About

Madonna Okpaleke is a legal and compliance professional with over 20 years of experience advising multinational organizations across Africa and Europe. She currently serves as the Head of Legal for the African Region at Reckitt Benckiser, where she leads legal operations and strategy across 37 countries, providing strategic guidance in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry.

Madonna’s career began in public service as a Federal Prosecutor with Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in 2006, where she developed skills in advocacy, problem-solving, critical thinking and legal strategy. She then transitioned to the corporate world, taking on leadership roles at GMT Nigeria Limited and the Triton Group, where she managed legal, corporate affairs, government relations, and compliance portfolios in diverse sectors, including supply chain, manufacturing, and agriculture.

In 2021, Madonna joined Coca-Cola HBC as Senior Legal Counsel for Compliance and HR. The team’s contributions were instrumental in earning them the “Best Legal Team Award (Manufacturing)” at the African ESQ Awards in 2021. During this time, she was also recognized as one of the Diligent Corporation’s “Modern Governance 100” global leaders in 2020.

In 2022, Madonna achieved another milestone when she was named one of Poets & Quants’ “100 Best and Brightest EMBAs of 2022,” becoming the first Black Executive MBA candidate at the University of Oxford to receive this recognition. Her academic background is equally impressive, with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Lagos, a Master of Laws (LL.M) from Cornell University, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Oxford, and a Master of Science (MSc) in Bioethics from Harvard University; focusing her capstone on the ethical challenges of returning genomic research results to low-and-middle-income countries.

Known for her collaborative leadership style, Madonna has built a reputation for navigating complex regulatory landscapes, managing cross-border teams, and driving ethical and innovative legal, regulatory, and compliance strategies. Her expertise in stakeholder engagement, negotiations, conflict resolution, and risk management has been a cornerstone of her success in supporting multinational organizations.

Outside her professional life, Madonna enjoys mentoring the next generation of professionals. She is also a football enthusiast who loves boxing, fencing, volunteering, writing, and collecting books.

Madonna’s commitment to excellence, ethical leadership, and fostering diversity in the legal profession continues to drive her impact in the legal industry.