Abdullahi Dayo Israel is an Alumnus of the Harvard Business School, Cambridge, Judge Business School, the Executive Development Program of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the London Metropolitan University.
He was named one of the 100 Most Influential People of African Descent (under 40) as part of the 2017 celebration of the UN Decade for people of Africa Descent at the One UN Plaza in New York.
Dayo is a member of the British Council Global Change Makers Network, Connecting Futures Program and Fellow of the US State Department International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) that has produced over 400 Heads of Government globally.
A Henley Business School Young Leader, Dayo has twice been recognized in 2016 and 2017 as one of 50 UK’s brightest young leaders. He was also recognized as one of the top 25 Promising Nigerian Youths under 35 to Serve Nigeria in 2016 and as one of Africa’s top 30 most inspirational young people of 2013.
He currently serves the Governor of Lagos State as an Executive Permanent Board Member of the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board, overseeing quality assurance of all public primary schools in Lagos State. Prior to that, he served as a Legislative Aide in the National Assembly of Nigeria.
Dayo was specially invited by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, to a private reception at Buckingham Palace, as a result of his contribution to Africa Diaspora Development, and remains the only ever recipient of the Young PEWA (Person Earnestly Working for Africa) Award at the office of the Mayor of London.
He was also invited by the Obama Administration to the White House President’s Forum for Young African Leaders in Washington DC. He was selected by the United Nations to represent all delegates to the UN General Assembly Special Session on Children on a special CNN Live Interview in 2002 and led the Nigerian Children delegation to the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development in Joburg 2002 and the World Water Forum in Japan 2003.
An author of books including Journey to Greatness, Audacity to Run, Ready to Run, and Run to Win, Dayo attracts a lot of “positive” media attentions and has featured on CNN Q and A Live, Daystar Christian Broadcasting Network, Iranian Press TV, Nickelodeon, BBC Network Africa, Ben Television, OBE TV, BBC World Service, NTA Newsline, and T.V Africa. He produces and presents the syndicated “Dayo Israel Show” across Europe and Africa.
He has made headlines on various national newspapers such as Swazi Today, Ovation Magazine, London Trumpets Newspaper and more etc.
Dayo facilitates many high profile events and meetings to connect Emerging Leaders with stakeholders and senior executives providing opportunity for mentorship and networking for development and growth. Some of his programs have featured Former and Serving Presidents, World Bank Vice Presidents, Former Prime Ministers, Ambassadors and High Net worth Individual.
Dayo helps drive trade and investment between Africa and the West (Europe and North America) through various activities including Trade Delegations, Business Roundtables, Investment Forums and Bilateral Meetings. Dayo also consults for Senior Executives and Government leaders in the areas of brand positioning and visibility strategy.
