Akinwale Ogundipe — Arts and Culture Strategist with a Focus on Community
Innovation and Ethical Tech

Akinwale Ogundipe is a Cultural Development Practitioner championing arts, heritage, and community innovation, with a career spanning over 20 years across Africa (Nigeria, Uganda, and Cameroon) and the United Kingdom (Bradford).

His work sits at the intersection of arts and culture, community engagement, artificial intelligence (AI), and programme management, with a strong focus on inclusive participation and cultural sustainability.

Akinwale brings a participatory and impact-driven approach to supporting creative growth, drawing on his extensive experience of developing and managing Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) systems to strengthen the visibility, voice, and value of local cultural expressions. Arts & Culture Engagement

Akinwale has played a central role in promoting cultural heritage preservation and creative sector development in both Nigeria and the UK. He was exposed to arts and culture during his days as a teenager, attending cultural festivals and community rites.

He was the president of a social-cultural student club called the Kegites club back in his undergraduate programme at the Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, Nigeria.

He won the best club on camp award for the 1999/2000 academic year.

He currently leads strategic monitoring and evaluation efforts for The Leap Bradford CIC, a creative place-based programme in Bradford, UK, facilitating inclusive cultural participation and capacity-building among artists and communities.

He has designed and delivered initiatives such as:

Culture and Heritage week during the yearly student union week at the Yaba College of Technology, Yaba, Nigeria.

The Arts, Culture and Heritage Creatives Workshops in Nigerian secondary schools, which nurture young talents through cultural education, monthly activities, and
creative engagements,

Oversight and support for community-led arts initiatives under the Creative Places Partner (CPP) programme, including documenting the diversity of awardees and assessing the social impact of funded projects.

The Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture programme capacity development as a Master
Trainer for Community Researchers, where he supports the development of a local
cultural workforce by training and mentoring individuals to document, evaluate, and
shape arts and culture initiatives from within their communities.

Supporting cultural festivals research, such as the ongoing study into the Bradford
African Festival of Arts (BAFA), focusing on heritage preservation and intercultural
connection.
Creative programming that integrates intergenerational participation, including
storytelling sessions, truck art installations, and community heritage projects.

Volunteering & Community Leadership
Akinwale is deeply embedded in grassroots cultural development. His volunteer experiences
include:

Served as Children’s Extra Class Coordinator at his church back in Nigeria,
developing inclusive programs that introduce children to arts, culture, and storytelling.

Served as a system-strengthening volunteer with the Volunteering Bradford team,
where I designed a basic case management tool and trained programme staff.

Served as event runner and venue assistant for the Bradford Literature Festival in
2023 and 2025.

Serving as a volunteer Community researcher, master trainer, and event evaluator for
the Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture programme.

Volunteering for a community-focused organisation like Johnson Community Support
Initiative (JCSI) to deliver arts and heritage workshops in schools, offering
mentorship and co-developing local awards and cash grants for young creatives.

Supporting several cultural workshops and festivals through logistical planning,
training, and the facilitation of feedback loops between organisers and local
participants.
These engagements reflect his commitment to cultural access, youth empowerment, and the sustainability of heritage knowledge systems.

Academic Background
Akinwale holds:
MSc in Applied Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics from the University of
Bradford, UK
MSc in Health Management (Public Health) from the International Telematic
University UNINETTUNO, Italy
These academic foundations have enabled him to explore the interplay of emerging
technologies, health, and culture, particularly how AI can serve the public good through
culturally sensitive frameworks and ethical deployment.

Research Interests
Akinwale’s current research interest is on developing an ethical AI framework for
evaluating cultural policy and measuring the social impact of arts and cultural
programmes.

This research aims to:
 Integrate participatory evaluation methodologies that reflect the lived
experiences, voices, and values of cultural stakeholders and creative communities.
 Design trust-based and transparent AI systems that respect cultural sovereignty
and advance equity in how data is collected, analysed, and interpreted within the
arts.
 Adopt a collaborative, mixed-methods approach, co-designing AI-driven
evaluation tools with artists, cultural leaders, policymakers, and data practitioners to
ensure relevance, accountability, and community ownership.

His proposed framework seeks to balance responsibility, compliance, and creativity,
ensuring AI tools used in the sector are inclusive, non-exploitative, and capable of enhancing community well being

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