Her Story of Love & Courage: Damilola Ogunbiyi

She Business Time
Sep 11, 2025
3 min read

In every generation, there are women who stand as a beacon of courage, compassion, and vision. For millions living without reliable electricity, Damilola Ogunbiyi is that beacon. Her story is not only about energy and infrastructure — it is about love for people and the courage to break barriers in order to bring light where there was once darkness.

From Nigeria to the World

Born and raised in Nigeria, Damilola witnessed firsthand how lack of electricity held back communities — hospitals left in the dark, schools forced to close early, markets silenced by power outages. These weren’t mere inconveniences; they were injustices that shaped her resolve.

After completing her education in the UK, she returned home with a mission: to transform lives by transforming access to energy.

Love in Action

For Damilola, energy is not just about power lines and grids — it’s about people. She often recalls visiting hospitals where just a few seconds of power loss could cost the lives of newborn babies or mothers in surgery. These moments became her motivation, teaching her that energy access is a matter of love, justice, and human dignity.

As head of the Nigerian Rural Electrification Agency, she spearheaded projects that changed lives:

Nigerian Electrification Project – a multi-million-dollar initiative that deployed solar mini-grids and home systems across rural Nigeria.
Energizing Education Programme – ensuring universities and teaching hospitals could run without interruption.
Energizing Economies Initiative – giving markets and small businesses access to reliable power to thrive.

Each project was not only a technical victory but also an act of compassion for millions of families.

Courage to Break Barriers

Damilola’s journey has not been without resistance. The energy sector is traditionally male-dominated, and being the first woman in many leadership spaces meant she had to work twice as hard to prove herself.

Her courage was not in seeking power for herself, but in opening doors for others. She championed the inclusion of women and youth in the energy transition, creating opportunities for young female engineers and entrepreneurs to enter a field where they were once invisible.

A Global Voice for Energy Justice

Today, as the CEO of Sustainable Energy for All (Sefora'll) and the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sustainable Energy, Damilola stands on the global stage. She co-chairs UN-Energy, mobilizing trillions in investments to accelerate universal access to energy and a just transition to renewables.

Her leadership has led to groundbreaking initiatives such as:

Powering Healthcare – bringing reliable electricity to health facilities.
Cooling for All – tackling heat stress in vulnerable communities.
Clean Cooking – addressing the urgent need for safe, sustainable cooking solutions.

Recognized globally, from being listed on the TIME100 Climate Leaders list to receiving leadership awards, Damilola remains grounded in her purpose: to ensure no one is left in the dark.

Love & Courage as Her Legacy

What makes Damilola’s story powerful is not just her professional success, but the heart behind it. Love — for people, for equity, for the right of every child to study under light. Courage — to challenge broken systems, to rise in spaces where women are underrepresented, and to lead global action on one of humanity’s most urgent needs.

Her story reminds us that true leadership is not about holding power but about giving power — literally and figuratively — to those who need it most.

✨ At She Business Time, we celebrate Damilola Ogunbiyi’s journey as a story of love and courage — proof that when women lead with heart and resilience, they light up the world