Eniola Shokunbi

Eniola Shokunbi is a dynamic children's advocate, essayist, emerging global leader in youth health, education, environmental justice, and the driving force behind a growing movement for clean indoor air in schools. From a very young age, she displayed remarkable leadership qualities. At just nine years old, she began an extraordinary journey that would reach far beyond her community, taking action to improve indoor air quality in her elementary school. Since then, Shokunbi has become a powerful voice for clean air in classrooms and the well-being of students worldwide.

As a student, she experienced firsthand the effects of poor air quality on learning and health, an experience that inspired her to launch and lead an intitiative bringing together students, educators, and health professionals to push for solutions. Her leadershp and advocacy were greatly instrumental in securing $11.5 million grant for the University of Connecticut to install air filters in every classroom across the state. The historic funding, which will install filtration systems ine very calssroom across Connecticut, is widely recognized as a direct result of her unwavering advocacy, visionary leadership, and tenacious commitment. Without Shokunbi's tireless efforts, this groundbreaking achievment may never have come to fruition.

Her work has earned widespread recognition, including the Forbes Woman Africa Young Achiever Award in March 2025, the Middlesex County NAACP Extraordinary Youth Leadership Award in April 2025, the Connecticut House Assembly Women's Leadership and Community Servie Excellence Award in March 2025, the STEAM Train Inc. Youth Innovation and Leadership Award in December 2023, and the Lung Health Leadership Award from the American Lung Association in June 2025. She was also honored by the Martin Luther King Jr. Foundation at the MLK Jr. Beloved Community Awards in Atlanta in January 2025, an official citation from Connecticut's Governor, Ned Lamont.

Shokunbi's message has resonated far beyond the United States. In May 2025, she served as the Keynote Youth Speaker at the Africa Raw Materials Summit in Abuja, Nigeria, at the invitation of the Nigerian Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology. She shares her journey not only as an enviornmental health advocate but also as a young leader who has navigated institutional resistance with resilience, courage, and determination. Today, Shokunbi has taken her story and vision to audiences nationwide and around the world, inspiring students, educators, policymakers, and community leaders, about the urgent need to take action for healthier leanrning environments. Her message is clear: protecting clean air in schools is about protecting the future.