Recently, the La Roche Leadership Foundation recognized and celebrated exceptional youths in Lagos at the event tagged “The Chosen Youth” which held at the Astroturf 2000 in Ikoyi, Lagos. A total of 13 youths who have contributed to the development of their communities in the areas of Social Enterprise, Sports, Tourism, Social Media, Entertainment and Fashion were recognised for their immense efforts.
Speaking at the event, Akinwunmi Ambode the founder of La Roche said “Today we recognize young people who have challenged the status quo and charted a course for themselves. Today we appreciate young men and women who have not let the circumstances in the country put them down but rather used it to motivate themselves. La Roche salutes your courage. La Roche salutes your passion. La Roche salutes your success. La Roche extends a hand of partnership to you and together we can inspire others to leadership and innovation and improve lives in Nigeria“.
He added that the selected young people have shown leadership qualities and innovation in their endeavors stating that “innovation is the product of vibrant young minds“.
Among the 13 chosen youths were; Raquel Jacobs, who is the Founder and Executive Director of the Beyond the Classroom Foundation, an NGO that focuses on improving education for pupils in public and primary schools and the empowerment of the girls child.
Through her foundation, she has impacted lives and worked with over 200 volunteers to implement education projects in Bariga and Yaba with the provision of school supplies, after school extra-curricular support and mentoring for over 100 girls. Her project Red Robots has trained over 1,000 girls on issues around menstrual and personal hygiene and also gave out free sanitary pads to those who cannot afford it in poor communities.
Other selected youths include: Ore Lesi, Founder of the Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (WTEC); Tosin Taiwo, the Founder of the Street to School initiative which aims to promote access to quality education for children in under-served areas; Taiwo Okunoren of Okunoren Twins, a clothing business that employs over 100 tailors; Tolu Ogunlesi, a renowned journalist; Omilola Osikoya, a blogger, life coach and public speaker; Abiodun Akinyemi, a Tourism and Tour entrepreneur and MI Jude Abaga, a renowned Nigerian musician.
Others also recognized were Uche Pedro, the founder of the popular website BellaNaija; Titus Agbo Adekole, a grassroots youth football coach and sports leader; Bilkis Adebola-Abiola, the CEO of Wecyclers, a plastic recycling company and Adekunbi Adeoye the proprietress of SESEWA, an initiative which secures internship placements for students of Nigerian tertiary institutions.
Jacobs in her remarks noted that the recognition by La Roche Foundation is proof that their work in schools with children and girls isn’t unnoticed and serves as reminder to further commit to the work of touching lives and supporting children and girls beyond the four walls of their classroom.
“This award further validates our work and I am truly grateful to be chosen as a recipient. I have always believed my contributions to the society are valuable and this recognition just means we need to do more” Jacobs said.
