By Chinenye Anuforo
Ashoka, a global organization that supports the world’s leading social entrepreneurs has unveiled the seven changemakers for the second cohort of Ashoka Young Changemakers Nigeria.
Ashoka Young Changemakers is a carefully selected network of young people under the age of 21 who demonstrate inspirational leadership in their communities by creating innovative solutionzs, leading a team to implement their changemaking ideas, and are ready to take on the role as youth influencers and co-leaders of the “Everyone a Changemaker” movement. This exciting development marks another milestone in the organization’s ongoing efforts to provide an enabling ecosystem for young changemakers to thrive by connecting them to changemaking tools, opportunities, partners, and supportive networks.
Learning from the experience of Ashoka Fellows for the past forty years, majority of them had their first changemaking experience before age 20, making it clear that a second, permanent selection process to ensure that the voices and actions of young people are at the center of the EACH movement was needed.
The new cohort of Ashoka Young Changemakers addresses a wide variety of issues ranging across Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability, Access to education, Gender Equality, Tech, etc.
The Young Changemakers include Abeedah Alabi of Project Climset -18 years, Victor Eyo of Wegodigiteens – 20 years, Ruth Egbedi of Young African Foundation – 19 years, Muhammad Usman of Young Developer Foundation – 18 years, Magnus Imam of ZeroUp Academy – 19 years, Joshua Ejiofobiri of TechPlug IT Academy – 17 years, and Amara Nwuneli of Preserve our Roots – 15 years. This group of young people will co-lead Ashoka’s core “Everyone a Changemaker” movement.
“Young people are powerful, they are solution creators, and the new world belongs to them. Ashoka Young Changemakers (AYC) represent the undying ingenuity of young people to thrive in the new world which is defined by rapid change, complexity, unpredictability, and interconnectedness. A young person selected as an AYC gets inducted into a core community of co-leaders of the ‘Everyone a Changemaker’ movement in Nigeria. Together with other leaders and influential partners in government, the media, publishers, teachers unions, and schools of education, the AYCs equally contribute their ideas, inspiration, and action in ways that helps millions of other young girls and boys across Nigeria to see that they too can own their power as changemakers and contribute to creating a thriving society for the good of all.” – Okey Uzoechina, Youth Years Vice President, Ashoka Africa
During the AYC Showcase on July 6, 2023, several partners including Microsoft and United Way Nigeria expressed their desire to support the AYCs to inspire other young people and spread the EACH movement. Other partners and adult allies lend their support by cross connecting the AYCs with local radios and media, school boards, government, changemaker companies, and influential partners who help to expand the visibility and impact of their initiatives.
After their selection, the changemaking journey of the AYCs get rooted in the metro areas and major cities in Nigeria which are dense hubs of changemaking, including Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna, Enugu, Calabar, and Yola. They will join teams of co-leaders of the “Everyone a Changemaker” movement in the metro areas who are now co-creating solutions that include and benefit everyone.
Each AYC plays a central role in rippling out the EACH movement by empowering their own Peer Circles and having the support of the entire ecosystem of partners of the EACH movement. This way, the ripple of positive change is infinitely expanded, amplified, and sustained. Increased visibility of the AYCs and impact of their initiatives creates a robust pipeline for the selection of the next cohort of Ashoka Young Changemakers in 2024.
“The one year of being an Ashoka Young Changemaker has been a rollercoaster of collaborations. Ashoka has shown me you can be a young changemaker starting from where you are regardless of your environment or your finances.” – David Onilude, AYC cohort