By Eyikojoka Diboku
Nabila Aguele has been named the next Chief Executive Officer of Malala Fund, assuming the role on April 1, 2026, in a leadership transition that places the organisation’s first Nigeria-based global CEO at its helm.
Her appointment reflects Malala Fund’s sharper focus on Nigeria, where millions of girls remain out of school, and education advocacy is deeply urgent. As head of Malala Fund Nigeria, she has overseen nearly $3 million in grants supporting local education efforts.
With a background spanning law, public policy, academia and philanthropy, Aguele now steps into the global role with experience shaped across Nigeria, North America, Europe and the Middle East.
A leadership milestone with global and local significance
Nabila Aguele has been named the next Chief Executive Officer of Malala Fund, on April 1, 2026. Her appointment follows a planned leadership transition and marks a significant shift for the global girls’ education advocacy organisation.
She becomes Malala Fund’s first global CEO to be based in Nigeria, underscoring the organisation’s strategic focus on a country with one of the world’s largest populations of out-of-school girls and pressing education advocacy needs.
As Chief Executive of Malala Fund Nigeria, Aguele has overseen nearly $3 million in grants for local education initiatives and coalitions tackling child marriage, while the organisation awarded over $9 million across 10 countries.
A global upbringing and a strong academic foundation
Born in Nigeria and raised across England, Qatar and Canada, Aguele developed an international outlook early in life. She earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto before completing a Juris Doctor at American University Washington College of Law in 2005.
Her roles at major public and private institutions shaped her early career. Between 2005 and 2007, she clerked at the United States Court of Federal Claims’ Federal Vaccine Court, before working as a patent litigation attorney at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP and Morrison Foerster LLP, from 2007 to 2008, Morrison Foerster LLP from 2008 to 2011, where she represented Fortune 500 companies and deepened her experience in public law and governance, and Special Assistant Attorney General in Washington, D.C, on secondment.
A career that bridges law, policy and social impact
In 2011, Nabila Aguele moved into academia as a faculty member at American University Washington College of Law, where she co-led the Glushko Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic and designed the school’s first Patent Litigation course.
The role blended legal instruction with pro bono advocacy and helped shape the policy-driven lens that would later define her broader leadership journey.
By 2014, she had earned an MBA from INSEAD as valedictorian, while leading the Africa Club and reaching the finals of the 28th INSEAD Venture Competition.
In 2015, she entered public policy as Special Adviser to Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, advancing revenue reforms and gender-responsive budgeting, focusing on gender-responsive fiscal policies, and contributed to Nigeria’s Integrated National Financing Framework.
Expanding leadership beyond one institution
Aguele joined the Malala Fund in Nigeria in 2024 as Chief Executive. Over the past two years, she has led grantmaking and advocacy efforts to strengthen girls’ education and support civil society coalitions fighting child marriage.
Her influence also extends beyond the Malala Fund. She serves on the boards of Girl Rising, where she is Vice-Chair and Chair of the Nominating & Governance Committee, Women for Women International, and INSEAD.
She has also been a fellow at the African Centre for Economic Transformation since 2023 and the Centre for Global Development since 2024.
Path Forward – A Nigeria-rooted CEO with a global mandate
Aguele also contributed to INSEAD’s €300 million “Force for Good” Campaign, supporting equity and sustainability in education and governance.
She has received the Hairston Alumni Award from American University Washington College of Law, recognised for her leadership.
Her appointment puts a Nigerian leader with legal, policy and philanthropic experience at the helm of global girls’ education efforts.
