Influential Businesswoman Awards 2025 | 17 uided by a dual focus on financial transformation and leadership development, Forbes-featured finance expert Nike Ajao helps businesses to scale whilst ensuring they maintain a firm hold over their finances. Through Transform with Nike, Nike and her team work with clients from start-ups to private equity firms and non-profits – with mission-driven businesses throughout the US, Canada, and Africa being supported across their journeys thanks to these business financial consulting and development solutions. Nike leads the firm with more than 20 years of CFO experience under her belt, and her duties involve overseeing everything from strategic growth and service delivery to partnerships. Having previously worked in healthcare, professional services, SaaS, and other industries; Nike has carved out a reputation for herself as being capable of driving financial transformation at a high level. This, combined with her leadership experience across markets from the US to Sub-Saharan Africa, sees unique insights delivered. Since Nike first entered this space more than two decades ago, she has been delighted by the noticeable shift experienced in the amount of women occupying finance and leadership roles. Although tools such as LinkedIn and finance forums have afforded women a platform to lead visibly, with post-pandemic remote working having also helped by democratising access, the main drivers have been community, mentorship, and mutual support. Even with these changes and a renewed focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion stemming from Joe Biden’s related executive order in 2021 – which has since been rescinded – barriers continue to exist. As Nike told us: “The increasing focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion has created more opportunities, yet women – especially women of colour – continue to face systemic bias and underrepresentation at the executive level.” As for how this has impacted her, Nike explained: “As a woman, I have had to overcome assumptions about my technical ability and leadership potential in male-dominated spaces. I overcame this by consistently delivering excellence, staying grounded in my values, and building a strong support network.” Nike’s advice for those looking to follow in her footsteps is to own their voices and never wait for permission to begin leading. “Success comes from bold decision making, resilience, and knowing when to transform rather than conform. ” Having taken the bull by the horns since early on in her career, Nike is proud of the pioneering work she has completed in the field of Nike Ajao is the innovative mind behind Transform with Nike, a US-based financial advisory and coaching firm supporting businesses as they transform basic financial functions into engines for sustainable growth. The firm’s offerings range from outsourced CFO services to bookkeeping, systems design and implementation, life insurance planning, and coaching tailored to C-suite professionals, with additional support provided in recruitment. We caught up with Nike, the founder and CEO of this namesake firm, for more on these financial transformation services. G May25104 Financial Business Innovator of the Year 2025: Nike Ajao financial transformation. This is especially true of start-ups and highgrowth companies, both of which she has helped to stabilise and scale, all whilst mentoring their financial staff to become more strategic leaders. The ripple effect of empowerment this provides can be seen through a recent project – leading digital health platform iDoctorAccess to global recognition. This, however, is just the beginning, and other ways Nike supports communities include Dream Rite, where she mentors earlycareer professionals and women training in finance leadership; the pro bono consulting services she delivers to non-profits and entrepreneurs alike in areas where capital, resources, and education are sparse; and promoting financial literacy through both workshops and thought leadership for Forbes. With 2025 flying by, Transform with Nike is beginning to plan for its next steps, which include expanding its global footprint and nurturing partnerships with mission-driven companies across Africa – especially those in the fields of healthcare and tech. The scaling of its digital products and services is also planned, as is the continued focus on the creation of a financial transformation playbook for high-growth start-ups. Finally, regarding her own career, Nike’s twofold ambition includes growing Transform with Nike into a firm internationally recognised for its financial transformation services and building a strategic CFO ‘pipeline’ through her delivery of CFO coaching for women. Nike is working towards these goals by doubling down on her impact across the likes of thought leadership and by forging strategic alliances with aligned partners. All of this positions Nike Ajao as a mentor for the next generation of finance leaders, a recognition reflected through her award and place in this programme. Contact: Nike Ajao Company: Transform with Nike Web Address: https://www.transformwithnike.com/
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