EwaJesu Fasina is a community development expert specializing in economic and enterprise development as well as women and youth development with over 15 years of engagement in policy and implementation. She currently serves as a gender expert on socio-economic transformation in the fields of agriculture, education, and business with the Ogun State Economic Transformation Project, sponsored by the World Bank.
She is a fellow of the Academy of Women Entrepreneurs, a Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women fellow, and a Commonwealth Youth Country Representative for Nigeria as well as deputy chair for the Africa region.

EwaJesu has experience in project design, implementation and grant management for various organizations where she has worked in addition to national and international engagements. She has had the opportunity to manage program grants funded by TY Danjuma Foundation, British American Tobacco Foundation and private fundraising portfolios for different organizations. She was also part of the facilitating team at the US Consulate Academy of Women Entrepreneurs. She has a first degree in accounting and an MBA from Business School Netherlands. She is also an alumna of the University of Minnesota, Lagos Business School, and Enterprise Development Centre of Pan Atlantic University.

2023 IVLP Impact Award Project: ReW Enterprise Challenge

The Recycling Waste (ReW) Challenge was an enterprise competition aimed at students in Technical Colleges in Ogun State and gave them the opportunity to learn enterprise development and the development of small business ideas. Its primary goal was to foster innovative waste-to-wealth ideas that could generate decent livelihoods. The project began with an enterprise tour to all eight technical colleges in the state, which empowered a total of 520 students with the knowledge to start a small business. The competition component was expanded into a state-wide enterprise essay competition in which 150 senior secondary school students actively participated by writing 1,500 words on the topic “art as a vehicle for waste management.” The top 50 student essay writers took part in the 2-day camp, where they engaged in peer mentoring and team-building activities. The camp also served as an opportunity for students to gather, learn from one another, and receive mentorship from experts in business management. One teacher involved in the camp portion of the project reflected, "The summer camp was a game-changer for both students and teachers. The sessions on financial freedom, leadership, and waste management were incredibly insightful. I see a positive shift in the way our students approach entrepreneurship.”

"I can improve my presentation skills because of some of the ideas shared with us during the camp. We must learn to sell ourselves and our ideas to convince others to support our dreams of being a green entrepreneur. I value the experience" - Student Participant

2022 IVLP Impact Award Project: Recycling Waste (ReW) Challenge

The Recycling Waste (ReW) Challenge was an enterprise competition for students in Technical Colleges in Ogun State to develop innovative ways of generating decent livelihoods through waste to wealth ideas. The challenge was comprised of 32 students divided into 8 teams drawn from the 8 technical colleges across Ogun State southwestern Nigeria. Each college selected a team of 4 students to represent the school (2 male-2 female students) supervised by a teacher/instructor at the school.

The teams were tasked with developing a simple business concept to conduct a community/school project using waste materials generated within their local communities.
Each team had 8 weeks to do the following:

• Identify waste resources within their local communities
• Collect waste resources
• Recycle waste resources into reusable materials to improve the aesthetic of their college or use waste materials to solve environmental issues within their college
• Take pictures of project and make a business case
• Submit a report of the project that was subjected to screening by a panel of judges
• Participate in a 2-day enterprise summer camp with their instructors to learn about job creation through waste to wealth approach.
• On the final day of the camp, the teams presented their various innovations, demonstrating how they generated wealth through waste management while helping their communities

The primary objective of this project was to develop the enterprise ability of students in technical colleges to create wealth from waste recycling and to develop innovative approaches to job creation using the skills gathered in vocational/technical colleges.

 

IVLP Exchange Experience 

EwaJesu was a participant in the IVLP Project Empowering Youth Through Workforce Development in 2021, organized by the U.S. Department of State and FHI 360. She was a participant in the IVLP Project Managing Foreign Aid and Foreign Direct Investment in 2022, organized by the U.S. Department of State and the Mississippi Consortium for International Development.

EwaJesu's exchange experience led to the development of her IVLP Impact Award Project: "My IVLP experience showed how trade and investment can be connected to the MSMEs. I was fortunate to be part of two IVLP's which gave me the opportunity of seeing what the impact of macro-economics and decision making at the top of the governmental policies play in the lives of individuals especially young people in technical colleges who provide the manpower and creative youthfulness needed to drive industrialization."

U.S. Communities Visited in 2022

Washington, DC; Orlando, FL; Chicago, IL; Salt Lake City, UT

U.S. Communities Visited virtually in 2021

Washington, DC; Kalamazoo, MI; Philadelphia, PA; San Antonio, TX

Country: Nigeria

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