She doesn’t walk into rooms quietly.
She walks in with decades of data, diplomacy, and defiance.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala became the first woman and first African to lead the World Trade Organization in 2021, but she had already spent a lifetime doing the improbable: challenging global systems from within.
Born in Nigeria and educated at Harvard and MIT, she’s worked at the World Bank for 25 years, led Nigeria’s finance ministry through volatile oil prices, fought corruption on every level, and now stands at the helm of one of the world’s most powerful trade institutions.
And she’s doing it her way.
She wears Ankara prints to Geneva meetings. She speaks like an academic but fights like an activist. And she has no patience for diplomacy without action.
Her focus? Equity in access—especially for the Global South.
From vaccine distribution to digital trade, Okonjo-Iweala pushes for a new multilateralism that includes the voices often sidelined. She believes trade can be a tool for inclusion, not exploitation.
Her leadership style is deeply maternal yet razor-sharp:
She uplifts while she demands. She educates while she challenges.
In a world where power is often coded male and Western, she stands as a reminder:
Leadership doesn’t have to mirror old models. It can rewrite them.
.jfif)