Published 30th Aug, 2023

By FIJ

Toyosi Ogunseye, the first female editor at Punch Newspapers with an illustrious journalism career, has become the United States Presidential Precinct‘s president and chief executive officer.

Ogunseye becomes the organisation’s second chief executive after Neal Piper, the Presidential Precinct’s founding director.

“Today, the Presidential Precinct is proud to announce Toyosi Ogunseye as its new President & CEO. Ogunseye is only the second to take this role at the Presidential Precinct, following nearly a decade of transformational leadership from Founding Director Neal Piper,” the official statement announcing Ogunseye read in part.

“Few individuals are closer to the mission of the Presidential Precinct than Ogunseye; she began her tenure with the organisation as a 2014 Mandela Washington Fellow and has engaged consistently as a program alumna since.

“Ogunseye has two decades of leadership experience in journalism, most recently serving as a Senior News Editor for News and Commissioning at the BBC. She began her tenure with the BBC as Head of Language Services for West Africa. Prior to joining BBC, Ogunseye was the first female editor in the 50-year history of Punch Newspaper, Nigeria’s most widely read newspaper. In addition, she recently concluded her term as Vice President of the World Editors Forum and Board member of the World Association of News Publishers.

“Her appointment follows a competitive international search campaign led by the Precinct’s Executive Committee in partnership with Lincoln Leadership.”

Jim Murray, the Presidential Precinct’s founder and chair, said that the organisation had much to look forward to with Ogunseye in charge.

“Toyosi’s experience combined with partnerships and resources that we have established over the past ten years will guarantee a bright future at the Precinct,” Murray said.

“We began this search process by looking far and wide; little did we know that after six months of exhaustive outreach and networking, one of our own would be stepping in to lead. I am grateful for Toyosi’s longstanding commitment to the Precinct. We have much to look forward to.”

Accepting her new appointment, Ogunseye said:

“I’m honored to have this opportunity to lead such an impactful organisation 9 years after I first walked through its doors. I look forward to innovative collaborations with our staff, Board, program alumni, and community partners in Williamsburg and Charlottesville. Working together, we will expand and elevate tools and resources that have distinguished the Presidential Precinct as a transformative public diplomacy organisation.”

The Presidential Precinct is an organisation that engages emerging leaders to address the most pressing challenges in their countries.

The Precinct operates from a four-member consortium, consisting of the University of Virginia, William & Mary, James Madison’s Montpelier and James Monroe’s Highland.

Over 1,300 leaders from more than 162 countries have joined the Presidential Precinct’s programmes.

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