Entrepreneurial Leadership Across Systems: Opportunities, Partnerships, and Impact at Scale
As part of the E-Lab Social Ventures Residential, this fireside conversation brings Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, Honourable Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to the University of Cambridge for a wide-ranging discussion on entrepreneurial leadership and how social ambition is translated into real-world impact.
Across sectors and geographies, women who choose to lead face a shared challenge. They must navigate complex systems while creating meaningful change. Whether in government, business, or civil society, leadership today increasingly demands entrepreneurial thinking. It requires the ability to work across institutions, mobilise partnerships, and turn ideas into outcomes that last.
Drawing on her experience leading one of the most ambitious social development portfolios in Africa, the Minister will reflect on how these challenges play out in practice. Her work spans seven interconnected priority areas, including clean energy access, agriculture and food systems, child development, digital inclusion, health and protection, creativity and innovation, and women’s leadership. Together, these areas represent both national priorities and open spaces for innovation, collaboration, and enterprise. Her role also involves daily engagement with bilateral partners, development institutions, and the private sector, highlighting how leadership increasingly operates across borders and systems.
Rather than focusing on titles or theory, the conversation will centre on opportunity. It will explore how large social ambitions are shaped into programmes that can be delivered, where government action reaches its limits, and where entrepreneurs, innovators, and collaborators are needed to step in. The discussion will also examine how networks and partnerships enable scale, and what it takes to sustain momentum when impact is measured over years rather than quarters.
Moderated by Benedetta Asher, Executive MBA, University of Cambridge, strategy and transformation advisor, the fireside is designed for founders, builders, and future leaders. Many in the audience are here because they are carrying an idea and asking what it could become.
Hosted as part of a Cambridge entrepreneurship programme, the session invites participants to think beyond individual ventures or roles, and to consider how entrepreneurial leadership can travel across contexts. From local initiatives to national platforms, and from Africa to the wider world, the conversation will reflect on legacy not as personal achievement, but as the creation of pathways for others to lead, build, and scale.
Speaker Bios:
Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, fsi
Honourable Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Federal Republic of Nigeria
Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, fsi is the Honourable Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. She is an internationally recognised expert and thought leader in social development, conflict resolution, humanitarian and disaster management, national security, and migration governance. She has over two and a half decades of experience spanning entrepreneurship, public service, national security, humanitarian and migration response, and institutional reform.
Prior to her current role, she served as Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP). In this capacity, she led significant reforms aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s response to human trafficking and related crimes. She also served as Federal Commissioner of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), where she oversaw national coordination of the National Migration Policy. This included the protection, rehabilitation, and reintegration of displaced and vulnerable populations.
In August 2023, in recognition of her reform expertise and commitment to national security and institutional stability, she was appointed Minister of State at the Federal Ministry of Police Affairs. This appointment made her Nigeria’s first female Minister of Police Affairs.
Throughout her career, she has held senior leadership roles across government, contributing to policy development, security sector reform, governance, gender equality, and institutional strengthening. As Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, she leads nationwide programmes advancing women’s empowerment, strengthening social protection, and promoting family cohesion, leadership development, and inclusive economic participation. These programmes are delivered across Nigeria’s 774 local government areas in collaboration with subnational governments, bilateral partners, development institutions, civil society organisations, and the private sector.
She is a Fellow of the National Security Institute (fsi). She is also a visiting lecturer in Migration and National Security at the University of Rome and the University of Abuja. She holds several traditional titles and is currently completing a PhD in Strategic Security Studies at the National Defence Academy. She is widely recognised for her people-centred leadership and her ability to translate policy ambition into practical, scalable outcomes.
Benedetta Asher is a Transformation Programme Director and Strategy Advisor with over a decade of experience leading complex, large-scale change at the intersection of technology, healthcare, and regulated environments. She works with organisations navigating high-stakes transformation, helping translate strategic ambition into execution through strong system design, disciplined delivery, and cross-sector collaboration.
Previously, Benedetta led digital workplace transformation programmes at HSBC, delivering enterprise-wide change within a highly regulated financial services environment. She has also held senior delivery leadership roles at the British Heart Foundation, where she led the national rollout of the UK’s real-time defibrillator registry in partnership with NHS ambulance services, and within the NHS, delivering national operational and digital transformation programmes. Alongside this, she advises early-stage ventures and public sector initiatives across Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa on market entry, operating model design, and investment readiness.
Benedetta holds an Executive MBA from the University of Cambridge, Judge Business School, where her final thesis examined medical tourism through a patient-centric, technology-enabled supply chain framework, exploring how digital health infrastructure, data interoperability, and AI-driven coordination can improve cross-border care delivery, patient safety, and system efficiency. She also mentors early-stage founders through Cambridge University venture programmes and is based in London.
WHEN: Wednesday, 14 January 2026
6.00 PM – 7.00 PM: Fireside discussion in Keynes Lecture Theatre
WHERE: King’s College, Cambridge
TICKETS: Register here.