19: From Founder to Founder - Feature #1
Dear NGO Founder,
Welcome to the first founder interview on DNF. Today's guest is a founder whose non-profit embodies many of the suggestions and advice that DNF recommends. I was more than glad to discuss with her. I hope you enjoy reading this. That being said, it's time to meet our guest founder.
Pelumi from DNF: Hi Founder, Welcome to DNF's Special Edition of #FromFoundertoFounder. Can we meet you ?
Special Guest: Hi, my name is Abiola Adebiyi. I don't believe in boxes and identifying as what I do, but I'll describe myself as a builder. I have been called to build the systems and people that will go on to change this world. That particular call expresses itself in different ways such as; art, sharing my ideas, mentoring teenagers, and social innovation. In the context of social innovation, I lead a non-profit organisation in Lagos, called Elevate Development Foundation (EDF). Elevate is a youth driven nonprofit organisation that works in slum communities, starting with Makoko. And our goal is to educate, empower, and enlighten young people using SDG 4 (Quality Education) and 8 (Decent work and economic growth) solutions.
Pelumi: For those who haven't seen the creative video about the Third mainland bridge and Elevate's mission, what is EDF all about?
Abiola: Think of what a bridge ideally symbolises. You might say transportation, because it obviously should get you from point A to point B. You might also say progress, because you're moving; or maybe a connection. But I find it ironic how the third mainland, which should be a symbol of connection, transportation, and movement, literally shows the divide between Nigeria's richest people and also its poorest people. I mean, depending on what side of the bridge you are on, you can look to your left and see the island. That's where Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lekki is. And then you look to your right, you see Africa's largest floating slum, which is Makoko. And it's almost difficult to believe that both places can coexist.
At Elevate, we want to be the true bridge that connects. We want to connect people in two ways. For the people in Makoko, experiencing multidimensional poverty, we want to help them move up the socioeconomic ladder through access to quality education and decent jobs. On the other hand, we want to promote social development by the people. We're very big on making sure that Nigerians realise their social responsibility to the country at large. And connecting those who have to those who don't. Be that through their time ( volunteering), money (donations), or knowledge ( mentorship).
Pelumi: The next question is, how did starting a nonprofit come to you?
Abiola: Everytime I think about this question, I'm flabbergasted. Sometimes I sit down and I just ask myself, what got you into this space? Why did you do it? And the reason I'm saying this is because it absolutely was not my idea. I was at the time extremely shy and socially anxious. I just wanted to focus on my books, graduate, and do well in my career. So the NGO space was not something I thought about at all. Elevate was a divine instruction by God. I was a teenager when I came across a YouTube video on Makoko. At the time, I was asking God about my purpose. Coming across that video, I felt a strong urge to visit the community. Which I did a few weeks later. Again, I did not have the idea of a nonprofit in mind.
Pelumi: So what happened?
Abiola: I went to see the community to try to do something. I met with the Baale of one of the communities in Makoko. I told him that I think God wants me to help the community. I don't know how or what I'm meant to do, but I know He told me to come. I've come and I've introduced myself and whatever other thing He tells me to do, I would do. And that was literally how it started. Baale gave me his blessings. I got a couple of friends and we started fundraising amongst our families and friends to buy food stuff, clothing, and distribute it in the community. Before I knew it, the initiative blew up on social media. People started reaching out to volunteer because they thought we were an organisation. Although Elevate's programs started in 2016, we didn't register until three years later. The registration was a necessity because the organisation grew way beyond my capacity. I was like, okay, I think this has to be a charity now, like a proper structured charity.
Pelumi: I think I know the answer to the next question, but I'm going to ask regardless. Did you ever volunteer for a nonprofit before starting Elevate?
Abiola: No, I didn't. I was just fresh out of boarding school ( secondary school) when I started Elevate. I didn't have the opportunity to do so. But here's what I did to gain experience after Elevate had started, I joined Enactus in my university which I eventually became President. In Enactus, I got to lead initiatives across Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and reviewed some projects in Ghana as well. I got vast experiences from that, leadership and social impact wise. I brought all of that and applied it to Elevate.
Pelumi: Thank you for sharing this. Dear readers, I have earlier written on founders volunteering.
Pelumi: The next question is, how do you balance your responsibility as a founder with your career pursuit? Because I know that a lot of founders are actively involved in the day to day running of their organisation.
Abiola: This question is very interesting. It's interesting because once upon a time, I could not balance it. I remember when at the end of every big project, I would always fall sick. I would land in the hospital. It was just a lot. Especially in university, I had Enactus, Elevate, and then a degree that I wanted to get good grades in. But I've gotten to a point where I can do it with ease.
Abiola's three tips on balance
Abiola: So how do I do it? Number one is my understanding of purpose. I choose to see life as fluid as possible and wherever God leads me is where I would go. Elevate is not all I do, I mentor a lot of young people, I have a full-time job, and I just finished my masters. And God is still adding a lot of things. If I look at all my responsibilities, I would honestly collapse. Rather than focus on that, I just obey what I need to do per time. My Pastor (Pastor Emmanuel Iren) once said that the way he balances things is to create a place for everything and put everything in its place. So if in a day I scheduled two hours for Elevate, I'm only doing two hours of Elevate work, then I move on to something else.
My second tip is structure. Honestly, I can't do much without my team. I'm so blessed to have arguably speaking, some of the best volunteers in the world. When they do some things, I'm like wow they did that. Especially the social media team. I don't know what is coming out tomorrow because they've taken that responsibility and they have such a great commitment to the work that we do. So, there's a great team on ground for many of the things I do and I try my best to delegate responsibilities to them.
Finally, wisdom from God. It is wisdom from God to know when to pull back and when to put in efforts. There are certain times where you need to put 100 percent of your time. But there are also times where you need to actually just retract it. It doesn't mean that the work will scatter. I think this is very important because leaders in the sector are very passionate and they tend to put a lot on themselves. You literally can see the stress in their eyes. And yes, I do know that our work is very peculiar and it requires a lot of emotional strength, a lot of mental investment as well. To go far, take care of yourself. If you need to sleep, please sleep. You won't be able to help that one extra life if you are in the hospital. Don't forget to eat too.
Pelumi: Abiola, are there any frustrations you have as a founder?
Abiola: Yes, there was a season in my life when I was frustrated because there were problems I could see and I knew the solution. I had carried out the needs assessment, design thinking, research etc. I knew the solution and how to implement it. So I created the project plan, submitted proposals, and had meetings with organisations, but we never got the money. Having ideas and solutions on lock without resources to implement it is frustrating. If you're a passionate person and an empath, it will destabilise you.
Another frustration is investing a lot into a project and realising that there's no substantial impact that comes out of it. There was a time in 2018, we did a skills training program and it was for 30 days. Somehow, I was able to convince trainers to come from different industries to the community every day for 30 days to teach for free. They spent four hours daily, and we awarded startup grants and machines. Three months later, there were 50 beneficiaries, but only three businesses started. I fell ill from the stress of the 30 days, I know the heart put in by the team, the money spent, and the sacrifices in general. I remember speaking with them and I realised that the mindset that they had was a big barrier to actually leveraging opportunities and resources made available to them. So yes, not generating the impact that you anticipate is also quite painful and frustrating.
Pelumi: What are three important lessons you have learned in your seven years as a nonprofit founder?
Abiola: Number 1- Check your motives. I say this because you can enter this space with the purest of intentions, right? But then when you're in a place where you are serving disadvantaged people, there will be a lot of thank yous and I'm grateful. “I couldn't have gotten to this point without you.” And if you're not grounded, it can get to you and you can become very proud. And when you become proud, best believe that it will affect your effectiveness as a servant, because that's what you are. Your team will feel it and your partners will feel it as well. You're probably also going to self-destruct. So check your motives all the time. Humble yourself. Have a structure of accountability.
Number 2- Passion is not enough. I think this is something that everyone says a lot, but it's true. Passion is not enough and it will shock you that you will need money. So get educated, learn fundraising strategies, learn management, learn leadership, learn impact measurements, put structure into your organisation.
Number 3- Learn leadership, because your work depends a lot on your volunteers. I recently started putting out a couple of things on volunteer management, because many people are passionate but they don't know how to work with people. They don't know how to lead people, particularly volunteers that you are not paying. So work on your leadership skills. If you need to buy John Maxwell's books and just download it into your brain, do it.
The quality of your person will always reflect in your leadership. So if you're not a great person, build yourself, build your character, have actual personal values that you stand by. And you would see that as you grow as a person, your leadership abilities will also naturally grow as well.
Pelumi: What traits do you look out for when recruiting volunteers?
Abiola: I'm not in charge of recruiting, but we look out for four things:
Personal values- What do you stand for as an individual?
Vision- It doesn't have to be a clear cut five year plan, but then do you have an idea of what you want to achieve in your life? The reason I say this is because, it's people that have a vision that have mastered, or at least are in the process of mastering commitment. We are big on goals and vision as an organisation, I want the people on the team to already practise that in their personal lives.
Self-leadership: This is somewhat linked to number 2.
Skills: Do you have the skills we need? But this one is a bit on and off because there are certain people that we bring in that literally don't have skills at all. Our head of media, for example, she's in public health. She's a public health student right now completing her Masters. She had no practical experience in media. There are certain people that we see a lot of potential in and we just bring them in, regardless of the skill sets that they might lack.
Pelumi: Still on volunteers, can you share some tips on volunteer management with us?
Abiola: 1- Be kind. Yes, be a kind person. This is the biggest thing. People can see through you. People can sense when you are a genuine person. They can sense when you actually care about them, and they can also sense when you just want to use them to get your vision off the ground.
2 - Learn as much as you can on human psychology. I think it's probably one of the biggest hacks that has helped me as a leader. I spent quite a lot of time reading on personality types and what not. So that when I am speaking with a potential volunteer, or I'm speaking with a volunteer, or I'm addressing conflict in my team, or I see that morale is down, I know exactly the areas to tackle.
3- Have a growth plan for your volunteers. At Elevate, we actually have a team called People Experience, and they have developed a learning and development plan for our volunteers. Many times they would ask you, what do you want to get out of Elevate? We try our best to create opportunities, directly and indirectly. Have a growth plan for them. The more you serve their needs, the more they will serve your vision.
4- Create structure. People want to know the vision, but more importantly, they want to know how they can contribute to the vision or how they are expected to contribute. Create role descriptions and let there be a clear volunteer agreement. They should know how long they are volunteering for, who they are reporting to. There should be a training process in place before they join your core team fully. Even in between the year and their entire voluntary experience, there should be training.
Pelumi: Final question, are there any resources you've found helpful in your journey as a founder?
Abiola: I can't think of specific books or resources. I would only encourage a founder to read far and wide. Read across different industries. I recently read Jeff Bezos' letters to his shareholders. I've read a lot of John Maxwell as well. I also try my best to read a lot about disruptive innovation. I read academic papers, because papers are way better than articles. They are more thorough and they help develop your thinking and your creativity. I read about supply chains. I read about businesses, entrepreneurship, because really, charity is a business. Basically, I'm saying don't limit yourself to just reading things about nonprofit management and nonprofit leadership. Spread your wings, learn from different industries, and apply them to your own space. You'll be way better for that.
Another resource I highly recommend is the Bible. Jesus is just an exceptional leader. I absolutely love the leadership of Jesus and the leadership of Paul. I remember I was speaking to someone that would like to partner with us from the States. And he said, Oh, the way you guys run Elevate reminds me of how the early church ran in the Book of Acts. I was like, Oh, my days, yes. We literally took a lot of ideas from that and applied it to our structure, and we're seeing the fruits of it.
Pelumi: Thank you so much for speaking with DNF, Abiola. How many volunteers are on the social media and content team, in case someone wants to buy them malt?
Abiola: Haha, six. I actually shared your message with them. I shared the screenshot to encourage them. So you owe them malt.
We have come to the end of today's letter. If you want to understand the closing dialogue, you should follow Elevate on Instagram with the link here. They run one of the best non-profit pages I have seen. It's a free masterclass. See you in two weeks, bye for now.
PS
If you made it here, I have bonus information. Abiola Adebiyi offers 1-1 clarity calls for social innovators and owns a community for social visionaries.
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