Opeyemi (Ope) Sunmola
2025-2026 University of Chicago Scholar
Nigeria
Executive Director, City of LANE
Expanding access to global education and civic leadership across Africa and the African diaspora through mentorship, policy exposure, and cross-sector partnerships
Opeyemi Sunmola is the co-founder and director of LANE (Light Africa Network), an organization dedicated to increasing access to graduate education and leadership opportunities for young professionals across Africa and the African diaspora. LANE provides comprehensive support to help promising students pursue global leadership roles in business and policy through hands-on bootcamps, mentorship programs, regional networking events, and test prep scholarships. Ope has helped scale the organization to support over 2,300 Black and African graduate school applicants, with more than 70% securing funding for top-100 programs globally. He also led the development of LANE’s mentorship model, facilitating over 150 structured mentor-mentee engagements and expanding the network’s reach to 25+ countries. Opeyemi's current focus is on institutionalizing LANE’s impact, building long-term systems and partnerships that ensure underrepresented talent not only gains access to global graduate programs, but is positioned to thrive and lead at the highest levels in business and policy.
More University of Chicago Scholars
More About the Scholars Program
More About the Scholars Program
The Obama Foundation Scholars program gives rising leaders from around the world who are already making a difference in their communities the opportunity to take their work to the next level.
Learn More