Portfolio
I write stories essays books documentaries songs op-eds business strategy research papers policy papers
Ladi’s writing spans a wide range of styles, formats, and use-cases and has been featured in the Urban Wire, Apolitical, African Arguments, the Africa in Transition blog of the Council on Foreign Relations.
JLW's Featured Pieces
journal, noun & verb. A written record of daily activities, thoughts, or experiences. To write in a journal.
I’m not going to wait for inspiration to come before I do something I want to do. Or something I know I need to do.
Slow and steady wins the race. Yet the modern work world often compels us to be fast and furious all the time.
On the days leading up to New Year’s Eve, many people come online to celebrate the number of books they read during the year. Today, I saw one tweet from a user who read 150 books in 2024 alone, and another tweet from someone who read 140 books and counting.
commentary
Young people in Africa are demanding seats at the political table. Kenya’s 2017 elections brought forth the country’s youngest lawmaker at the age of 23. Africa’s youngest head of government, Ethiopia’s 41-year-old Abiy Ahmed, took office this April. In my country, Nigeria, young people successfully campaigned for the enactment of the “Not Too Young To Run” Bill that reduced the age requirement to run for electoral seats in executive and legislative branches of government.
Rapid urbanization and climate change are increasing the vulnerability of African cities to the harmful health effects of extreme heat. Already, more than one-third of heat deaths in many countries worldwide are linked to climate change. Even when heat isn’t lethal, it worsens preexisting respiratory diseases and increases the spread of diseases like malaria.
A zip code can define one’s destiny and, for many, this means a lifetime of poverty. To move people out of poverty, governments will need to make policy choices that tackle barriers to economic opportunity, while emboldening people to be agents of change in their own communities.
Ladi was a guest on #Changemakers, a podcast series featuring the many Princeton SPIA alumni who built up their policy toolkits at Princeton and went on to change their communities
“No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones,” said Nelson Mandela, who spent twenty-seven years in prison. If you were to look at Nigeria’s prisons, then, according to Mandela, you would necessarily judge the country poorly.
akadá journal
From culture and society to faith and policy, Akadá Journal curates a collection of essays, reflections, and visual stories that explore the universal experiences that shape us—love, joy, friendship, work, humor, dreams, and more.
Each piece is an invitation to better understand ourselves and the world we live in. Please email portolio@jamesladiwilliams.com to request unpublished writing pieces from Akadá Journal.
research
- Urban Institute – Articulating a Program for Resilience (June, 2020)
- Urban Institute –Translating Policy Intent into Action: A Framework to Facilitate Implementation of Agricultural Policies in Africa (Nov, 2020)
- Center for Global Development – CGD’s Role in the Development of the Open Contracting Movement (Nov, 2022)
- Princeton University – Improving Inter Agency Coordination In Power Africa Senegal (March, 2018)
Copyright © 2025 James Ladi Williams (“JLW”). All rights reserved.