Our Woman Crush Wednesday Dr. Folashade Adeyemo is known for her renowned legal expertise. She is the Assistant Professor in Banking and Corporate Law at the University of Reading, where she also serves as the Acting Director for Admissions in the School of Law.
Following an LLM in International Economic and Trade Law from Brunel University, London and Ph.D. from the same university, as well as a B.L from Nigerian Law School, Folashade has established herself as a leading academic. She teaches both undergraduates and postgraduates at Reading, and her courses are among the most selected at the School of Law. She has won numerous awards and grants, including the School of Law Departmental Award 2018, the University of Reading Diversity and Inclusion Initiative Fund 2019, the University of Reading Teaching and Learning Fund 2020, and most recently, the Society of Legal Scholars Small Grants to hold a conference on Unexplained Wealth Orders in June 2022.
Folashade’s primary research interest is in banking regulations, which is the focus of her book, published in 2021 Banking Regulation in Africa: The Case of Nigeria and Other Emerging Economies. In the book, Folashade explores the history, challenges and shortcomings of existing banking regulations in Africa; and the book has been featured in prominent Nigerian newspapers such as BusinessDay, The Guardian, Vanguard and This Day. Folashade also has an interest in the causes and impacts of economic and financial crime on countries of the Global South. This interest spurred her to establish the Global South Dialogue on Economic Crime Network, a multidisciplinary platform to dialogue and research on financial crime on financial crime. The network is present in 40 countries, and hosts conferences and webinars on financial crime themes such as whistleblowing, tax fraud and evasion, and anti-money laundering. Folashade has a particular interest in whistleblower protection, and a 2020 article published in the leading journal in this field, Journal of Business Law examines the adequacy of protection for whistleblowers in the UK financial industry. She also sits on the Executive Board of the Commercial Law Research Network of Nigeria, which aims to promote and reform commercial law in the country.
She also has a passion for mentoring and developing young talent, and this led her to create Mentorship Direct, a platform that connects young individuals to mentors who provide guidance and direction on career paths. The programme currently has over 20 students across law and the sciences, and will include other fields in the near future.
Folashade takes pride in her consistency, adventurous spirit and commitment to seeing things through, and coupled with the high premium she places on honesty, initiative and loyalty, she has been able to forge a unique path in the legal profession. She truly is an admirable woman crush.