Tunde Onakoya is a Nigerian National Chess Master and coach. He is the convener of Chess in Slums Africa. A devoted chess player who firmly believes that the game of chess can be wielded as an influential educational instrument to improve young lives and produce a new generation of intellectuals, even from underprivileged communities.

He founded Chess in Slums Africa in 2017. This non-profit organization utilizes the game of chess as a tool for social intervention—a bridge between disadvantaged kids and their ambitions, a framework to give children in impoverished communities access to tuition-free education, learning resources, and mentorship opportunities. Slowly and steadily, the project is rewriting a new narrative and building an inclusive future for every African child.

When Tunde Onakoya is not in any slum looking for dreams to refine, he is on one stage or another speaking to bright minds on how it is possible to achieve greatness from the darkest and smallest of places—this has made him a three-time TEDx speaker. He has won The Future Awards Africa Prize for Community Action in 2021; won the Business Insider Award—Social Entrepreneur of the Year in 2022; won the JCI Ten Outstanding Young Persons of Nigeria Award for Contribution to Children, World Peace and/or Human Rights in 2022; won the Trendupp Award for Force of Social Good in 2022; and the Royal African Award in 2022.