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Thursday, 29th of March, 2018 was a day that will not be easily forgotten and it was certainly not because the President of Nigeria was in town (Lagosians, if you know, you know). It stands as a memorable one because Ideation Hub Africa held its maiden edition of the Women in Development Summit. The Women in Development Summit is a forum which serves as a platform for women in the development and social innovation space to meet, connect and learn from each other. This focus sharpening event was held at the Muson Centre Onikan, Lagos. The event started by 9:00am with an opening address by the Convener, Debola Deji-Kurunmi; welcoming attendees to the event and preparing their minds to be receptive to all that would be shared at the summit. After this, the Keynote speech was given by Ms Osayi Alile. Ms Osayi Alile is a model leader with wealth of experience in international development, business and philanthropic management. In her address, she emphasised the importance of passion, dynamism, boldness, planning and preparation as key elements required to thrive as an individual or organisation in the development sector. There was also a moderated panel session, which featured some of Nigeria’s finest social entrepreneurs. This session was geared specifically at equipping the attendees with the knowledge required to build a sustainable and even profitable social development organisation from the ground up. The panelists were able to share some of the challenges faced and lessons they had learnt in running their organisations. The panellists were Adepeju Jaiyeoba of Brown Button Foundation, Nneka Okonkwo of Productivity Insights, Toyin Adesola of Sickle Cell Advocacy and Management Initiative, and Oreoluwa Somolu-Lesi of Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC). It got better as the event featured a mentorship round table where the speakers shared personal experiences regarding various issues they faced as development entrepreneurs. The panelists included Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji of Rise Networks, Katja Schiller-Nwator of Philantrophy Circuit, Seyi Oyebisi of The Nigeria Network of NGOs and Bekeme Masade of CSR-In-Action. It was not all work and seriousness, as there were break periods with light refreshments being served as well as opportunities for attendees to network. There was also a collaborative game known as the “Marshmallow Challenge”, were each team had the task of building a self-standing spaghetti tower which would carry a marshmallow on its peak. It was a fun and learning experience. The most participatory member of the winning team was awarded a full scholarship for a writing course by CSR-In-Action. There were also consolation prizes for star members of other teams Finally, there was the presentation of awards to five social innovators, all of whom were under 25 years of age. These women have championed causes that have had a positive impact in their communities and sphere of influence. The awardees were: Oluwafunmilayo Oni of Iranwo Initiative, Precious Eniayekan of Stellar Initiative, Ifeoluwa Adesuji of Save the women and Girls Initiative, Queen Obanga of Natures Craft and Sophiyat Sodiq, an alumna of the Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre. A very hearty Congratulations to these amazing social innovators. The Women in Development Summit was an overall success and none of the attendees would be forgetting this event in a hurry. For more information about the Organisations represented visit: Ideation Hub Africa: ideation hub africa. ACT Foundation: ac trust foundation Brown Button Foundation: brown button foundation Productivity Insights: productivity insights Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre : w tec Rise Networks: rise networks Philanthropy Circuit: philanthropy circuit Nigeria Network of NGOs: nnngo CSR-In-Action: csr-in-action Sickle Cell Advocacy and Management Initiative: sickle cell advocacy                Image credit: daviesjoshua
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