She also oversaw the establishment of Dangote Group's Environment, Health, Safety and Social Directorate to standardize its sustainability practices across all its business units.

As Ford Foundation’s Director of Pan Africa Programs/Representative-West Africa she oversaw and funded programs that promoted rule of law, human rights and good governance, advocated for improved reproductive health for youth and women, advanced economic development, culture, and philanthropy and championed media pluralism. In 2004, her innovative and impactful leadership in development earned her a national honor from the then Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo government.

Prior to that, at the WorldBank she worked on girls’ education in Africa. And as a Rockefeller Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow served as Social Scientist for West Africa for the International Potato Center, promoting the post-harvest uses of sweet potato in the bakery and confectionery sector, and strengthening of seed potato systems in Cameroon.

An Urban Studies graduate of College of St. Catherine, St. Paul Minnesota, she has a Master of City and Regional Planning Degree from University of California at Berkeley and Doctor of Philosophy degree from University of Oxford (St. Antony’s College) which she attended as the first Rhodes Scholar from Kenya. She’s also attended the Executive Development Program at Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management. Dr. Odaga is a director at Community Life Project and Alluvial Trade and Investment. She is also a member of the Global Advisory Council of the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA.