Ben Okonkwo

Ben Okonkwo turns bold creative ambition into disciplined execution. As Chief Operating Officer of Del-York Group, he runs the operating engine behind the Group\'s creative, education and social-impact businesses, from Del-York Creative Academy to LIFE Africa and Re-Skill Africa.

He joined Del-York in 2025 and was appointed COO in January 2026. He has over a decade of experience building evidence and learning systems for some of Africa\'s largest development and philanthropic programmes.

Most recently as Head of MERLA at the Tony Elumelu Foundation, he built the evidence base for the $100 million extension of the Foundation\'s decade-long entrepreneurship initiative. Across his career, Ben has led evaluation, learning work and strategic interventions in 54 African countries, helped raise more than $30 million in programme funding, and personally mentored over 440 start-up founders using evidence-based business intelligence.