Dr Fola Ikpehai

Fola holds a Doctorate in Cellular Parasitology (a biomedical science) and has extensive professional training in project and programme management, training and development, business and financial management, and higher education administration, leadership, and management.

Fola collaborates with member universities to achieve successful and beneficial outcomes across various functions. She focuses on developing core skills, standardising work practices, encouraging collaboration and the exchange of best practices, and providing support, advice, and guidance to promote continuous improvement. Additionally, she assists leaders in addressing challenges in the higher education sector by leveraging insights from both within and beyond the sector.

Fola facilitates the SUMS Change Management Community which regularly hosts multi-disciplinary members from across the higher Eeducation sector - exploring subjects that range from sponsorship of change in higher Eeducation; evolution of change teams in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic; managing disruptive change and making change stick; use of behaviour frameworks in culture change; and the intersection between change and wellbeing.

With extensive experience managing organisational performance and complex organisational change, and her background in academics (where she also conducted research on tropical diseases funded by the WHO, UNDP, and the World Bank), Fola has a natural ability to coach and lead organisations through the various stages of culture change and continuous improvement across a number of service areas.