Principal Partner
Ark and Rainbow Development Foundation (ARDF)
![](https://wia-initiative.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Ifenla-Oligbinde-830x1024.jpg)
Ifenla Oligbinde is a lawyer, inclusion advocate, and a young woman in politics. She has over eight years of experience in Project, Community, and Youth Development, with a passion for advancing democratic values and increasing spaces for women in decision-making processes.
She is the Principal Partner of Ark and Rainbow Development Foundation (ARDF), a non-profit organization and community-based organization that focuses on Governance, Democracy, Youth and Women Participation in Politics, Inclusion, Civic and Citizen Engagement, and Education. She is also the founder of Mind and Ink Consult, a drafting and advisory consulting firm specializing in organizational restructuring and policy development.
As an inclusion advocate, she has developed policy briefs and research works for persons with disabilities communities. Ifenla is an alumnus of the Mandela Washington Fellowship (studied Leadership in Public Management at Cornell University), McCain Global Leaders, YALI Regional Leadership Center West Africa, African Changemakers Fellowship, African Civic Engagement Academy by the University of Georgia, and she is a Civic Charge Accelerator Fellow by Accountability Lab.
Ifenla is a recipient of numerous awards which include: President Obasanjo Award for Stellar Performance in Party Management and Diversity Leadership, 2023; “Young African Women Leads Award” for building a leading Africa under Politics by Africa Youth Leads Initiative, 2023; “Young Female Politician of the Year,” ADC Diaspora Network, 2021; Best Female Outstanding Model of the Year (Leadership Mind Ambassador Awards), 2018; and African Union Agenda 2063 Youth Ambassadorial Award, 2017.
Being a young woman in politics, and one of the youngest National Working Committee members of the African Democratic Congress, she was a former House of Assembly Candidate during the 2023 General Elections. She is leading her team to raise $100,000 to support 200 women for ARDF’s flagship initiative, SHAPE Project – Strengthening Her Aspirations for Political Engagement – a participatory fellowship that aims to prepare and support women into elective, appointive, and public offices, ahead of the 2027 General Elections in Nigeria.