OUR TEAM
Our Leadership Philosophy
SEED is led with a commitment to integrity, collaboration, and stewardship. Leadership at SEED is not centred on visibility, but on holding systems together long enough for reform to take root. SEED is deliberately lean by design. Our strength lies in coalitions, networks & trust. We steward complex work carefully, transparently, and with humility because the children the affordable non-state education system serves deserve nothing less.
SEED’s leadership and advisory structures are designed to balance proximity to communities with responsibility to systems-level outcomes.
Olanrewaju Oniyitan
Trustee/Founder/Executive Director
Olanrewaju provides strategic leadership to SEED, guiding its evolution from direct service delivery to systems‑level reform and backbone support.
Olanrewaju Oniyitan is the Executive Director of SEED Care & Support Foundation. She brings over 20 years’ experience in a wide range of sectors working across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Lanre also founded and leads W-Holistic Business Solutions. Her career began at KPMG Professional Services in the Business Advisory and Risk Management Units. Lanre currently sits on the board of Jessefield Microfinance Bank, McNichols Consolidated PLC and currently chairs the Advisory Board of Edugist. She is a firm believer that Education is the foundation for lasting change.
Lanre has worked closely with international and local private sector actors, governments, development agencies, academia, membership-based organisations & nonprofits such as FCDO, World Bank, GIZ, OXFAM, Stanford University, African Development Bank (AfDB), amongst others.. Lanre is a Life Member of the Chartered Institute of Directors, Nigeria. She is a 2024 African Women in Development (AWID), 2024 Salzburg Global Fellow, 2019 Obama African Leader and the recipient of several other awards and recognitions. Lanre has been featured on various media, panels, seminars and conferences based on her contribution to Africa’s development.
She is an alumnus of leadership and policy programmes focused on systems change and collective leadership.
Governance & Accountability
We prioritise trust with schools, communities, partners, and funders as a core asset of systems change.
Transparent decision‑making
Responsible stewardship of resources
Ethical partnerships
Learning‑driven adaptation
Guiding SEED's Mission
At the Helm
Coalition & Networked Delivery Model
SEED operates through a coalition & networked-based model that enables scale, legitimacy, and deep grassroots reach without building a large centralised staff structure. SEED serves as the Secretariat for the Coalition of Low-Fee Private School Associations in Lagos State currently made up of seven associations with one shared mission, representing schools and communities across all 20 Local Government Areas. This coalition is organised through 6 thematic working groups and 20 LGA-level grassroots structures, with volunteer leaders and practitioners from member associations.
SEED is also a member of the following:
- National Coalition of Non-State Schools in Nigeria.
- Nigerian Network of NGOs (NNNGOs)
- Global Schools Forum (GSF),
- Education Finance Network (EFN), and
- Leading Change Network (LCN).
This model allows SEED to mobilise knowledge, practitioner expertise and volunteer technical support, while maintaining strategic coordination, policy alignment, and accountability at the centre.