Meet Mercy Adebanwo
Head of Operations
Mercy Adebanwo joined OpenGov Africa as an Executive Assistant and went on to lead the organization’s operational transformation as Head of Operations. Her work focused on establishing systems, structures, and processes that improved efficiency, accountability, and organizational capacity.
As Head of Operations, she:
- Built the entire HR function from zero, formalizing the HR team structure, writing job descriptions, coordinating recruitment across all departments, and rolling out standardized offer letters, onboarding documentation, and offboarding protocols
- Designed and implemented the full organizational accountability framework: 7-day Discord activity policy, compulsory daily 3-hour work sessions, commitment confirmation process, and structured offboarding, rightsizing the volunteer roster from 300+ largely inactive members to a focused, active core of 50+ engaged contributors
- Created the Grant Writing Team from concept to operational, increasing OGA’s funding readiness by 30-50% and building an early-stage funding pipeline that did not exist before
- Emphasized on restructuring the marketing department into two focused clusters: Brand & Creative and Systems & Data, improving execution clarity and departmental capacity
- Established the Community Management function, the Legal & Compliance structure under Main Operations, and the Operations Core Team
- Introduced and integrated the full technology stack now running the organization: Jira, Notion, ConnectTeam, Zapier, MailerLite, and Google Workspace governance
- Created over 95 tracked Jira issues across 8 departments, personally managing task ownership, deadlines, and accountability across the entire rebuild
- Produced the complete HR Structure Framework, the OpenGov Africa HR Standard Operating Guide (13 sections), the Grant Writing Team SOP, and a full library of templates covering every HR process
- Launched the Certificate of Contribution, Recommendation Letter, and Testimonial Recognition program and the Monthly Member Recognition Board, building a culture of acknowledgement inside a volunteer-run organization
- Introduced weekly reporting requirements for all department leads, creating organizational visibility and accountability that had never existed before
The Numbers (Results)
Her work contributed to measurable improvements across the organization:
- Operational efficiency improved by 40-50%.
- Execution capacity increased by 60%.
- Onboarding time was reduced by 50%.
- Funding readiness increased by 30-50%.
- The volunteer roster was rightsized from over 300 members to more than 50 active contributors.
- More than 95 Jira issues were created and managed across eight departments.
Mercy’s contributions established core operational systems that continue to support OpenGov Africa’s work, including structured reporting lines, standard operating procedures, a formal HR function, a Grant Writing Team, a Community Management function, an Operations Core Team, and organization-wide operational documentation.
She came in as an executive assistant.
She built an organization.
Mercy Adebanwo
Head of Operations, OpenGov Africa
mercyadebanwo001@gmail.com
