The Awesome Empowerment Foundation (AEF), under its Fortitude Empowerment Scheme, has recorded its first major milestone with the graduation ceremony of 80 pioneer trainees, marking a major step in its mission to equip individuals with vocational skills and entrepreneurial support. The graduation ceremony, which celebrated the successful completion of training in fashion design and culinary arts, also saw graduands empowered with essential equipment to kickstart their businesses.
In her address at the event, the Founder of AEF, Dr. Tola Bamigbaye, expressed profound fulfillment and elation at the foundation’s progress. She noted that out of the 120 individuals initially enrolled, the first 80 have successfully completed their training, while the remaining 40 are still undergoing their programs and will graduate soon.
According to her, the initiative goes beyond merely teaching vocational skills, extending into holistic entrepreneurship training. “We not only train people here at this foundation, we also equip them and support them with setting up their businesses. We teach them how to manage their accounting processes, digital and social media because at the end of the day, they’ve still got to put what they sell out there,” Dr. Bamigbaye stated.
To ensure they hit the ground running, she disclosed that in addition to certificates, the culinary graduands were handed Kerrygold raw materials, while those in fashion design received tables and stands, electric sewing machines with their electric motors. Furthermore, Bamigbaye revealed that AEF will follow up with the graduands for the next three months to ensure their businesses take root. Exceptional trainees who demonstrated remarkable resilience across both categories were also recognized with gifts ranging from electric air fryers to handy ovens, all-purpose blenders and cash prizes.
Dr. Bamigbaye lauded the corporate organizations and individual sponsors who threw their weight behind the initiative for actively walking the CSR talk. The graduation event was also graced by representatives from HBM, Kerrygold, Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs (LASODA), Leadway and Dotts Media.
Speaking on the foundation’s inclusive philosophy, she reiterated that AEF is an organization that supports imperfection. “We do not let anything hold you back. In fact, we are more interested in you if we know of your imperfection… everybody is related with and trained based on their imperfection, learning at their own pace,” she added, emphasizing that the foundation intentionally puts in time to support everyone to become anything they want to be.
The graduands, visibly eager to begin their entrepreneurial journeys, expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the foundation and its sponsors, wishing the founder and sponsors more grace while vowing to make the most of the opportunities provided for them.
