BIOGRAPHY
Tolu Olubunmi
Founder | HTSA
Short Bio:
Tolu Olubunmi is a writer, speaker, and entrepreneur building the intellectual infrastructure for belonging in the twenty-first century. She is the founder of How To Speak American (HTSA). Her story is featured in the Obama Presidential Center Museum, and she is a 2026 Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Resident.
Full Bio:
Tolu Olubunmi is a writer, speaker, and entrepreneur building the intellectual infrastructure for belonging in the twenty-first century. She is the founder of How To Speak American (HTSA), an initiative exploring how societies build belonging and strengthen democracy through writing, public engagement, research, and cultural initiatives.
Over more than two decades, her work has spanned grassroots movements, government, global institutions, philanthropy, and business. She helped build one of the largest immigrant youth movements in American history, co-founded Immigrant Heritage Month, and has partnered with organizations including Microsoft, Walmart, Mars, Ogilvy, and Coca-Cola to help institutions navigate complexity, build public trust, and advance meaningful social and environmental progress.
Her leadership has included collaborations with the White House, the United Nations, the World Bank, and the World Economic Forum. She previously served as a United Nations Special Appointee and Director of the UN’s ActNow campaign and continues to convene conversations at the intersection of business, government, and civil society. A graduate of Washington and Lee University with a degree in Chemistry-Engineering, Tolu serves on the Board of Advisors at The Williams School.
Her story is featured in the Obama Presidential Center Museum, recognizing work that has helped shape the American story. In 2026, she was selected as a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Resident to continue developing her work on belonging, democracy, and civic participation.
Through her writing and speaking, Tolu explores one enduring question: Who belongs? Who decides?
