Today’s Woman Crush Wednesday, Taiwo Judah-Ajayi, who is fondly known as TJ, is in a class of her own. A passionate people leader, she has two decades of experience with an indelible track record of delivering value in the technology, not-for-profit, and consulting sectors.
TJ is an SHRM Senior Certified Professional, and an alumnus of the prestigious University of Lagos with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and winner of the University of Lagos Scholarship Award. She also has an MSc in Global Human Resource Management from the University of Liverpool.
Currently, TJ is the Chief People Officer (CPO) at Moove Africa, a technology company that is transforming the way the world thinks about transportation and democratizing vehicle ownership. Moove advocates urban mobility and empowers mobility entrepreneurs by providing flexible vehicle access and ownership.
She is also an Advisor to the founders/Board of Startwise, an HR tech and talent development company. Prior to joining Moove, TJ was the Chief People Officer at Gokada; Group Head, Human Resources at Minaj Group; Consultant at Accenture; and Senior Director of People at Andela. Particularly at Andela, TJ had significant positive impact and contributions serving in her human resources capacity. Her last role at Andela covered the African region (Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda, Ghana and Egypt), and she was also a member of the Global People Leadership Team.
Some of the landmark achievements under her leadership at Andela include the company rated as the #1 Place to Work in Nigeria by Jobberman; being the Employer of Choice and having the Best Recruitment Strategy by HR People Magazine; and finally being the #1 Place to Work in Africa, Most Fun & Friendly Place to Work, and Best Place to Work for Millennials by Great Place to Work.
TJ is adept at collaborating with all levels in organisations, as well as leading and motivating others to achieve organisational goals. She is an astute problem-solver notably skilful at mediation and crisis management. She is also excellent in the areas of programme planning/implementation, administration, leadership coaching, negotiation, budgeting, and cost control.
TJ’s approach to HR management entails putting people at the centre of HR initiatives. She believes that HR processes and policies should be agile, data-driven and must enhance the experience of people in the company. She is not your traditional HR manager. From executing speed hiring events, in-house psychotherapy, and health and wellness weeks, TJ makes HR fun, engaging and impactful.
It isn’t all about work for TJ as her spare time is dedicated to spending quality time with her children. She volunteers at her local church and loves to create groovy playlists on spotify. TJ also seeks continuous improvement at work by devising innovative ways to redefine HR practice, and shares her knowledge through speaking engagements at HR and tech conferences.
TJ is a ray of positive energy and her other attributes which include her result-driven and avid learning abilities add up to make her an endearing personality. It is no wonder her favourite quote is from Jim Kwik, “Learning is your superpower”, and her favourite authors include Simon Sinek, James Clear, and Tim Ferriss. It is obvious Taiwo Judah-Ajayi is a role model in the HR space and so we are rooting for her all the way.