Yemi Adewunmi
Speaker - Board Member - Leader - Advisor
Bio
Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of Plural, Yemi Adewunmi has over 15 years of experience at the intersection of strategic operations, product design, and public policy. Plural creates AI-powered software to make it easy for public policy data to be discoverable, interpretable, and collaborative; the company has raised $14M in venture capital to date. Yemi began her career as a policy analyst at the New York State Legislature where she researched and worked on negotiations of state policy. A graduate school internship at the University at Albany’s Center for Technology in Government led to her belief that technology’s greatest potential impact is on the public sector. She spent the next several years as a user interface and experience (UI/UX) designer in early stage tech companies, design agencies, and as a freelancer. Yemi co-founded Plural with a passion to build an innovative solution for improving democracy.
Areas of expertise & speaking topics
Civic Innovation
How to be a futurist
The state of civic innovation: trends in global innovation in democracy
How to be an empowered citizen
Entrepreneurship, Startups, Product Development
How to build the foundations of a user-centric, product-first business
How to create a product roadmap
How to go-to-market, with brand development, website design and product marketing
How to establish an operations strategy for an early-stage company
Yemi in Forbes
“That’s why we are so passionate about what we’ve built at Plural. Our software has empowered advocacy organizations with important, fast-moving information about the policy topics they are advocating for,” Adewunmi said.
Yemi in Essence Magazine
“As an entrepreneur and leader at the forefront of making change in her community and beyond, Adewunmi centers marginalized folks at the heart of her work.”
Yemi in Fast Company
“Government is the perfect place for design-thinking strategies to be used. Governments are meant to be human-centric; that is the point of public service. I believe that there are a lot of opportunities to solve big problems across the public sector by approaching them with a fresh lens, which the design-thinking process encourages.”
Academic & Professional Experience
Education
Masters of Public Administration, 2014
SUNY Rockefeller College of Public Affairs
BA in Politics & Philosophy, 2010
University of Pittsburgh
Accelerator Programs & Startups
Board of Advisors, POGO (startup co), 2023-Present
Techstars Accelerator, 2019
Comcast/Boomtown Accelerator, 2018
Professional Experience
Plural Policy Foundation, 2024-Present
Executive Director
Plural, 2015-Present
Cofounder, Chief Operating Officer
Board of Directors
University of Pittsburgh African American Alumni Council, 2024-Present
Co-Chair
Growing Girls, 2022-Present
Board of Directors
Andela, 2017-2018
Designer
Jopwell, 2016-2017
Product Designer
Public Consulting Group, 2014
Management Consultant
State University of New York, 2013-2014
Higher Education Media Graduate Assistant
New York State Assembly, 2010-2013
Policy Analyst
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