Bumi Fernandez-West’s Odunde history
Fernandez-West began running Odunde in 1992 when she was 22 years old, which means she’s been the organizer for longer than her mother, who died in 2017 at the age of 81.
In October 2017, she married Anthony West, who is from Philadelphia and is CEO of his own company, 4 Elements of Life Wholistic. Now a mother of five in a blended family, Bumi Fernandez-West is raising four sons and a daughter. Two of her sons, Adeniyi Ogundana, 20, and Abayomi Ogundana, 17, are already helping carry the Odunde legacy forward — Adeniyi as the festival’s chief operating officer and Abayomi as its creative digital director.
For decades, she’s learned how to navigate the spotlight and uses the gym as an oasis without the demands of work or family life.
“My mom’s inability to tell people no put her in an early grave,” Bumi said. “I think my mother would have been here longer if she would have set boundaries. A lot of illnesses are due to stress, which are due to a lot of women not saying no. I’m okay with saying no and some people are not going to like it, but that’s okay as I try to teach the young girls around me, don’t wear yourself out.”
A depiction of the Yoruba orisha or spirit, Oshun, in the office of Odunde president and CEO Oshunbumi Fernandez-West in 2025. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
She earned a bachelor’s degree in human biology and anthropology from Temple University, followed by a master of business administration degree from La Salle University. Though she’s never visited Nigeria like her mother did in 1972, she’s traveled to Ghana and South Africa for award ceremonies at which she accepted awards as Odunde’s CEO. One day, she hopes to visit all 54 countries across the African continent.
In 1998, she created the mentorship program for young women I AM B.U.M.I, which stands for beautiful, unique, magnificent individual.
In 2011, she created Odunde365, which is year-round children’s programming for African and African American cultural studies, including drumming, dance, arts and entrepreneurship.
