Tara Fela-Durotoye
Founder & CEO, House of Tara International
Tara Fela Durotoye is an activator, an inspiring communicator and a motivational teacher, who leverages her gift of storytelling in teaching women to be powerful and ambitious without losing the essence of who they are as women and as relational beings.
A business leader who pioneered the makeup industry in Nigeria, established the first makeup academy and the first national retail chains of makeup specialty stores for makeup services, created the first indigenous makeup brand and established the first indigenous direct-to-consumer distribution model in Nigeria. She is the founder House of Tara International, a company she ran for 25years until she successfully transitioned the business to a new Managing Director in 2024.
On her trail blazing journey, Tara has helped to champion a new career pathway in the makeup industry and professionalize the industry through developmental programs & government engagement.
She is also the founder of SEEP Africa, a development platform with the aim to solve unemployment on the continent by aggregating the training and placement of over ONE MILLION sales professionals and entrepreneurs in sustainable careers and businesses by 2028.
Tara Fela-Durotoye is a recipient of several national and international awards for her contribution to the beauty industry and her active role in the advancement of Entrepreneurship and the Empowerment of young people and women across the
African continent.
In 2019, Tara received the Award of Excellence for Social Impact and Job Creation, a National Recognition by the Vice President of Nigeria.
She was recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader in 2013. She was on Forbes list of 20 Young Power Women in Africa in 2019 and was recognized by Forbes on the list of top 50 Africa Most Powerful Women in the year 2020.
She is an alumnus of the Lagos Business School (Chief Executive Programme) and other executive leadership programs at INSEAD, Yale University, and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Tara is incredibly passionate about sharing her over 2 decades of expertise and experience as well as the lessons from her journey with founders and entrepreneurs who are committed to building the corporate structure that will help them transform their organizations into sustainable businesses that will outlive their founders as they continue to grow and succeed through her blended mentoring and coaching program.
She is been happily married to Fela Durotoye for 23 years and are blessed with 3 sons.
Her academic background in Sociology and Public Administration from Rutgers University, New Jersey has influenced her thinking, shaping her ideas on the impact she has made in the social sector in Nigeria and beyond. She is also the Co- Administrator at the Coalition Against Covid-19(CACOVID) which is a Private Sector task force in partnership with the Federal Government, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
As a visionary leader, Ms. Alile has served in various leadership capacities including being the Executive Director, FATE Foundation; Vice President, Junior Achievement of Nigeria; and CSR Consultant, Access Bank Plc.
In recognition to her many contributions to the economic and social development of Nigeria, Osayi has won several awards. To mention a few; Top 50 Women in Management Africa, Her Network Woman of the Year, Business Day Inspiring Women Series Award, PSAG Forty Leading Women on the SDGs, Top 100 Women Impacting Africa, 100 Most Influential Civil Society Leaders in Nigeria, by the Nigerian Network of NGOs (NNNGO) in the collaboration with Google Nigeria. She was also recognized by H.E. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos State as one of the Eko 100 Women, three years in a row and also by Mrs. Bimbo Oloyede as a Legacy Champion in Public Speaking and Communication.
Osayi Alile is the founding curator of the Global Shapers Forum Nigeria and serves as a consultant on sustainability, non-profit management, and strategy. She is a columnist and writes on entrepreneurship and business development in Nigeria’s leading dailies, The Guardian, and Business Day.
Past Chairperson, Women in Management, Business and Public Policy (WIMBIZ), Osayi Alile sits on several boards including House of Tara, Zapphaire Events, SARO Oil Palm Ltd and Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA).
She possesses Executive Certifications from LBS (Nigeria), IMD, Cranfield, Harvard University and YALE. She is also a member of the Lagos Business School Nigeria Non-profit Senior Management Fellow, ANDE Executive Committee, Member, The Boardroom Africa, Executive Member of the Access Women Network and Trustee, Alaghodaro (Edo State) Economic Summit.
Osayi is passionate about creating positive social impact in our world; women
and youth empowerment and equity.