Global Vice President of Ashoka and Executive Vice President of Ashoka Africa

Pape Samb is a social entrepreneur specialized in international development, youth and women livelihoods, and social innovation. He has more than 20 years of experience in program and resource development, fundraising, partnership building, entrepreneurship, strategic planning, training and facilitation, global leadership, content management and public speaking. He focuses his energy on educating underserved communities to create livelihoods and social innovation, particularly for women and youth around the world, helping them become self-sufficient and connecting them with the resources they need to achieve their goals. Currently, he serves as the Global Vice President of Ashoka and Executive Director of Ashoka Africa. He also the founder of Exeleadmen International Consulting, a firm that focuses on providing leaders and entrepreneurs with the knowledge, tools and network to create an enabling entrepreneurship ecosystem for youth, women and underprivileged communities. He is an Adjunct Professor and Executive in Residence at American University’ School of Public Affairs. A driving force and empowering ‘agent of change’ for youth globally, he founded and serves as Chairman of the Global Youth Innovative Network (GYIN), a youth-run and led network of over 6,000 young leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators and farmers in almost 100 countries. At GYIN, he developed evidence-based, sustainable, scalable, and cost-effective agribusiness, entrepreneurship, and leadership programs and policies that address the root causes of youth unemployment and hunger, while increasing the opportunities for young people to obtain a decent job or start a successful business.  He has also developed and implemented other programs in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. As an advocate for youth initiatives, he frequently facilitates post-thematic Youth Consultations for the United Nations. He often gives lectures in business management and entrepreneurship at several universities in Africa, Europe, Asia, and in the Americas.  He is also a well-known advocate for developing self-sustainable, community and youth-led initiatives, experimental innovation-based approaches, and new entrepreneurship and leadership training models. At 13 years old, he founded GRADES, a women’s empowerment and youth economic development organization in Senegal. At 17, he was president of CAP-Jeunesse, a Senegalese network of youth organizations; and was hired by the Senegalese government to train youth and women in entrepreneurship, business and grassroots organization management. He also founded in 2010 the Senegalese Next Generation of Leaders (SENEGEL) working to train and support a new generation of well-educated, competent, and ethical Senegalese leaders. Samb holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management and a Diploma in Business Management, Accounting and Entrepreneurship. He also holds a Masters in Executive Leadership and Public Administration from American University in Washington, D.C and has won several awards including Leadership in Excellence, Next Generation of Leaders, Great Heart, Self-Less Founder, Community Counterpart to name a few. He is fluent in English, French and Wolof, and conversational in Spanish and several West African languages