Dayo Israel (LLB (Hons), MA International Relations) is an astute motivational speaker and advisor to many world leaders, business executives, politicians, young entrepreneurs and sports professionals. He is an internationally recognized personality with over 12 years professional experience in international development having worked with organisations such as the UN, British Council, Save the Children UK and UNICEF in various capacities.
He has appeared on countless television interviews, commercials, talk shows and radio programs and was selected to represent all the young delegates to the UN General Assembly Special Session on Children on a CNN Live Interview. Recently, He was invited by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh to a private reception at Buckingham palace.
He is one of Africa’s leading authorities on Social Enterprise and Youth Development. He co-launched the UNICEF State of the World Children’s Report in 2003 alongside Carol Bellamy and Oscar Award Winner – Vanessa Redgrave.
In addition to being a Social Entrepreneur, Evangelist, TV Personality, Motivational Speaker, Diplomat, Youth Advocate, Facilitator and Performance Coach, he has served in various capacities globally.
He is the first African to become a Student Council Chair in London’s Largest University and is a recipient of so many International Awards which includes the British Red Cross Humanitarian Citizen Award, PEWA (Person Earnestly Working for Africa) Award, GAB Award, Icon Awards, Icon of Hope Award, Young Achievers Award. He is also a 3 time Finalist for various categories of The Future Nigeria Award – including the Young Person of the Year Award.
He is the Founder/Chief Executive of many profit and not-for-profit organisations in Europe, North America and Africa which includes Make Impact International, GLEEHD Foundation for Leadership and International Development and Make Impact Group.
He is a spokesperson for Young Nigerians and Africans in Diaspora in his capacity as Chief Executive of the Africa Diaspora Youth Forum and Coordinator of Nigerian Youth in Diaspora Organisation.
He also currently serves as a British Red Cross Humanitarian Citizen Ambassador, Young General Assembly (YGA) Special Representative to UN meetings, Youth for Transparency International (YTI) Special Representative to the UN and Language Ambassador for the National Center for Languages.
After losing his Dad at age 11, Dayo was raised by a single mum in the slums of Lagos Mainland; helping his mother to hawk shoes and African wears to enable them feed. However during those days, Dayo’s dreams kept pushing him forward.
He started the only Child-led NGO in Nigeria at that time – General Action against the Violation of Human and Children’s Rights – an organisation which spearheaded the campaign for the promotion of children’s rights in Nigeria. As a result of this, he was elected into the Nigerian Children’s Parliament at the age of 14 and rose to the position of the Deputy Senate President of the National Children’s Parliament until his retirement.
He has pioneered a lot of advocacy towards the enactment of the Child Rights Act in Nigeria and the development of the Juvenile Justice Framework in the Country. At 16, He was appointed the Chairman of the Presidential Summit of Nigerian Children and led the Nigerian Children delegation to the UN Special Session on Children in New York where He was featured live on CNN and Nickelodeon with Carol Bellamy, the then UNICEF Executive Director.
In 2004, Dayo and his team hosted the Annual Young General Assembly Annual Session in Nigeria with about 200 young people in attendance from all over the World.
Dayo attracts has featured on CNN Q and A Live, Daystar Christian Broadcasting Network, Nickelodeon, BBC Network Africa, Ben Television, OBE TV, BBC World Service, NTA Newsline, and T.V Africa. He produces and presents Maximum Impact with Dayo Israel on Dove Vision TV. He has made headlines on various national newspapers such as Swazi Today, The Comet newspaper, The Punch newspaper, Tribune newspaper and The Nigerian Guardian.
He tweets via @dayoisreal.