Funke Adeoye is a Nigerian

international human rights law International human rights law (IHRL) is the body of international law designed to promote human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels. As a form of international law, international human rights law is primarily made up of treaties, ag ...

yer,

social entrepreneur Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, Startup company, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to ...

Young Global Leader Forum of Young Global Leaders, or Young Global Leaders (YGL), is a non-profit organization. The organization was created by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum and is managed from Geneva, Switzerland, under the supervision of the Sw ...

, and founder of Hope Behind Bars Africa. Funke established Nigeria's first

social enterprise A social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being. This may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for co-owners. Social enterprises ha ...

focused on reducing

recidivism Recidivism (; from 'recurring', derived from 'again' and 'to fall') is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been trained to Extinction (psycholo ...

by providing

vocational A vocation () is an occupation to which a person is especially drawn or for which they are suited, trained or qualified. Though now often used in non-religious contexts, the meanings of the term originated in Christianity. A calling, in the reli ...

and educational skills to women and young people in prisons. She was the first Waislitz Award winner on criminal justice issues

Early life

Funke Adeoye was born in

Port Harcourt Port Harcourt (Pidgin: ''Po-ta-kot or Pi-ta-kwa)'' is the capital and largest city of Rivers State in Nigeria. It is the fifth most populous city in Nigeria after Lagos, Kano, Ibadan and Benin. It lies along the Bonny River and is locate ...

Rivers State Rivers is a states of Nigeria, state in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria (Old Eastern Region). Formed on 27 May 1967, when it was split from the former Eastern Region, Nigeria, Eastern Region, Rivers State borders include Imo State, Im ...

, and grew up in Lagos. She obtained an LLB from the

University of Benin (Nigeria) The University of Benin (UNIBEN) is a Public university, public research university located in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. It is among the List of universities in Nigeria, universities owned by the Federal Government of Nigeria and was founde ...

and an MSc in International Human Rights Law from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. Additionally, she completed an Executive Certificate in Civic Engagement from the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

and a Certificate in Non-profit Leadership from the Lagos Business School's Sustainability Centre.

Career

Funke is the founder of Hope Behind Bars Africa, a social impact organisation working to close the justice gap in Nigeria using legal aid, evidence-based advocacy, data, and technology. Over 7,000+ justice-involved individuals have benefited directly from her interventions. She started as a legal associate at Olumide Sofowora SAN Chambers before moving into the social impact sector. In 2018, she established Hope Behind Bars Africa, an organization that collaborates with stakeholders to promote human rights in Nigeria's criminal justice system. In 2020, with support from the German government, she produced reusable facemasks distributed for free to prison inmates and 11 low-income communities in Nigeria’s capital. Funke was listed by The Attic London as one of the lawyers changing the world, and she delivered papers across local and international fora, including a panel session with President Róbert Ragnar Spanó, President of the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

, at One Young World Manchester. In 2021, she engaged the Upper Chamber of Nigeria’s parliament on the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020, legislation that could negatively impact the civic space. In 2023, she formed part of a select 700 participants drawn throughout Africa into the

Mandela Washington Fellowship The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) is an initiative of the United States Department of State. It was started by President Barack Obama in 2010. YALI is a programme aimed at educating and networking young African leaders with activities i ...

for Young African Leaders, an initiative by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

and the

US Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

. In 2024, Funke championed the release of 38 minors unjustly arrested and incarcerated by the Nigerian government for 95 days. Funke has led interventions on grassroots advocacy across

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

and saved hundreds of indigent pre-trial detainees. On August 28, 2024, she shared a story on her

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

platform X (formerly Twitter) involving Nicholas Peter, a 26-year-old photographer who was arrested and imprisoned for over 10 months for resigning from his job through ‘an insulting text and After her tweets, she was summoned by

Nigeria Police Force The Nigeria Police Force is the principal law enforcement and the lead security agency in Nigeria. It was designated by the 1999 constitution as the national police of Nigeria, with exclusive jurisdiction throughout the country. As at 2021, i ...

for defamation of character, conspiracy, and cyberbullying” over her post on X concerning the detention.

Awards and recognition

She is an

Ashoka Fellow Ashoka (formerly branded Ashoka: Innovators for the Public) is an American-based nonprofit organization that promotes social entrepreneurship by connecting and supporting individual social entrepreneurs. Ashoka invests in over 3,800 social entre ...

, a 2023 Global Citizen Waistliz Prize Awardee, an Acumen Fellow, a 2019 LEAP Africa Social Innovation Fellow, a 2022 CivicHive fellow, and a One Young World Ambassador. She is also a (TFAA ) Future Africa Finalist for Advocacy and a 100 Leading Ladies Africa Honoree.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Funke, Adeoye Living people Yoruba businesspeople 21st-century Nigerian businesspeople Human rights lawyers Nigerian women lawyers Nigerian women academics 21st-century women lawyers Yoruba lawyers Nigerian Law School alumni 1992 births