Olatunji Ajani

Olatunji Ajani is executive director for 1 Million Cups and Kauffman FastTrac®. Ajani brings a wealth of experience in inclusive entrepreneurship and venture development to his role. As executive director, Ajani provides strategic leadership needed to increase access to entrepreneurial education, tools, and resources for entrepreneurs across the nation.

Prior to joining the Kauffman Foundation, Ajani served as the west Africa regional lead for the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs at the Aspen Institute, collaborating with global entrepreneurship ecosystem development leaders to build diverse and inclusive entrepreneurship ecosystems across the region and globally. He also worked as impact network lead, engineering for One Planet at the Lemelson Foundation, collaborating with diverse leaders across the U.S. to drive the inclusion of sustainability in engineering education.

Earlier in his career, Ajani worked as a strategy and business development consultant in three different consulting firms, helping hundreds of entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Additionally, he co-founded an online web platform and mobile application that helped entrepreneurs connect with resources to build profitable and sustainable businesses.

Ajani was a 2014 U.S. Consulate Carrington Youth Fellow, a 2015 Washington D.C. StartingBloc Fellow, and a 2018 Skoll World Forum Proximity Fellow. He won the 2014 Nigeria-America Partnership Award and his tech venture was nominated for the U.N. World Summit Award in 2015.

Ajani has a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.