LEAP Africa to Host First Workshop for Change Makers to Promote Sustainable Solutions in Nigeria

LAGOS CITY, Nigeria - Feb. 11, 2014 - PRLog -- LEAP (Leadership, Effectiveness, Accountability and Professionalism) Africa, a nonprofit organisation in Nigeria, will be hosting twenty change makers to a leadership and advocacy workshop in Lagos from March 3 to 7. The workshop aims to develop their competencies and equip them with tools and strategies that will enable them to deliver even greater impact.

Twenty outstanding Nigerian social change makers aged 18 to 30 were inducted as Fellows into the Social Innovators Programme, a year-long fellowship developed in 2013 by LEAP Africa in partnership with YouthActionNet®. YouthActionNet® is a programme of the International Youth Foundation which strengthens, supports and celebrates the role of young people in leading positive change in their communities. Each initiative is creatively solving problems identified within their communities, thereby benefitting hundreds of individuals. Their ideas range from orienting youth on the effects of HIV/AIDs and other STDs to creating mobile apps to help ease job searching in Nigeria.

LEAP recognises that passion, commitment and creativity are the main thrusts of any social innovation, and for the Fellows to excel in their ventures, a deep understanding of how to sustain them is important. Therefore, LEAP Africa is promoting social change among youth and ensuring sustainability by providing support to fuel this drive through workshops in 2014. These workshops are led by LEAP and a team of experts, and are divided into various modules covering subjects such as social development ethics, leadership, advocacy, public and private sector partnerships and more.

“We know no one person will solve all the problems we see in our world,” says Oje Ivagba, Director of Programmes for LEAP Africa. “Therefore, through our Social Innovators Programme workshops, we seek to advance the causes, dreams and impact of innovative youth; social change makers whose initiatives serve as a potent means for providing either simple, new, or complex but effective solutions to daily worries of common people.”

As stated by Oje Ivagba, some of these initiatives are not necessarily new; they are models which have been developed and tested in different parts of the world. However, these twenty change makers have distinguished themselves by proactively filling the gaps observed in their communities and offering creative solutions to them.

In addition, a second phase of the workshop will take place in August, where the Fellows can re-assess the success of their initiatives as a result of the training, tools and strategies they would have received during the five-day phase of the workshop in March.

About the Social Innovators Programme (SIP) and Awards

Designed in partnership with the International Youth Foundation, an international youth development organisation with programmes in over 80 countries around the world, the Social Innovators Programme (SIP) joins the YouthActionNet®, 16 national/regional leadership institutes working with youth in social enterprise across the world, to strengthen, support and celebrate the role of young people in leading positive change in their communities. The SIP and Awards is an offshoot enhancement of LEAP’s Annual Youth Leadership Award (ANYLA), which since 2004 has recognised and supported 65 change makers. The SIP incorporates a one-year fellowship and also provides a platform for these young people to acquire skills and deliver even greater impact through exposure to LEAP’s youth leadership curriculum. It also provides an opportunity for them to join a global network of young people with similar initiatives on YouthActionNet®’s Global Fellowship Programme.

About LEAP Africa

Established in 2002, Leadership, Effectiveness, Accountability and Professionalism (LEAP) Africa, a nonprofit organisation committed to developing dynamic, innovative and principled African leaders, has dedicated its efforts to working with visionary youth, business owners and social entrepreneurs. Over the years, LEAP has inspired and equipped its beneficiaries to lead ethically while implementing positive change projects that transform their communities and organisations, thereby sustaining livelihoods and contributing to national development.