2022 and has remained consistently high.

Adeola created the SOAR+T Teaching Model, which integrates edutainment, technology, gamified assessments, mentorship, and real-world application. This model is now used by her mentees nationwide, and she has trained over 30,000 teachers across Nigeria and beyond in low-cost, scalable instructional innovations. She also built thriving digital learning communities through platforms such as Biology Comes Alive with Adeola Akinsulure, reaching thousands across West Africa.

Her students earned recognition at district, state, national, and global levels. Her school has been named Best School in the District (2023–2025) and one of the Top 50 Schools in West Africa (2024). Her learners have won the EcoLearn Nigeria Debate (2024), came 2nd Runner-Up at the World Habitat Day competition (2024), and earned sustainability award from the Lagos Ministry of Environment. They have also led successful waste-to-wealth entrepreneurship projects, winning the Karis Waste-to-Wealth Challenge (2023).  

As a committed global citizenship educator, Adeola has facilitated Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) exchanges with U.S. schools and built a 22-country Fulbright network for cultural dialogues. One formerly shy student now attends a virtual programme at the University of Pennsylvania through a full international scholarship – an outcome she describes as “the power of exposure.”

Motivated by her own struggles with menstrual health as a teenager, Adeola founded REACHHer Hub and the Confident Girls, Healthy Choices initiative, providing leadership development, hygiene education, and distributed free menstrual products to more than 500 girls in 106 schools. She also authored Glow Girls, a guide for adolescent empowerment.

Her environmental leadership is equally notable: she pioneered the Environmental Bees Club at her school, led upcycling projects that repurposed over 3,000 kg of plastic, organised tree-planting initiatives with over 500 trees planted, and her school secured recognition as Environmental Ambassador of LASEPA.  

Adeola’s broader community efforts include robotics and AI workshops, mentorship programmes, environmental campaigns, and volunteer service with organisations such as the US Consulate, Teach for Nigeria, and the Science Teachers Association of Nigeria.

If awarded the Global Teacher Prize, she plans to establish state-wide sustainability hubs, STEM Girls Leadership Bootcamps, low-cost mobile science labs, and a continent-wide Sustainability and Innovation Learning Centre to train over 50,000 teachers and empower Africa’s next generation of global citizens.