Tolu Olubunmi, ‘Relentless: Making the Impossible Inevitable’

Tolu Olubunmi is an entrepreneur and global advocate for migrants, refugees and internally displaced people. An innovative thinker and determined change-maker, Tolu has established and led several organizations and campaigns focused on immigrant integration, youth empowerment, education, access to technology and employment. She currently serves as an advisor to the United Nations Department of Global Communications in New York focusing on youth engagement on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and migration as well as the UN’s Act Now campaign leading up to the Climate Summit in September 2019.

Born in Nigeria and raised in the United States, Tolu’s journey to international prominence is one of dogged determination in the face of untenable circumstances. She began her work in advocacy and philanthropy at the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) as an unpaid volunteer. She was the first and only “DREAMer” working full-time advocating for access to legal status and higher education for immigrant youth in the U.S. Her intuitive knowledge on effectively shifting culture coupled with an unrelenting pursuit of the technical skills necessary to build and message movements launched a career that took her from NILC to the Obama White House and then the world stage. In five years, she turned a crisis in her life into a career that empowers thousands – taking every opportunity to turn her good intentions into action and always choosing to be part of the solution rather than unintentionally complicit in the struggles facing the world.

This event is co-sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, European Horizons Club, UNC Global and the TransAtlantic Masters Program.