The Hope Builders International Consult Ltd. successfully concluded the transformative 2025 Everyone A Changemaker Festival, affirming its status as a pivotal platform for youth empowerment and economic diversification in Nigeria. Held under the urgent and inspiring theme, “Future Ready Africa: Beyond Degrees,” the two-day event galvanized stakeholders from across the country in a shared mission to cultivate entrepreneurial excellence.
The festival was a vibrant nexus of thought leadership, practical skill development, and strategic networking, bringing together a diverse audience including: government officials, academicians, policymakers, students, and active entrepreneurs from key economic hubs such as Lagos, Delta, Kano, Nassarawa, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and Kaduna.
Synergy in Partnership and Impact
The monumental success of the event was anchored by the unwavering support of our major partners: Ashoka, whose changemaking philosophy guided the discourse; Kaduna State University (KASU), providing academic gravitas and a foundational platform; and the Kaduna State Media Corporation (KSMC), ensuring the festival’s critical message reached a wide public audience.
Highlights included dynamic keynote addresses, successful workshops, and critical panel discussions that generated focused outcomes aimed at driving systemic change.
The Changemaker Agenda: 5 Action Points for Hope Builders
The high-level panel discussions, featuring experts from finance, policy, and enterprise, culminated in the adoption of a Five-Point Action Agenda that will shape Hope Builders International’s strategy for the coming year:
- Policy Dialogue Channels: Establish a structured quarterly forum to facilitate direct, actionable dialogue between local entrepreneurs and state policymakers to address regulatory hurdles.
- Digital Skills Integration: Integrate advanced digital and technology-specific skills (e.g., AI tools, e-commerce optimization) into all training curricula to ensure market readiness.
- Inter-State Entrepreneurship Network: Launch a digital platform dedicated to connecting entrepreneurs across the six attending states (Lagos, Kano, Delta, Nassarawa, FCT, Kaduna) for resource sharing and joint venture creation.
- Soft-Skills Standard Advocacy: Collaborate with KASU to advocate for the standardization of critical soft skills (leadership, ethics, communication) as a mandatory module in higher education and professional training.
- Non-Traditional Funding Pipelines: Develop and actively promote mentorship connections with international funders and angel investors, moving beyond traditional bank financing for early-stage ventures.
Legacy Launch and Future Training Plans
The Festival reached a celebratory peak during the evening dinner, which hosted the official launch of two cornerstone programs: the Hope Builders Fellowship Program and the monumental Prof. David Iornem Legacy Scholarship for 1,000 Entrepreneurs backed by the N200 Million and N400 Million fund respectively.
The workshops delivered during the festival—including the popular “Introduction to Crypto”—served as foundational introductions. Hope Builders is excited to announce that these will be followed by a series of intensive, in-depth training modules on various employability skills and emerging technologies, to be rolled out immediately in the coming months.
Join the Movement: Partnering for Skills Everywhere
The urgency of equipping youth with essential employability skills demands a united front. While we celebrate our established partnerships, Hope Builders International remains open and eager to collaborate with more organizations, foundations, and corporate bodies to scale our impact. Our goal is simple: to ensure access to world-class enterprise and employability skills training is available everywhere, driving Nigeria’s transition to a truly Future Ready Africa.
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