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The 13 winners of the 2021 Facebook Community Accelerator Programme was recently announced by Facebook, with over half being Nigerians.
Selected from over 13,000 applicants, these Facebook community leaders are from Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya. They will receive training, mentorship and $50,000 in funds to invest in an initiative that extends their community’s positive impact.
As part of Facebook’s Community Leadership Programme, a global initiative that invests in innovators building communities, the programme seeks to teach leaders to leverage opportunities smartly, helping them create impact across their communities.
The selected winners are focused on creating solutions and tackling issues like child sexual abuse, empowerment of mothers and story sharing of ordinary and extraordinary Nigerians globally.
“We are excited to announce the 13 Facebook community leaders in Africa who have been helping to resolve social challenges, empowering their audiences with knowledge while connecting with others that share their interests or passion for a cause.” Kiran Yoliswa, partner management lead, Middle East and Africa Community Partnerships at Facebook said.
“At Facebook, we are committed to helping people realise their full potential through initiatives like this. We want these community leaders to use the Facebook platform to drive change and provide support and encouragement for thousands of people. We are impressed with the outcome of this year’s Community Accelerator and we look forward to helping our 2021 community Accelerator winners amplify their influence for greater work.”
The works of these amazing Nigerians making an impact and counted worthy by the Facebook Community Accelerator include:
Protect The Child Foundation by Achimugu Elizabeth
Protect The Child Foundation is dedicated to protecting and defending the virtue of children against sexual abuse of any kind. The foundation was built on a goal to build a world where children can safely reside without fear of sexual assaults.
Naija Graphic Designers by Godwin Juliet
Creativity is the new innovation. Naija Graphic Designers connects the graphic design enterprise within and outside Nigeria industries. The goal is to support, instil and offer opportunities for graphic designers to attain industry standards beyond the current state. Leveraging digitalisation, employers, freelancers and women creatives are impacted by the community.
Mothers, Kids And More (MKM) by Izevbokun Osamakue
The community empowers Nigerian and African women and children, helping them attain sustainability in their personal and professional lives. The goal is to help women speak up by reaching out to other women when in need.
Natural Hair Babes by Michael Louisa
Natural Hair Babes created an entrepreneurial sales network in November 2020 when they launched their flagship product, a natural hair herb that is very effective in the maintenance of natural hair. The community is focused on natural hair, sisterhood and cultural & economic empowerment for Nigerian women and girls.
Tales of Nigerians by Nworah Martin
Tales of Nigerians is an emotional support and mental wellness community where members have a safe space to share their real-life experiences.
Through community events, training and on-ground outreach, they have directly impacted about 20,000 members and seek to keep equipping members with the right tools to grow their emotional intelligence, mental wellness and synergy with other members.
Nigerian Teachers by Ogudoro Peter
A community for Nigerian teachers with a goal to change the country’s education system. The community is focused on making the Nigerian educational system globally competitive by impacting teachers who do not receive adequate training services from their places of employment to further impact students.
Prepare for JAMB UTME by Olisa Enoch
Prepare for JAMB UTME helps students prepare for Nigeria’s university admission exam with learning resources and news. They seek to make learning resources (exam syllabus, quizzes, study notes, videos, question and answer forum) freely accessible to members or through a subscription service.
Portfolio 9 (Community) by Philip Udeochu
The Digital Entrepreneurship and Empowerment Platform (DEEP) has a mandate to bring entrepreneurship and vocational education to people at the bottom of the pyramid in Africa using social media. Portfolio 9’s mission is to make entrepreneurship accessible by ‘simplifying’ and ‘innovatively’ delivering it to everyone’s doorstep through collective and interactive learning and support. So far, the community has supported the learning needs of a growing community of over 500,000 members.
Naija Nurses Forum by Urhefe Ofejiro
Here, nurses across Nigeria collaborate to provide quality and accessible healthcare services to individuals. They support each other and share best practices in their profession.
Winners from other countries include Mwaniki Sam; Teachers’ Notice Board Kenya, Ramuada Tshililo; South African Arts & Culture Youth Forum, Splinters Lucretia; The Official Ocean View/Slangkop Group South Africa and Wala Amakove; Wanderlust Diaries Ltd, Kenya.
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