Blog

We’re dedicated to our craft, empowering young leaders to thrive today and lead tomorrow. At L.E.A.D PROJECT 2.0 , Bridging the Gap.

We are grateful to our selfless Youth mentors and School Counselors for the successful completion of our 6 weeks fieldwork program across the 5 public secondary schools on S.M.I.L.E’s 2024 Young Leaders Mentoring Program.

This unique component of our program provides an opportunity for the 25 Change Champions on the program, to pass on the knowledge gained during the program to their friends and mentees.

Through this peer mentoring model,

the Change Champions are able to hone their new skills, discover other unique attributes they possess, and serve as a role models to their peers.

We are delighted over 100 students have been mentored by the Change Champions across the 5 schools.

Special thanks once again to the School Counselors and Youth Mentors for providing the needed guidance for these young leaders to effectively transfer knowledge to their mentees during the fieldwork sessions and for the creativity infused into the learning experience.

#YouthLeadChange #MentoredForGrowth

#S.M.I.L.EEducationalOutreach

Our world is in need of heroes! People who look beyond themselves to identify and solve the problems in their communities. These heroes need to be hand held and taught how to build sustainable initiatives and make impact.

The mentees in the Social Enterprise Cohort of S.M.I.L.E’s 2023/2024 Executive Mentoring Program for Youth (EMPY), had an insightful session during their third module as they were groomed on how to navigate their impact journey as social entrepreneurs.

Our profound gratitude to our dear trustee, Mr Praise Fowowe; Principal Consultant, Praise Fowowe Research LLC, USA who gave a practical teaching on the topic- Understanding the Framework of Social Entrepreneurship.

He admonished the mentee to define their mission, develop a sustainable business model, engage their target community/stakeholders, tell their stories right, document their journey, leverage networking and focus on the tasks at hand while embracing transparency and accountability.

Businesses require a lot to stay afloat in today’s economy. The very volatile economy and severe effects the current inflation rate has on small and micro businesses cannot be overemphasized. It is on this premise that we designed the third module of the Executive Mentoring Program for the mentees in our Business Cohort to help the young entrepreneurs on our program navigate challenging times.

The pragmatic approach to the topic-An Overview of Entrepreneurship: Building thriving Businesses was an eye opener to the young entrepreneurs who needed clarity on how to structure their businesses, improve their customer base while increasing sales.

Special thanks to Mrs. Kenny Omojola-President, Crested Edge Educational and Entrepreneurial Development Initiative (CrEED Initiative) for providing practical answers to all the probing questions these young entrepreneurs had and taking the mentees through the concept of entrepreneurship, elements of a business idea, importance and content of a business plan as well as various business fields they can venture into as young entrepreneurs.

She encouraged them to embrace a growth mindset, carryout market research, find a niche, maximize social media and adopt a blue ocean strategy.

The Young Leaders Mentoring Program is aimed at grooming young leaders who can lead themselves, lead others and become problem solvers in their society.

We live in a world with myriad of challenges and as the world works towards achieving Agenda 2030,we are glad to have raised a new batch of young leaders who will be advocating and proffering solutions to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

During the fourth module of the 2024 Young Leaders Mentoring Program, our amazing Head of Communications and a member of S.M.I.L.E’s Alumni-Mrs Ajibola Babalola, took the Change Champions through the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Her enlightening and educative session helped the young leaders understand the meaning, importance of the goals and practical steps they can take especially in their daily activities to help achieve the goals as well as create the world we want.

Furthermore, she simplified the teaching by teaching them about the 5 pillars of the Sustainable Development Goals namely:

People Goals

Prosperity Goals

Planet Goals

Peace Goal

Partnership Goal

A major highlight was the interactive session where the students and teachers (S.M.I.L.E school counselors) shared the SDG they were drawn to and how they have been championing the SDGs in their respective schools.

A pledge taken by the Change Champions to play their part in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by teaching their peers about the SDGs and also solving problems around specific goals.

As an organization we will not relent in pushing towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Education is power!

During the fourth Module of the 2024 Young Leaders Mentoring Program, our young leaders were taken through an interesting and practical session on Achieving Academic Excellence with the aim of spurring them up to excel and come out with outstanding grades.

This unique session was taken by Mrs Ajibola Babalola, Head of Communications at S.M.I.L.E, and an Alumnus of S.M.I.L.E Young Leaders Mentoring Program for Graduate and Young Professional.

She took the Change Champions through her personal academic journey, sharing simple and practical steps she took to become a first class graduate.

She emphasized the fact that Academic Excellence doesn’t just happen, however it requires intentional choices and actions. Hence the need to have a vision for their academics, set subject goals, manage their time properly and understand their uniqueness as well as their various reading styles.

She stated in clear terms that as exemplary young leaders they must desist from any form of exam malpractices. She encouraged them to affirm and believe in themselves as well as aim for the top.

The world is evolving and we are not oblivious of the fact that our young leaders need to be properly equipped with the appropriate digital knowledge.

During the fourth Module of the Young Leaders Mentoring Program (YLMP) which held on Saturday, 17th of February, 2024, the Change Champions were exposed to general computer knowledge, and had introductory sessions on Microsoft packages, social networking, social media ethics and internet based research.

Special thanks to our amazing facilitator and partner-Mr Jesse Okpara (CEO Mobitrane Technologies), and two members of the Change Champion Alumni, Mr Gbenga Adebayo and Miss Alimot Uthman for such an enlightening and interactive session.

A major accomplishment for us during this practical module was the fact that our young leaders were able to open their first email address.

We plan to build on this introductory session by taking our indigent youth through an intensive digital Literacy Program.

Our young leaders are not just equipped with leadership skills but are prepared to intentionally build a reputable personal brand despite their young age.

It’s always a delight to have our dear trustee, Mr Idy Enang, Idy Enang (CEO Corporate Shepherds Limited, President and Chairman of the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria, and Host of Navigate with Idy on Lagos Talk 91.3 FM) facilitate a session on Personal Branding at the final module of the 2024 Young Leaders Mentoring Program which held on Saturday, February 17, 2024.

Mr Enang established the fact that we live in a world of brands and a brand is an entity with distinct identity. He enlightened the young leaders on the fact that they are ‘a brand’ and they must build their character and have the right attitude in order to sustain their personal brand.

He added that although social media propagates a brand of ‘make-believe’, they must stand out and be different. He encouraged them to build their brands by identifying their best qualities, have a clear/compelling message, be consistent and embrace a life of continuous learning.

He concluded by encouraging the young leaders to discover themselves, align their passion with their strengths, and strive to become an expert in their respective areas of strength.

Rounding off with the IKIGAI concept, he encouraged them to discover their reason for living and embrace a life of legacy.

Please join us as we groom more young leaders with positive personal brands.

Please donate via https://smileng.org/donation/ or contact us

Phone Number: +234 7087364005

Email: smileinitiative@ymail.com

Website: www.smileng.org