Damilola is a distinguished rural development and public policy expert whose innovative approach has transformed outcomes for underserved communities. With academic excellence as her foundation, she earned her first and second degrees in Agricultural Extension and Rural Development from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, graduating as the top student at both levels. She is currently advancing her expertise through doctoral studies in public policy at Oregon State University.

Driven by a commitment to create sustainable solutions for rural development challenges, Damilola founded the Rural Nurture Initiative (RNI), where she serves as Executive Director. Her leadership extends to establishing the Young Rural Developers Summit (YORDS), an interdisciplinary platform that builds capacity among emerging rural development professionals.

Damilola's expertise has been recognized through her appointment to the Environment and Natural Resources Advisory Committee in Oregon. Her previous role as a researcher with the USAID-funded Innovation Lab for Policy Leadership in Agriculture and Food Security demonstrates her collaborative approach to policy research in agriculture and food security.

Damilola’s dedication to excellence has garnered numerous accolades, Among others, she was recognized as one of the Top 50 Women Leaders in Oregon for 2023 and 2024, and won the Best Poster award at the 13th Annual Pacific Northwest Water Research Symposium (2023) in the United States. She was a recipient of the prestigious Oregon State University Provost’s Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in 2022, received the RNI Exemplary Leadership Award in 2021, and emerged as Union Rise Challenge Winner in 2020. In 2019, she was recognized as the best graduating Masters’ student and was previously awarded (in 2016) the Departmental Prize and ZARD Scholarships for the best graduating undergraduate student for the 2013/2014 Academic Session at the Department of Agricultural Extension & Rural Development, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

Under Damilola’s leadership, her organization (Rural Nurture Initiative) has also been recognized with awards like the Nigerian Volunteers Award (2022), Go-for-It Africa’s Sustainable Impact Award (2021), and the Union Bank Enabling NGOs for Success Grant (2019).