Olaitan Animashaun, Chief Executive Officer of TEDVOC Tutors under Trendsetters Educational and Vocational Services and convener of Skill Up Langbasa, has described skills development as more than a profession, but a personal mission to empower individuals and transform communities.
Animashaun believes practical skills can help people discover their talents, identify career opportunities, establish businesses and improve their livelihoods.
Despite challenges in securing support for some of her programmes, she has continued to take training directly into communities, particularly targeting youths, women and families with limited access to empowerment opportunities.
According to TEDVOC, its programmes have impacted more than 2,000 people over the years.
Her latest initiative, Skill Up Langbasa, provided free academic coaching and vocational training to more than 600 children, teenagers, youths, women and adults in Langbasa, Ajah, Lagos State.
Animashaun’s journey into vocational empowerment began in 2016 under her mother’s business name, CherrySmart Enterprises. What started as a vocational initiative has since expanded into a broader platform for education, tutoring, mentoring, entrepreneurship and practical skills development.
Through Skill Up Langbasa, participants received training in fashion design, hair and wig making, makeup, gele styling, Adire/Kampala production, shoe and bag making, catering, cake making and event decoration.
The programme also introduced participants to coding, artificial intelligence, content creation, digital skills, entrepreneurship and household products production.
For Animashaun, empowerment goes beyond the acquisition of certificates. Her long-term vision is to establish a permanent TEDVOC Centre for academic coaching, vocational training, digital education and entrepreneurship.
Animashaun holds a Bachelor’s degree in Entrepreneurial and Business Management from the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) and a Diploma in Marketing from Olabisi Onabanjo University. She also holds a DELF Certificate in French.
She was selected among the Top 50 Women in Business in Nigeria through the World Bank-sponsored Women X 11 programme and received entrepreneurial training at the Enterprise Development Centre, Lagos Business School.
She also participated in the Global Entrepreneurship Training West Africa programme in 2019 and was nominated for Excellence in Fashion and Style at the National MSME Awards in 2022.
Her guiding philosophy remains: “Identifying Gifts, Maximising Potentials.”
“Identify a gift. Develop the potential. Create an opportunity. Empower someone else,” she said.
Animashaun also acknowledged the support of her husband, Engineer Biola Ahmed Animashaun, as well as her team and volunteers, in advancing her grassroots empowerment initiatives.
