Funmilayo Oyekanmi is an advocate for education and decent jobs, a budding lawyer, and a management consultant. She has 7 years of experience volunteering for social impact projects focused on advancing health, gender equality, quality education, decent jobs, climate change, and zero hunger.
Since 2020, Funmilayo has prepared students for the future of work by providing digital and soft skills training, coaching, and mentoring and, as a result, built a community of over 40,000 youths. She has also engaged over 5,000 youths through physical and virtual dialogues on personal and career development, sustainability, social innovation, gender equality, financial literacy, and education.
Funmilayo became a Human Development Youth Advisor to the European Union Delegation in Nigeria in 2021 and established the non-profit organization Human and Social Sustainability Network Africa (HSSN Africa) in 2022 to advance quality education and decent jobs in Africa. She has been recognized by notable institutions such as AIESEC, Unite 2030, and YALI Nigeria. She has also been awarded scholarships by UTIVA and the Africa Leadership Institute (ALI) for her exceptional leadership potential.
Funmilayo’s ambitious goal over the next five years is to impact 10,000 people by providing them with access to skills acquisition and career placements.
Please tell us about yourself
I am an advocate for education and decent jobs, a budding lawyer, and a management consultant. I have 7 years of experience volunteering for social impact projects focused on advancing health, gender equality, quality education, decent jobs, climate change, and zero hunger.
Since 2020, I have prepared students for the future of work by providing digital and soft skills training, coaching, and mentoring and, as a result, built a community of over 40,000 youths. I have also engaged over 5,000 youths through physical and virtual dialogues on personal and career development, sustainability, social innovation, gender equality, financial literacy, and education.
In 2021, I became a Human Development Youth Advisor to the European Union Delegation in Nigeria and established the non-profit organization Human and Social Sustainability Network Africa (HSSN Africa) in 2022 to advance quality education and decent jobs in Africa. I have been recognized by notable institutions such as AIESEC, Unite 2030, and YALI Nigeria. I have also been awarded scholarships by UTIVA and the Africa Leadership Institute (ALI) for her exceptional leadership potential.
I have an ambitious goal over the next five years is to impact 10,000 people by providing them with access to skills acquisition and career placements.
What inspired you to become an advocate for access to education and decent jobs in Africa?
From my observation of various communities in Nigeria, I have realized that poverty is rampant because people do not have access to the quality education that they need to improve their lives, get better opportunities, and significantly change their situations.
The vicious cycle of poverty cannot be tackled by simply scratching the surface, like running annual feeding campaigns. Instead, efforts should be concentrated on eliminating the root causes. For instance, there is a need for an agenda toward achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly quality education, decent work, economic growth, and gender equality.
This underlines my motivation for starting this nonprofit; as a strategy to eradicate poverty, forced labor, and inequality by providing access to education and decent jobs to children & youths in low-income communities.
What programs and initiatives do the Human & Social Sustainability Network Africa (HSSN) offer to improve access to education in Africa?
Our programs at HSSN Africa are geared toward educating young people with the knoweldge, skills and resources to land decent jobs, some of which include
- access to academic, professional, and enrichment opportunities for high school leavers from low socioeconomic backgrounds
- technical and soft skills training, seminars and mentorship with industry professionals to increase the chances of undergraduates getting full employment and achieving career success
- Job placements across select industries with partner companies
- community programs aim to ensure social integration
- Beyond providing access to education and decent jobs, how does HSSN work to address the root causes of education inequality in Africa?
One of our 6 pillars at HSSN Africa is policy reform. We aim to push for reforms of policies, bills, and laws through virtual roundtables, online and offline campaigns, and form multi-sectoral partnerships to ensure sustainable business practices and investments in quality education and the creation of decent jobs.
What motivates you to continue the good work, even in the face of challenges and setbacks?
What keeps us going is the reality that change happens from individual and collective effort. Consequently, if we don’t act, the young people we could potentially impact may never have opportunities to transform their situations, or achieve their dreams, and this would ultimately transcend into increased poverty, inequality, and forced labour.
Would you say the role of parents and community members is important in the work that HSSN does?
Yes, very important. Our family and communities shape our perspectives and ideologies to a large extent.
We’re a generation that understands the versatility of the job market and the many opportunities that exists outside the traditional ones that our parents knew. For parents that do not understand, it’s important that we young people do the reorientation, because we would need the support and advice of parents at every juncture of our career journeys.
I have experienced the transformative power of positive association, that is why I always recommend joining virtual and physical communities that are valuable to physical, intellectual, spiritual, financial, and career growth. Through communities, you are able to build meaningful friendships and alliances, see and maximise opportunities, build relevance and thought leadership, and grow.
What are some of the most rewarding experiences you’ve had while working at HSSN?
Since we began operations, it’s been so heartwarming receiving messages from people that share the same level of enthusiasm about empowering young people, and pledging their willingness to volunteer or donate to the cause.
We’ve also gotten invitations from few companies who wished to partner with us to further our mission.
How does HSSN ensure that its programs are sustainable and have a long-lasting impact on the communities it serves?
We ensure this by incorporating post-program support to participants. So for every participant we interact with, they get to join a community and have access to resources, mentorship, opportunities, and other professional support they need to land decent jobs and attain career success.
What are the biggest challenges that HSSN faces in its mission to promote access to education and decent jobs in Africa?
Currently, I can only think of 2 challenges, which is ensuring that we get out processes right from the beginning, and hiring the right candidates. We’re working to solve these challenges by establishing structures, and designing a seamless and through hiring process that would help us filter unsuitable candidates.
Future challenges of funding and partnerships may come up, but I believe its a something we can maneuver or face head-on.
What are some of your future goals for HSSN Africa?
We have an ambitious goal to impact 10,000 people over the next five years by providing them with access to skills acquisition and career placements.
We would kick off in August 2023, and target 2000 undergraduate students for our pilot project.
How can individuals and organizations support the work of the Human & Social Sustainability Network Africa and improve access to education and decent jobs in Africa?
Individuals and Organizations can support our mission in 3 ways:
By partnering. To empower more young people and increase their ability to maximise opportunities, we require technical support from organizations to equip them with technical and soft skills.
We also need partnership from companies across various industries, so that every young person we train is able to find productive employment.
By Donating. We understand that most young people from low income families may lack basic resources like laptops, smartphones, internet facilities, etc. To facilitate their professional growth, would need sponsorship support to provide these resources to everyone in dire need of them.
By Volunteering. Mentoring students, being a volunteer facilitator, and visiting schools are a few ways you can volunteer to support our mission.
Contact HSSN
Email- info.hssnafrica@gmail.com
Instagram- hssnafrica
