Elevate is back!!!! Well…we were never really gone but we’re like that house from across the street, that was always there but has been restructured, renovated, refurbished and is now the talk of the town!
To kick start this new phase, the team thought it best for our regular blog readers to ‘meet us again’ and the new readers to have a solid grasp on who we are, what we do, where we do it, how we do it and why we do what we do.
Elevate Development Foundation (EDF) was birthed in 2016 after our founder, Abiola Adebiyi, had received a revelation of her life’s assignment was and was further convicted by the Holy Spirit that it was to help people. Not long after, she discovered Makoko via a YouTube documentary and felt strongly that she needed to visit the community, and that birthed Elevate Development Foundation. To read our founder’s story, click here.
Elevate Development Foundation is a youth driven organisation that works to educate, enlighten and empower vulnerable Nigerians living in underprivileged communities, starting with Makoko, Lagos. We are deliberate about the development of human capital by identifying issues within the community and proffering lasting solutions.
Nigeria is currently at a very sensitive and critical point in its history where young people are beginning to find and use their voice. In the last few weeks, young people have questioned the status quo, demanded accountability and good governance, and effectively occupied the office of the citizen, the highest office in the land. Being young people ourselves, we could not be happier to see our generation arise to its calling and boldly demand the Nigeria we all deserve.
We have been contributing our quota to developing a New Nigeria since 2016 and we don’t see ourselves stopping anytime soon! At the heart of our organisation is a vision of educating, enlightening and empowering Nigerians in underserved communities so they are equipped with the tools needed to excel among their privileged counterparts, and solve problems in their communities.
For a second, just imagine a Nigeria with no poverty, with a thriving business ecosystem and countless employment opportunities. That’s what we see. In such a Nigeria, no Nigerian will feel helpless when offered 1500 naira to cause violence at a peaceful protest fighting for their rights. If we want a Nigeria that works for Nigeria, then we must demand it both in our words and our actions. This is why at Elevate we want to eliminate economic inequality, and build youth leaders that are socially responsible and don’t run away from accountability in communities like Makoko.
At Elevate, our activities internally and externally, are underpinned by a value system centered on the following:
FAITH: We are not a religious organisation or an offshoot of one, however, we stand by the principles of Jesus and it is our aim to reflect His love for humanity through our projects.
COMMITMENT: We are a 100% volunteer run organisation but we work like we’re paid to do what we do.
SERVICE: We serve our beneficiaries with a heart full of love and empathy.
HONESTY: We execute our projects with pure intentions. The impact we’ve made in beneficiaries’ lives is the single most important thing that drives our organisation.
Our value system not only helps to promote effectiveness within our team, but also keeps us grounded and committed to the WHY behind what we do.
We are excited about our blog revamp and can’t wait to share more updates on what we’ve been up to, and what we have planned for the future. Trust me, you definitely want to stay connected with us to learn more about our projects and volunteering opportunities, so please connect with us on our social media platforms and do leave a comment below!
If you’ve read till this point, we hope that you now know us better, will engage with our content more, support our cause and drive social innovation and change in your own community in any capacity that you can. Our world would be better for it!
Connect with us:
Email: hello@elevateng.net