The idea for a Yorùbá Academy has brewed among Yorùbá intellectuals for many years, but never quite developed until October 2007 in Ìbàdàn where some young and established Yorùbá professionals gathered at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) for a retreat to discuss an opportunity to institutionalize many of the ideas and directions of Yorùbá scholarship. Participants at that retreat included Yorùbá political leaders, intellectuals, thinkers, businessmen and women with the likes of Princess Jùmọ̀kẹ́ Anífowóṣe, Tọ́lá Mobólúrìn, Tòkunbọ̀ Ajáṣin, and Kúnlé Fámoríyọ̀. General Àlàní Akínrìnádé, Dr Akingba, Tọ́lá Mobólúrìn were donors to the cause, Mr. Jìmí Agbájé, Prof. Mobọ́lájí Àlùkò, Prof. Wálé Ọmọ́le, Mr Ayọ̀ Afọlábí and so on were also in attendance.

A motion was moved by Professor Wálé Ọmọ́le for the establishment of a think-tank to promote the renaissance of our culture, capture the soul of our youth and re-establish the pride of our nation and increase its capacity to contribute to the international community. This motion was accepted and ratified as part of the meeting's resolutions.It was eventually agreed that the name of the organisation for these ideas be called Yorùbá Academy.

A committee headed by Doctor Charles Diji Akinọlá was set up to midwife the Academy and the first Yorùbá Academy opened office in August 2008 in Ìbàdàn Nigeria. It was then discovered at this point that a similar agenda was already afoot by a group led by the late Professor Babátúndé Fáfúnwá. A meeting of the two groups was then held where it was agreed that they both united to pursue the idea.

Professor Fáfúnwa was elected as its first Chairman of the Board of Trustees.

Since then the Academy has been funded by voluntary donations, and currently operated by a Management Committee and supported by the Afẹ́nifẹ́re Renewal Group (ARG), the self-assigned custodian of the resolutions reached at the inaugural meeting. Professor Wálé Adébánwi became its pioneer Executive Director. In 2009, another organ was instituted known as the Programmes Development Committee (PDC), now known as Programmes Advisory Committee (PAC) to coordinate the day-to-day activities of the Academy.

The current Management Committee includes Prince Oyè Oyèwùmí (the immediate past Oyo State Hon. Commissioner of Agriculture), Mr. Ṣẹ̀yẹ Oyèlẹ́yẹ (DG of DAWN Commission), Mr Délé Akinlẹ̀yẹ, Professor Antholy Onípẹ̀dé of the Faculty of Health Science, Ọbáfẹ́mi Awólọ́wọ̀ University, and Mr. J.O. Yusuf.

Its main mission is to ensure the preservation, revitalization and appreciation of the Yorùbá language as well as the socio-cultural and economic development of the Yorùbá peoples worldwide; both in its South-West homeland in Nigeria and in the Diaspora, through funding of research and systematic reflections on the history, culture, position, and future of the Yorùbá in the context of Nigeria and in a globalising world, towards helping to create and sustain freedom of thought, and providing a platform for effective linkage between research and human development.

In 2010, Yoruba Academy started an audacious research project which culminated in the publication of "Development Agenda for Western Nigeria: Strategy Roadmap", which was publicly unveiled in March 2012. This publication led to the establishment of the DAWN Commission. Yorùbá Academy has also influenced, through evidence-based research some other notable social agenda in the area of net migration, education etc. Other scholars and professionals that have been associated with the Academy include the late Chief Adébáyọ̀ Fálétí, Professor Akínwùnmí Ìṣọ̀lá, Professor Wọlé Ṣóyínká, among others.

In 2017, Lt. General Àlàní Akínrìnádé donated the proceeds of his memoir My Dialogue with Nigeria to secure a permanent site for the Academy. This site, now named after him, is at Ipòọlá Àlàní Akínrìnádé House, Quarter 844, Agodi GRA Ìbàdàn. This is the secretariat of the Academy and the location for its Research Library and Artist Residencies. Lt. General Akínrìnádé is the current Chairman of the Board of Trustees.

Yorùbá Academy has become very critical for the promotion of a strong Yorùbá ethic, identity, and development of our social space and intellectual capacity as a means to preserve and continue to nurture who we are in Nigeria and in the world.

Management Committee and Directorate
The current Management Committee of the Academy includes Prince Oyè Oyèwùmí (the immediate past Oyo State Hon. Commissioner of Agriculture), Mr. Ṣẹ̀yẹ Oyèlẹ́yẹ (DG of DAWN Commission), Mr Délé Akinlẹ̀yẹ, Professor Antholy Onípẹ̀dé of the Faculty of Health Science, Ọbáfẹ́mi Awólọ́wọ̀ University, and Mr. J.O. Yusuf.

Previous directors of the Academy include Professor Wálé Adébánwí (2008-2011), the pioneer director now a Professor of Race Relations at Oxford University, Dr Ìyábọ̀ Basir (2011-2012), and Dr Adé Adéagbo (2012-2018), now the Chief Operating Officer of Halogen School of Security Management and Technology. The current Programmes Director is Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún, Nigerian writer and linguist.