4 Nigerian entrepreneurs have been selected to join Facebook’s community accelerator. They are Hauwa Ojeifo, Tony Onuk, Eyitayo Ogunmola, and Abiodun Adereni.
Application for the community accelerator was opened in March 2020 and these Nigerians are among 12 leaders selected from Sub-Saharan Africa.
Through the community accelerator programme, Facebook will invest in leaders who are building communities around the world, bringing people together, offering encouragement and driving change. The accelerator is the first of its kind organised by the company.
We’re delighted to be welcoming 12 African community leaders to Facebook’s first Community Accelerator. We’ve seen time and again the power of communities in bringing people closer together and feeling more connected
Meet the four community leaders selected from Nigeria.
Eyitayo Ogunmola
Tayo Ogunmola is the founder of Utiva, an Edtech company that uses remote learning models and instructor-led approaches to provide people with the tech skills they need to make a transition into new roles.
Utiva was founded in July 2017 and has since provided people with courses in fields including data analytics, artificial intelligence and design. As CEO of the company, Ogunmola provides leadership and direction to its team and will be learning to do more of this in Facebook’s community leaders accelerator.
Hauwa Ojeifo
Hauwa Ojeifo founded She Writes Woman in 2016 after she was diagnosed with bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorder. She Writes Woman is how she responded when she realised there were no support groups available to help her through the mental illness.
“I started this movement two months after a near suicide attempt,” she said. I was diagnosed with bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorder with a bit of psychosis two years ago after years of extreme mood cycles that simply messed me up.”
Through her platform, Hauwa has made support and community available for others who have similar struggles and will be joining Facebook’s leadership community.
Abiodun Adereni
Adereni Abiodun founded HelpMum in 2017 as a social enterprise that uses the power of mobile technology and low-cost innovation to tackle maternal and infant mortality in remote areas in Nigeria. The company provides clean Birth Kits for hygienic delivery to pregnant women. It also gives immunization reminders and health information to nursing mothers.
To scale its impact and expand the community of women it impacts, Helpmum has received funding from Google, United Nations Geneva, Tony Elumelu Foundation, Amref Health Africa, and Western Union.
Tony Onuk
Tony Onuk founded the Root Hub in 2014 to be a community centre, co-working hub, and innovation lab. Through the hub, Onuk provides youths in Akwa Ibom with a place to be innovative, to collaborate and grow.
Each of the selected community leaders will have access to mentorship, training, and funding of about $30,000 over the 6-months accelerator program. A total of 77 community leaders were selected from across the globe and will be leading, coordinating, and building communities to help other entrepreneurs.
This article first appeared on Technext on July 14, 2020.
