A Mandela Washington fellow and founder, Naija Youth Entrepreneurship Network (NYEN), Ezenwa Okoro, has flown Nigeria’s flag on the global stage after representing the country at the recently concluded Creativity Revival Un-Conference in Milan, Italy.

It was a strategic event that brought together over 60 Creativity Pioneers and change-makers who are transforming the lives of their communities through creativity and culture.

As a Fellow of the Creativity Pioneers Program of the Moleskine Foundation, the CEO of Resource Mobilisation Consult (RMC), alongside other young change-makers around the world, will deploy creativity as a tool for systems design, socio-economic re-engineering and deepening the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Also in October, Okoro, who serves as Program Director, Street Project Foundation (SPF), was selected to engage the Robert F. Kennedy Centre for Justice and Human Rights in Florence, Italy.

He was also invited as a special guest to speak at the Social Entrepreneurship Open Camp in Todi, Italy last week on the presentation titled “The Power of Creativity to Drive Social Change”.

Speaking on his experience, he said: “I have also been invited to participate in various networking events across Milan over the next few weeks to meet, engage and connect with various organisations, experts, activists, funders, senior government officers and international development officials.

“The United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) awarded me a $242,000 grant to implement the ‘Promoting Youth Engagement through Creative Expression in Nigeria’. Additionally, the United States Department of State through Freedom Fund awarded me a $55,000 grant.

“In all, it was really a great honour and humbling experience to fly Nigeria’s flag on global platforms at this auspicious time.”