Page 21 - Powerlist 2020

7 The Top 10

Ebele Okobi

Public Policy Director
Africa, the Middle East &
Turkey, Facebook

nce described as “secretary of state of Facebook” for In June, Ebele and her family filed a civil suit against the
the African continent, lawyer Ebele’s official title county of San Mateo. She is also joining efforts aimed at taser
Onow includes the Middle East and Turkey. policy reform, independent oversight of law enforcement,
Based in London, she spends most of her time jetting and a long-term effort to get elected District Attorneys who
between countries – when the Democratic Republic of are committed to justice.
Congo shut down the internet during political protests in At work, Ebele’s promotion means her team has tripled in
2016, Ebele flew to Kinshasa to persuade the authorities of size since October.
the importance of internet access. When Facebook founder Ebele has spent her career fighting for internet freedom
and CEO Mark Zuckerberg visited Africa for the first time, and online privacy. She was previously the founding Global
it was Ebele who stood next to him and Nigerian president Head and Senior Legal Director for Human Rights at Yahoo,
Muhammadu Buhari. where she led global efforts to address the legal and policy
In October 2018, Ebele’s younger brother, Chinedu, a issues related to privacy, free expression and access.
36-year-old graduate of Morehouse College (the alma mater Before that she was a corporate lawyer at Davis Polk &
of Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jnr) was tragically tasered Wardwell in New York, Paris and London; a consumer rights
to death in California. policy attorney at Consumers Union in San Francisco; a
Since then, she has thrown herself into a fight for justice senior director at Catalyst in Silicon Valley and Amsterdam;
that so many families share. While she was devastated but and an MDP in Nike’s EMEA headquarters, where she
unsurprised to learn in March this year that the District created marketing, corporate responsibility, and business
Attorney refused to bring charges against the six officers development strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa.
involved in her brother’s death, she continues to press on In 2001, she took a sabbatical to volunteer for human rights
other fronts. organisations in the US and Senegal.

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