Timi Paul Olagunju, a Nigerian tech policy expert, has been named among the 20 global fellows selected for the 2025 Public Voices Fellowship on Technology in the Public Interest.
The programme, supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in partnership with The OpEd Project, identifies experts whose work examines how technology shapes society, governance and public life.
Olagunju, a lawyer, public policy specialist, and Edward Mason Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School works at the intersection of technology, democracy and youth development.
According to MacArthur Foundation, Olagunju was selected alongside 19 other “notable leaders and thinkers working at the intersection of technology and society”.
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The 2025 cohort includes researchers from institutions such as Princeton University, UC Berkeley, and the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR). Their fields span genetics, digital civil rights, environmental science, journalism and AI governance.
The Public Voices Fellows are:
- Marianne Aubin Le Quéré, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Princeton University
- Oni Blackstock, Founder and Executive Director, Health Justice
- Lauren Chambers, PhD Candidate, UC Berkeley School of Information
- Danielle Davis, Director of Technology Policy, Joint Center
- Alli Finn, Senior Partnerships & Strategy Lead, AI Now Institute
- JP Flores, PhD Candidate, Department of Genetics at UNC Chapel Hill
- Rosanna Garcia, Director of the Innovation Studio at Worcester Polytechnic Institute
- David Hatami, Project Manager, Coalfire
- Krystal Kauffman, Research Fellow, The Distributed AI Research Institute
- Mallory Knodel, Founder, Social Web Foundation
- Catherine Nakalembe, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland; Founder, The Xylem Institute
- Erezi Ogbo-Gebhardt, Assistant Professor, North Carolina Central University
- Chinasa T. Okolo, Founder and Scientific Director, Technēcultură
- Timi Paul Olagunju, Founder, AI Literacy Foundation
- Maria Olujic, Anthropologist & Writer; Former Deputy Minister of Science & Technology, Croatia (Wartime Cabinet)
- Nicole Ozer, Executive Director, Center for Constitutional Democracy, UC Law San Francisco
- Andrew Thaler, Consultant, Blackbeard Biologic: Science and Environmental Advisors
- Bridget Todd, Podcast Host and Producer, Berkman Klein Center
- Julie Wenah, Chairwoman, Digital Civil Rights Coalition
- Faith Wilson, Journalist and Researcher, Hyattsville Life & Times; Surveillance Technology Oversight Project
Olagunju is one of the few fellows focused squarely on Africa’s rapidly evolving technology landscape.
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He is a partner at Timeless Practice, founder of the AI Literacy Foundation, and founder of Youths in Motion, where he has spent over a decade working with governments and civil society on digital rights, inclusion and governance.
His previous recognitions include being named a 2025 Edward Mason Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, a 2024 Internet Society Fellow, and a Berkman Klein Centre research sprint alumnus.
Although his work is rooted in Nigeria, Olagunju has increasingly contributed to global policy debates.
In Nigeria, he has been involved in policy frameworks such as the Nigeria Startup Act, the Cybercrimes Act, and the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR). He has also led advocacy efforts for citizen rights within the digital ecosystem.
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Internationally, he has advised institutions including UNICEF and the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
Through the AI Literacy Foundation, he has also engaged with US policymakers on AI education. His recommendations to the US Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) were reflected in the 2025 Executive Order 14277 on AI education.
“Policy is no longer local,” he said, while responding to his selection on the fellowship. “Decisions taken in Washington, Brussels or Beijing shape what happens to a student in Lagos using an AI-powered learning app.”
He said the fellowship is both a personal milestone and a signal of Nigeria’s growing role in global conversations about technology governance.
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“My goal is to ensure that a young girl in Pittsburgh or a young boy in Oshodi grows up in a world where AI expands opportunities rather than limits them,” he added.
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