Dr Alakija is a medical doctor with a Masters degree from The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in Public Health and Epidemiology. She is a global health leader and activist who has deployed diplomacy to bring together the global north and south together in coordinated responses to the pandemic. In her previous role as Chief Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, she led the Oslo Humanitarian Conference for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region, working with governments and multilateral institutions to mobilise responses to some of the most under-recognized humanitarian crises in the world. While based in Fiji, she worked closely with the WHO and UNICEF to design, coordinate, and implement National Health and Behavioural Surveys across the Pacific region.

In her capacity as Special Envoy  for the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-Accelerator), Dr Alakija will help lead the collective advocacy for the ACT-Accelerator, mobilizing support and resources so it can deliver against its new Strategic Plan and Budget that was launched on 28 October 2021, and ensuring that the response is characterised by accountability, inclusion, and solidarity.