Tanimowo Ogunlesi dedicated her life to advancing education and gender equality in Nigeria. She attended Kudeti Girls' School in Ibadan and the United Missionary College, building a strong foundation for her work in advocacy.

In 1948, she founded the Children's Home School in Ibadan, one of Nigeria’s first locally-owned boarding schools, driven by her belief in education as a tool for transformation.

She also established the Women's Improvement League (WIP) to promote women's education and political participation, shaping it into a vital platform for empowerment. She later co-founded the National Council of Women's Societies (NCWS) in 1958, uniting women’s groups across Nigeria and strengthening the fight for gender equality.

Ogunlesi also played a historic political role as a member of Nigeria’s 1953 delegation that travelled to Britain to advocate for national independence which became a reality seven years later.