Omotade (Tade) Akin Aina is senior program director of the Higher Education and Research in Africa program at Carnegie Corporation of New York. Previously, he was chief impact and research officer at the Mastercard Foundation, working enterprise-wide across seven African countries, three programming streams, and Canada to coproduce strategic and program-supported research, evaluations, and reviews along with knowledge mobilization and products to advance the foundation’s vision of “a world where everyone has the opportunity to learn and prosper … [and] where young people are included and are thriving and their leadership and contributions matter.” Aina oversaw work that strengthened the capacity of young researchers and institutions in Africa and among the indigenous communities of Canada while promoting alternative ways of knowing. Earlier roles at the foundation included head of research and senior director, research and learning.
Aina was executive director of the Partnership for African Social and Governance Research (PASGR–Kenya) from 2014 to 2020. Established in 2011 in Nairobi, Kenya, PASGR is an independent, nonpartisan, pan-African not-for-profit organization. From 2008 to 2014, he was program director of the Higher Education and Libraries in Africa program at Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Aina was appointed full professor in the department of sociology at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, in 1993, having served successively as lecturer and senior lecturer at the university beginning in 1980. From 1993 to 1998 he served as deputy executive secretary (publications) at the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), in Dakar, Senegal. He worked with the Ford Foundation in its Nairobi office from 1998 to 2008, while also serving as acting representative between 2001 and 2002 in the foundation’s Cairo office, and as regional representative in its Eastern Africa office from 2003 to 2008.
