Olawale Samuel

My name is Olawale (Wale) Samuel. I recently worked as Learning Network Coordinator (Africa) on USAID's Leading Through Learning Global Project being implemented by Education Development Center (EDC). Previously, I was an Education Program Manager with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Nigeria overseeing a multi-million-dollar portfolio. I have also served as Acting Deputy Director as well as Acting Director of the USAID Education office in Nigeria.

I have supervised multiple Reading projects and Crisis and Conflict activities. I supervised the implementation of the Nigeria’s education response through several projects such as: Addressing Education in Northeast Nigeria (AENN) and the University of Maiduguri’s Countering Violent Extremism. These projects address the educational needs of children and adolescents and the post conflict educational needs of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in collaboration with the U.K’s Department for International Development (DFID/FCDO). I also coordinated USAID Nigeria’s largest response to basic quality education in Sub-Saharan Africa, Northern Education Initiative Plus (NEI Plus). The NEI Plus was a multi-million-dollar intervention that worked with the systems of select states to increase equitable access to education and improve students’ reading outcomes.

I was one of the two representatives for the U.S State Department’s Africa Bureau on the Locally Employed Staff Advocacy Council, a global body representing 60,000+ oversees employees of the Department.

Prior to USAID, I worked with the World Bank (Nigeria) to design and drive the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) activities to strengthen the education systems of 5 states in Nigeria.

Of the key professional recognitions I have received, I am particularly proud of the one for my work on SDG 4.1, specifically towards the alignment of Nigerian Education benchmarks to the Global Proficiency Framework (GPF), which attracted international funding for setting up a pioneer national reading framework in Nigeria. This work set the tone for how young children learn to read with International standards and best practices.

I provided input to the Global Coalition on Education (GCE) Education For All (EFA) Strategic framework at both the global and regional levels. I have had the opportunity to contribute to global education finance replenishment summits via platforms such as the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference in London and the UN Millennium Development Summits.