Tolulope F. Odunsi

Tolulope “Tolu” Odunsi earned her J.D. at the American University, Washington College of Law, where she graduated cum laude and served as director for the MABLSA Frederick Douglas Moot Court Competition and as senior staffer for the American University International Law Review. After graduation, Odunsi served as a legal intern for the Hon. E. Jeannette Ogden on the New York State Supreme Court, and as a law clerk at a boutique law firm focused on civil rights violation. Subsequently, she worked as a civil litigation defense attorney, where she represented clients in a variety of complex civil litigation matters including employment law, automobile product liability, premises liability, insurance defense, and class action lawsuits.

In 2018, Odunsi was elected as President of the Minority Bar Association of Western New York for the 2018 term. She is the author of, “Breaking the Silence in the Face of Racial Injustice,” an article published in Volume 8, Issue 2 of the Defense Research Institute’s 2017 Diversity Insider. She is also the author of a chapter entitled “Is Race Really the Issue? Examining the Fallacy of 'Black Foreigner Privilege' ” published in, Pan African Spaces: Essays on Black Transnationalism.

Odunsi currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Center for Elder Law and Justice. In 2017, Buffalo Business First Magazine named her one of their “30 Under 30” honorees. She was also named a Legal Elite Leader for 2018 by the Buffalo Law Journal. Additionally, Odunsi was featured as a Next Generation Leader by the Buffalo News in 2019.