For many, the kitchen is a place of comfort; for a young Bunmi E., it was her first laboratory. Watching her mother bake, she didn’t just see dough rising or sugar caramelizing—she saw the invisible dance of polymers and the precise mathematics of ratios. This early realization that science was not a distant, sterile concept but a living, breathing part of her daily life became the spark for a career that would eventually span continents. Today, as the Founder and Principal Advisor of Ori Consultancy, Bunmi has moved far beyond the kitchen, yet her core mission remains the same: proving that STEM is not a siloed academic pursuit, but a universal language of empowerment.
Engineering a Global Perspective
Born as a first-generation Nigerian American, Bunmi’s upbringing was defined by a dual lens—the local realities of the United States and the rich, ancestral heritage of West Africa. This global vantage point ensured that her education was never confined to a four-walled classroom. She pursued a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, eventually entering the high-stakes world of silicon wafer fabrication.
Despite her success in the technical trenches of Motorola, an internal shift was brewing. While volunteering at an afterschool program for first-generation students, Bunmi saw a reflection of her younger self—and more importantly, she saw the systemic tendency to underestimate the genius within under-resourced communities.
“What holds us back is not our abilities, but what others have told us about ourselves—those internal narratives,” Bunmi reflects.
This realization was the catalyst. She recognized that her engineering mindset—the ability to dismantle complex problems and rebuild them more efficiently—was exactly what the education sector needed to bridge the digital and opportunity divides.
From Silicon Wafers to Global Classrooms
Bunmi’s transition from the “micro” world of engineering to the “macro” world of international development was a calculated leap of faith. She traded the cleanrooms of industry for the grassroots energy of the NGO sector, earning a Master of Education from the University of Arizona. Her journey took her from the San Francisco Bay Area to the vibrant communities of Cambodia and eventually back to her roots in Senegal through the Mandela Washington Fellowship.
Throughout her tenure as Executive Director at Techbridge Girls and Vice President at the Endless OS Foundation, Bunmi became a master of “The Engineering Design Process.” She applied the steps of Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, and Improve not just to technical problems, but to human ones. Whether she was coordinating needs assessments for educators in Dakar or leading digital agency initiatives for underserved youth, her approach remained rooted in “realness”—the necessity of making learning applicable to the world students actually inhabit.
Her leadership style, characterized by a rare blend of technical precision and deep empathy, did not go unnoticed by her peers. Tanya Kanney, a visionary partnerships leader who reported to Bunmi, notes:
“Bunmi is an extraordinary leader who cares about empowering people. She ensures her team has the support and resources to excel, while feeling valued as an individual. She represents a model of how to create a thriving work environment.”
Defining the Ori Philosophy
In 2024, Bunmi synthesized her decades of experience into Ori Consultancy. Built on the four pillars of Realness, Imagination, Community, and Creativity, the consultancy serves as a bridge between indigenous wisdom and modern innovation. Bunmi is a vocal advocate for dismantling the “colonial period” narrative of STEM, instead highlighting the long history of scientific achievement within the African diaspora.
“STEM does not exist in a vacuum. It cannot exist in the absence of art. To succeed in STEM you are inherently creative—like an artist,” Bunmi asserts.
By removing the silos between the arts and sciences, she helps educators and students alike see themselves as “STEM capable.”
Her work now extends into the realm of philanthropy and angel investing. As a graduate of the Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women program, she is focusing her “engineering eye” on capital. She views investments in agriculture, health, and trade through a community-centered lens, asking a fundamental question: What does sustainable innovation look like for the diaspora, by the diaspora?
A Legacy of Indigenous Innovation
As Bunmi looks toward the horizon, her focus is on building a legacy that honors the “genius of our ancestors” while leveraging the tools of the future. She is no longer just teaching students how to code or calculate; she is teaching them how to reclaim their history and build their own infrastructure.
Her long-term vision involves a return to indigenous wisdom—recognizing that herbal remedies, sustainable agriculture, and community-centered trade are not “alternative” sciences, but the very foundation of global progress. By investing in Black founders and fostering “STEM Ecosystem Ambassadors” across the globe, Bunmi E. is ensuring that the next generation of innovators doesn’t just participate in the world—they redesign it.
