A school for social change, Acumen Academy, has equipped its fellows wqith problem-solving skills to address challenges through poverty eradication.
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The academy, which held its fellows programme recently, had the participants relate their experiences in their various fields of endeavour.

Programme Manager, Acumen West Africa Fellowship, Oghenekome Oruade, said the academy, which has about 90 fellows across communities in West Africa and working across 15 different sectors, exists to tackle poverty.

She said the focus of the academy was to equip participants by raising their self awareness and leadership instinct to make a change.

To qualify to become a fellow, according to Oghenekome, “you have to be working on an issue that is combating injustice or poverty like access to healthcare or finance. Generally speaking, Fellows are providing access across different issues areas to those who are excluded.
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“Our focus is to support the entrepreneurs and leaders doing the hard work of creating change. We often never get to hear the stories of those demonstrating new leadership examples through their work. So, through the Acumen Fellows program, we provide leaders and entrepreneurs with the tools, resources, and more importantly, community needed to sustain them in the work.”

Sharing their experiences, Chief Executive Officer of PadUp Creations, a social enterprise company with focus on the production of washable and reusable pads for women, Olivia Onyemaobi, said she currently has 307 workers and has empowered about 17,000 women that distribute the products in micro points.

Onyemaobi testified that being a part of the Acumen family has given her leverage because as a global movement, she gets all the needed connections to make things work.
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She added: “If I need someone to listen to me, who will understand me, Acumen is there. In terms of funding, they connect you to access to funding and most importantly when there are opportunities. They also link you with other fellows. This year, in April, I was in Vancouver, Canada, on an all expense paid trip to attend a conference. So, Acumen wants to help and accelerate the work of social entrepreneurs and everyone who is trying to solve a social issue.”

Also, the Director, Enterprise Development Centre in PAN Atlantic University, Peter Bankole, who is also focused on equipping people with practical tools and innovative mindsets to drive social change, encourage people to start a business that could change the world, said: “You must have a vision that scares you. One thing engineering did to me was logical thinking, which has helped me a lot.”

With 36 years experience in the public and private sector, Bankole advised that one could do anything for their community but “the most important currency is trust. Don’t over use it, you have to maintain that currency to the end, that is when the community works.”

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