I build things I love.
That's the only through-line I've ever had
Architect · Curator · Cultural Builder · Artist · Advocate · Storyteller · Consultant
WHO AM I
The through-line was never the field.
It was always what needed to be built.
I am architect-trained and design-minded. Seven years of practice taught me how systems hold, where they fail, and what becomes possible when you design with both the material and the human in mind.
What came after wasn't a departure. It was the same intelligence finding new materials. Civic infrastructure. Cultural infrastructure. Organizational strategy. A listening society. A grandfather's exhibition. A scholarship fund that keeps a friend's belief in young Black talent alive.
I have organized communities around homelessness, good governance, and accountability. Testified before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Convened diaspora communities across continents. Trained organizations. Built civic technology. Hosted a podcast of candid conversations about the past and present with people living. Consulted everyone from small businesses to major nonprofits through their most complex needs.
I have written for The Guardian. Been featured in Cosmopolitan, the Washington Post, and on NPR. Presented and convened a panel at SXSW. Curated travel, community, stories, and cultural experiences. Built things from nothing.
THE ARC
One Life.
Many Materials
— Seven years practicing architecture
— Community organizing and advocacy around HIV/AIDS, homelessness, good governance, and accountability
— Federal housing advocacy — $355M moved
— A global social justice movement built from the ground up
— Testified before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for the Bring Back Our Girls Nigerian movement
— Obama Foundation ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ Pathways to Success
— The White House Nominated Changemaker
— Written and featured in The Guardian. Cosmopolitan. Washington Post. NPR.
— 2-time SXSW speaker
— Built NGO Checker — a civic tech product that onboarded 300+ organizations
— A scholarship fund for young and undiscovered African artists
— A grandfather's legacy being prepared for exhibition
— A listening society rooted in diaspora memory
— A canvas that started black and ended in water
THE WORK OF MY HANDS
Painting is how I find out
what I already know.
IN MEMORY
In memory of Risikat "Kat" Okedeyi — cultural architect, professor, root woman. Wherever we were, we created magic. She encouraged me to release my creativity and go deeper into my spirit. She loved Fela. She believed in Nigerian creative talent the way she believed in everyone she loved: fully, and without conditions.
The R.E.S. Fund exists because of her. It supports young, undiscovered African creatives living as artists, just as Kat supported me.
WHAT I AM BUILDING
The work that's alive right now.
A private vinyl listening society rooted in diaspora memory and intentional sound. Not a playlist. A ceremony. An invitation to inhabit music rather than consume it.
An exhibition honoring Oba Adeniji Adele II — my grandfather, who held two worlds simultaneously. Archival reclamation as spatial storytelling. Lineage made inhabitable.
(In development)