Dr Yemisi Akinbobola
Dr Yemisi Akinbobola is a leading voice on gender equality in and through media in Africa. Her work, spanning research, media practice, and advocacy, has informed policy, shaped industry standards, and fostered global dialogue on the rights and representation of African women in media. She is an Associate Professor of Women’s Rights and Media Development, and Research Degrees Coordinator for the Department of Media and English at Birmingham City University (UK), where she supports doctoral education and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Dr Akinbobola cofounded African Women in Media (AWiM), an international network driving structural change in media industries through research, capacity building, and policy engagement towards achieving gender equality and equity. Under her leadership, AWiM has grown into a global network of over 35,000 and has co-developed key frameworks such as the Kigali Declaration on the Elimination of Gender Violence in and through Media in Africa. She has been on key policy committees, including the UNESCO and African Union-led committee that wrote the Lusaka Declaration on Press Freedom in Africa. She is on the Advisory Committee for Media20, an initiative that promotes journalism and information integrity within the G20 policy agenda. She was also on the UNESCO-led expert panel that reviewed Chapter J of the Beijing Declaration at Beijing+30.
Her research centres on African feminisms, media representation, and journalism practice, focusing on the lived realities of women media professionals. She regularly delivers keynote talks at major academic and policy platforms, including various United Nations agencies, the African Union, and the International Association for Media and Communication Research.
A former investigative journalist who received the CNN African Journalist Award, Dr. Akinbobola created Her Media Diary, a podcast platform that amplifies African women’s voices in the media.
Dr. Akinbobola is a board member at St Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Academy, the second-largest Academy Trust in the UK, and a member of the International Panel on Social Progress. She previously served as Vice President of the Sustainable Journalism Partnership (Sweden), and on the advisory committee for the Global Media Congress (UAE) and the Africa Media Convention. In 2021, she was named one of the 100 Most Influential African Women.