Our everyday hero for today is no other person but Mayowa Abisola Adegbile. Born on the 10th of September 1986, Mayowa Adegbile is a Nigerian Philanthropist known for excelling as one of the three Nigerians that made it to the top 10 finalists in the year 2014 Google Africa Connected competition. Mayowa Adegbile is a woman passionate about life, knowledge and learning. She is an alumnus of the Enterprise Development Center Lagos Business School Social Sector Management. Besides being a philanthropist, she is also an educator.
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The Ashake Foundation
Adegbile started the Ashake Foundation in 2012 with an initial number of 22 widows and 36 children and has helped provide business support funds and resources that have seen them lifted out of near-poverty while providing back-to-school support for the children. Mayowa has adopted an alternative model for assisting widows by setting up the Widows Business School make better entrepreneurs of the widows through basic vocational and entrepreneurial training. In the last 4 years, the school has trained over 500 widows in partnership with other established partners and some other widows in Wig making, Pastries, Soap and disinfectant and bag making. Ashake Foundation became a social enterprise by training widows to produce Made in Nigeria products with a special focus on school bags to help these widows to earn income and become self-sufficient; to promote made in Nigeria products and support other disadvantaged kids with back-to-school resources. In the last 12 months, they have trained 50 widows and provided back-to-school resources for 700 kids in 2 states in Nigeria. Ashake Foundation encourages widows to think local and prepare for global impact.
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Adegbile initially used YouTube to raise funds for her initiative, Ashake Foundation which she conceptualised as a business school for widowed mothers, giving them the tools to make a living and support their families. The Ashake foundation seeks to provide a safe haven where Nigerian widows participate in a comprehensive program for personal and entrepreneurship development that promotes the physical, educational and life skills necessary to empower them for leadership in their communities and success in their personal lives. Ashake Foundation is dully registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria (CAC).
Summarily put, Mayowa Adegbile by starting the Ashake foundation aimed at building a Widows business school with an emphasis on a skill acquisition centre where widows can learn both business skills and practical skill like tailoring which can be an income-generating tool.
Awards
In July 2017, Adegbile was awarded by the Junior Chamber International as one of 10 Outstanding Young Persons of Nigeria for her work in Humanitarian and Voluntary Leadership. It was gathered that the organisation honours and awards its members who have been resourceful to other people in society. The 10 individuals awarded were tagged 2017 JCI Ten Outstanding Young Persons of Nigeria. While Mayowa of Ashake Foundation was awarded in the category of Humanitarian/Voluntary Leadership.
Sources:
Wikipedia
F6s
Youth Action Net
Featured Image Source: Wikipedia
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