Multiple award-wining Early Childhood Educator, GBV advocate and certified Personal Development Coach with the John Maxwell Company, Adebola Adefioye has seen her desire to sponsor awards and scholarships in the future come through as the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, in Ontario, Canada has awarded a $5,000 scholarship to be donated in her name to Seneca College.
The founder and team lead at the Afro Women and Youth Foundation, completed the Early Childhood Education diploma and Child Development degree program at the School of Early Childhood Education, Seneca College where she also had the opportunity to serve as a Research Assistant.
Records have it that she further studied Women’s Leadership in Conflict Transformation, Peacebuilding and Community Development at St Francis Xavier University in Canada.
Adebola has been widely celebrated for her work; here are some of the awards and recognitions she has received: She received 9 awards at the Seneca College, Canada; she was one of the 2020 Top 150 Women of Inspiration™ Finalists, Canada; in 2020 she was the recipient of the United Way Greater Toronto’s Black Community Leadership award, she is a 2021/2022 Peer Champion (GBV Advocate) working to end domestic violence in Immigrants and Refugee Communities in Ontario; in 2021, she was a recipient of the 2021 Ontario Premier’s Award.
It was stated that the $5000 Adebola Adefioye scholarship was recently donated in her honour to Seneca College by the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities. Students in the Early Childhood Education program of the college will benefit from this scholarship from 2022/2023 – 2026/2027 academic sessions. This award is to give other students a chance to be inspired by Adebola’s work and academic excellence.
Harping on how she has been able to achieve so much as a new immigrant in Canada, Adebola has this to say. “I am very passionate about community work. I worked in the non-profit sector and schools in Nigeria. When I decided to start community work in Canada, I identified people who have similar interests, and I shared my vision with them and asked for their support. Some of them still work with me as volunteers. All I have done is made possible because I have people who believe in me and support my work. My family is also very supportive of my work”
Adebola is very passionate about empowering Black women and youth, that is why she founded the Afro Women and Youth Foundation, and Gritty Educators. Afro Women and Youth Foundation is a non-profit organization committed to empowering women and youth through capacity-building programs.
Although Adebola lives in Canada, Afro Women and Youth Foundation’s work extends beyond Canada, here are some of the humanitarian work they have done in Nigeria.
In 2020, they delivered a Gender-Based Violence (GBV) pilot project in Lagos, Nigeria. They supported 7 survivors of GBV with small grants and paid for therapy sessions for them. The initial plan was to give the women an interest-free loan, but they eventually made it small business grants after hearing the women’s stories.
They also provided COVID19 relief support to the educators who participated in the first phase of their capacity-building training when the pandemic started.
Adebola also volunteered her services with corporate organizations in Nigeria. She was a 2021 mentor at Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) and a 2021 judge at the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) for the entrepreneurship grant.
