One of the factors that have helped me both as a researcher and development practitioner is assessing grants.
Grants are funds given to support your initiative, it could be a Business or NGO, you are not mandated or required to pay it back.
I get a lot of requests from people who would like to learn how to apply and source for grants, complaining that most grant writing training are very expensive and they cannot afford them.
So I was able to get three powerful women, who run social enterprises ( social enterprises are business that solves social problems) to show you:
1. Step by step on how to apply for a grant.
2. Position your organisation to attract funders even without applying for grants.
3. How to sustain donors/funders for your organisation.
4. How to source for grants.
And many more.
These women who will facilitate the training with me are not motivational speakers, so you will learn practical techniques. Nothing will be hidden.
The class is almost free. Its value is worth more than N100,000, yes the speakers told me they invested heavily in personal development to get to this point.
It is for women, hence the discounted cost.
Meet our facilitators
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Nkem Okocha is a serial award-winning social entrepreneur. She is passionate about the change that is possible from investing in poor women in underserved communities. And her vision is guided by the saying that “No woman chooses to be poor, but we can choose to help poor women by investing in them”.
Nkem is the founder of Mamamoni, a FinTech social enterprise that empowers low-income rural-and-urban slum women with free vocational and financial skills, and small loans. Mamamoni’s web platform www.mamamoni.org allows socially conscious individuals to lend low-income women money for their small businesses. In the last 4 years, Mamamoni has been able to set up a liquid wash enterprise, Levantar, which is fast becoming a household name. Low-income women in the community are trained and few of them are employed in the enterprise as factory workers. This enterprise has been able to sustain the Mamamoni initiative extensively. Since its inception over 7000 low-women has been impacted.
Nkem is a 2015 Tony Elumelu Foundation Alumna, 2016 outstanding LEAP Africa Social Innovator, Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) alumna, GSBI® accelerator Alumna and a 2017 Mandela Washington Fellow, A 2020 Innovative Justice Accelerator and She is passionate about Women Empowerment, Financial Inclusion, Technology and Entrepreneurship.
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Adejoke LASISI is an African fabric designer and environmentalist. She’s the founder of Planet 3R and Jokelinks Weaving School.
She holds a bachelors degree in Economics from Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife. She also holds a certificate in Entrepreneurial Management from EDC Lagos, Nigeria. Adejoke is also saving the planet using her weaving skills by converting textile and plastic wastes into innovative products.
Adejoke enjoys volunteering in entrepreneurship activities both here in Nigeria and abroad.
She is a 2016 Alumnus of the EDC Lagos/ Cherie Blair Foundation Road to Women’s Business Growth in Nigeria and a pioneer Cohort member of the YALI Regional Leadership Center West Africa Accra, Ghana 2015.
She is AYEEN 2014 Business Grant Winner, a recipient of the YALI SPIRIT AWARD at the YALI Regional Leadership Center West Africa Accra, Ghana in the Young African Leaders Initiative YALI 2015 and was the runner-up for Franco-Nigeria Chamber of Commerce grant competition in 2016. She was nominated as the best indigenous textile designer at the ACE Awards 2017 and 2018. She emerged as one of Akin Alabi Business grant winners in 2017.
She is also a 7eleven foundation grant winner in 2017. She received a grant for light manufacturing through SMEDAN in 2018.
She was nominated for the National MSME awards 2018 in Nigeria held at Aso-rock Abuja.
She is a recipient of the GEM grant (World Bank partnered with the Federal government of Nigeria) and BlackKnightng in 2019.
She also received a grant award from the Vice president of Nigeria through the NYEES platform held in May 2019 at Abuja. Adejoke emerged as one of the Top5 Nigeria Creative Business Cup 2019 Pitching Contests.
Adejoke was certified in 2019 by First Technical University as a technical University trainer.
She has showcased her products at various events and exhibitions both at home and abroad.
Her work and her journey have been featured on ALJAZEERA, BBC, CHANNELS TV, TRIBUNE NEWSPAPER, PUNCH NEWSPAPER, NTA and some other popular blogs.
Her organization also emerged as one of the Top50 Big Bang Business Competition organized by the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation UC Davis, USA.
Adejoke emerged as the National MSME of the year 2020 for using her weaving skill to save the planet by converting Plastic and Textile wastes into Eco-friendly products.
She was also awarded by the President of Nigeria as one of the five young INNOVATORS at Aso villa Nigeria in 2020.
She recently won the Africa green grant award 2020 organized by Eleven Eleven Twelve Foundation.
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Chibuzor Mirian Azubuike is a social change person with different dimensions; author social entrepreneur and researcher. She is the author of The Girl Who Found Water and My Birthmark, My Gift. Chibuzor has over ten years of experience as a seminar facilitator and involvement in community development focussing on youth empowerment and clean water provision.
She has engaged over 10 000 youths through her book titled, The Girl Who Found Water. She is also the founder of Haske Water Aid and Empowerment Foundation with the mission of providing potable water for rural communities and youth empowerment. Through her NGO she has partnered with corporate and International Organizations to provide clean water for over 55,000 Nigerians. She has also provided grants to several young people to embark on water projects.
She has been invited to present talks in the US, China, UK, South Africa amongst others. Some of her awards/include:
1. Chieftaincy title, Lady Haske and Sarkin Ayukka and Best Batch B corps member 2012
2. National Youth Service State Honours Award and a nomination for National Award,
3. Nigeria: The Conversation grant for business, Lagos
4. Associate Fellowship of Commonwealth Society, UK
5. Mandela Washington Fellowship, USA
6. Mandela Washington Fellowship, Speaker Travel Grant, South Africa
7. Harry Frank Guggenheim, Young African Scholar Award, USA
8. Fully sponsored to present a paper at African Studies Association, Birmingham, UK
9. Fully sponsored to present a paper at Young Water Professionals Conference South Africa.
10. Yengching Global Symposium, China
11. Social Science Research Council, Next Generation of African Scholars for Proposal
12. Selected to participate at the prestigious and highly competitive Brown University, Institute of Advanced Research. The USA etc.
13. Best Pitch: A Beautiful Life Initiative
14. Community service award from Rotary Club Nnewi
Amongst others…
Her book titled, The Girl Who Found Water has sold thousands of copies were made available to libraries of Ivy League Universities, like the University of Oxford, and other world-class institutions.
She has met world leaders and helped several young people to access fully funded global opportunities.
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Anisah Ari is a social justice advocate, working to improve a lot of marginalised groups through policy reforms and practice shifts. She possesses a Masters in Peace & Security and currently serves as the Director of Programmes & Administration with WRAPA. She has worked & understands the dynamics of funders like the British Council, EU, USAID, SIDA, UN, MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, Malala Foundation. She comes with 15years of experience in the development sector.
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This class was subsidized for women, but men can purchase too!
