Prince Gideon Olanrewaju

At 25, Gideon Olanrewaju, popularly referred to as “LanreShaper” is a 2 times United Nations Speaker, a certified Education Policy Analyst, a vocal Youth Activist for Quality Education and a proven Educational Development Practitioner. With a proven track record of successfully designed and implemented high-impact programmatic interventions, facilitating access to quality education for disadvantaged learners in low-income communities and marginalised settings in Nigeria, South Africa and the United Kingdom, his interventions has reached over 11,000 children in under-resourced settings.

Through AREAi, a non-profit initiative he founded in 2014, Gideon leads the design and implementation of quality alternative formal and non-formal educational opportunities for out-of-school children and those in public schools to develop skills around digital literacy, cognitive problem solving and critical thinking, peer-to-peer learning and innovation as well as technology design and programming. With this demonstrated experience in education activism for underserved communities and advocacy for effective public education systems for inclusion, equality and justice, Gideon has built substantial expertise in grassroots organizing, non-profit management and leadership, resource mobilization, curriculum design, and communications for development.

Beyond his local service and activism projects, he is a strong voice championing active youth engagement in global education policy making and has represented Nigeria and participated in several high-level consultations.

With his interests cutting across civil society advocacy, educational policy analysis, girls’ education, right to education, youth civil engagement and innovative education financing, he has served at and consulted for several non-profit organisations and global education initiatives which includes Teach for Nigeria, TheirWorld, Global Partnership for Education, International Commission for Financing Global Education Opportunity, Global Business Coalition for Education etc.

He holds a Bachelors in Biochemistry from Ladoke Akintola University and currently completing a Masters of Arts in International Education&Development from University of Sussex, UK. He also holds executive leadership and educator certificates from Cambridge University Institute of Sustainability Leadership, African Leadership Academy in South Africa, UN Office inSwitzerland and LEAP Africa Leadership Academy.