Ayorinde Ajayi was the regional director for sub-Saharan Africa prior to his departure in September 2008. He managed seven Population Council offices (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Senegal, South Africa, and Zambia) and oversaw the organization's research portfolio in the sub-Saharan region. Ajayi's areas of expertise are capacity building and developing culturally appropriate service-delivery models for Africa. Prior to joining the Council in 1990, he was the regional vice president for the Pathfinder Fund. He has also taught and worked at Boston University and served as a government health officer in Nigeria. Ajayi has been a consultant to the US Agency for International Development, the World Health Organization, and several United Nations agencies.

Ajayi's professional activities include serving as a board member for the Africa Health and Population Research Center, which he helped found, and as chairman of the advisory committee on access for the International Partnership for Microbicides. He completed his medical training at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and received a master's in public health from Boston University.