In an effort to promote access to education for children in low-income communities, a non governmental organization known as Teach For Nigeria has hosted a pitch contest for Alumni-led Education focused Initiatives in Northern Nigeria .
Speaking at the event, Folawe Omikunle, CEO, Teach for Nigeria said, Teach For Nigeria is on a mission to address the issue of educational inequity in Nigeria.
According to him, Teach For Nigeria, a non-profit organization focused on enlisting Nigeria’s most promising future leaders in an effort to expand educational and life opportunities for all children in Nigeria hosted its first ever pitch contest at the Gusau Institute, Kaduna.
“We believe that supporting our alumni with the funding to scale their initiative will brings us closer to a Nigeria where all children can attain quality education.
“Teach for Nigeria selects and trains promising graduates and professionals to address educational inequity across Nigeria through a two(2) years Fellowship programme. Fellows that successfully complete the programme become Teach For Nigeria Alumni and are provided with the needed support to build on their experience during the fellowship to continue to drive long-term systemic change across the education ecosystem.
“Teach For Nigeria is a Non-profit organization focused on enlisting Nigeria’s most promising future leaders in the effort to expand educational and life opportunities for all children in Nigeria.
“The initiative is part of the global Teach For All network of over 45 independent partners, working to increase and accelerate the impact of social enterprises that are cultivating the leadership necessary to ensure that “One day, all children will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education.”
“The Teach For Nigeria Fellowship is a two year full-time paid commitment, designed to build a movement of leaders across the nation who will work towards eliminating educational inequity in Nigeria by teaching in underserved schools in low-income communities” he said.
He went further to say that, Participants will pitch for seed funding to scale their initiatives aimed at addressing educational challenges in Nigeria.
He added that, the pitch contest was hosted as part of Teach For Nigeria’s Incubation Hub Program, earlier launched in October, to support Teach for Nigeria Alumni in the social innovation space with resources needed to drive their initiatives focused on promoting access to education for children in low-income communities. Twenty Teach For Nigeria alumni-led Northern based initiatives had been selected as part of the pioneer cohort at the virtual launch of the Incubation Hub.
During the event, five of the participants who had been selected as part of the pioneer cohort for the Hub had the opportunity to pitch for seed funding. At the end of the contest, Bookaclan Knowledge Hub led by Samuel Onyeledo and No box Initiate led by Abdullahi Ibrahim were awarded with a seed grant of one million naira each to set up and expand their initiatives.