Chinasa T. Okolo is the Founder and Scientific Director of Technecultura and a consultant for the United Nations and the World Bank, with affiliations including the World Bank Group, the United Nations, and the Brookings Institution. She works in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and focuses on the governance of Artificial Intelligence.[15] Associated with Kansas City, Missouri, USA, she studied at Pomona College and Cornell University, where her 2023 work "AI Explainability in the Global South: Towards an Inclusive Praxis for Emerging Technology Users" is cataloged (https://catalog.library.cornell.edu/catalog/16219327). Her personal website is https://chinasatokolo.github.io/.
Early life
Okolo was born and grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, to parents who immigrated to the US from Nigeria. She has a twin brother.[16] Okolo explained that her research interests are influenced by her awareness of structural racism and global inequities.
Education and training
Okolo completed her bachelor's degree at Pomona College in California and earned her master's degree in computer science and Ph.D. in computer science from Cornell University.[17] During her studies, Okolo researched computer vision and its applications in biomedical settings.[18] She distinguished herself through the use of ethnographic methods to research AI perceptions in healthcare domains across the Global South.[6] Okolo completed internships with Microsoft and Apple.[19] During her studies, she referred to Twitter as an important source of information for her.[2]
Research and recognition
Okolo is a former Fellow in the Center for Technology Innovation at The Brookings Institution. She advised the African Union's Continental AI Strategy and Nigeria's national AI strategy, with a focus on responsible AI adoption.[18] In 2024, she was included on TIME Magazine's list of 100 most influential people in AI. Okolo was also listed by Forbes magazine among Forbes 30 Under 30 in the AI 2025 category.[18]