2023 International Youth Day Celebration with Growdiance

On Saturday, August 12 2023, Growdiance, an education technology company, organised a virtual event to celebrate International Youth Day.

Growdiance is an online community that believes in the principle of empowering the next generation of leaders with the tools they need to grow in their personal and career journeys. They aim to bridge the gap between talent and opportunity by providing young individuals with the tools, information and access they need to succeed. Every Monday, they invite guests from different fields and uncover the real behind-the-scenes of the “success stories” of Africans who have gotten ahead on their personal and career journey. Some of their talents work in prestigious companies like Bank of America, Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, Accenture, and Amazon, to mention a few.

Founded by two young women, Bukola Omokehinde and Veronica Aina who are passionate about growth, Growdiance empowers their online community through their many insightful posts across their social media platforms and virtual events. One of such impactful events was the event hosted in honour of International Youth Day on the 12th of August, 2023.

The theme of this event was “Building Bridges for Exponential Impact”. This event was organised to uncover the journeys of the speakers highlighting how they developed their skills and navigated the many challenges that they have encountered. Moreover, the event served as a platform to delve into the strategies that propelled them forward in their respective careers. A link to register for the event was provided via their social media platforms and in their newsletter. Remarkably, slots for the events were filled in less than two weeks of announcement. The event boasted an impressive array of speakers.

The event commenced at 11 a.m. WAT as the host, Jemima Ojo, welcomed all attendees. To officially kick off the event, a keynote fireside conversation with Adeola Fabunmi, a Director at Bank of America, was hosted by Bukola Omokehinde, who is the Chief Executive Officer at Growdiance. Adeola Fabunmi delved into her personal interpretation of growth and recounted her evolution over the years – from her early days on the Switchboard, diligently fulfilling her responsibilities, to her current position as a Director at Bank of America in the United Kingdom. Adeola told her story about when she had to work on the switchboard team while her peers walked in to apply to the other roles that were considered better and more befitting. Participants were encouraged to persevere and to not be ashamed of whatever job they were currently doing. She advised against comparing one’s growth with that of their peers but to focus on their goals instead. She also emphasised the need to appreciate the people you meet along the way. She said, “Do not think too little or too highly of anyone”. As her insightful session drew to a close, participants was left with more inspiration to fuel their own journeys towards growth and excellence.

The panel session was also inspiring with Adora Nwodo, a Multi-award-winning Software Engineer at Microsoft, Founder of NexaScale, Author and Stanford University Graduate School of Business LEAD program Alumnus sharing her growth journey. She highlighted some of the mistakes that young women in STEM make today. One of such issues was what she called “lowballing yourself”. Stating facts and statistics, Adora informed attendees of the prevalent reluctance among women to apply for certain opportunities due to a perceived lack of qualifications.

After this session, a quiz was conducted with 5 participants winning themselves free cover letter and resume templates. One lucky winner received a 30-minute session with a Manager at Accenture, United Kingdom for referring the most people to attend the event.

In addition to this virtual event, Growdiance celebrated iconic youths who are changemakers and trailblazers in their respective fields. These iconic youths include visionaries like Adewale Adetona, Adora Nwodo, Confidence Staveley, Damilola Hamid Balogun, Destiny Ogedegbe, Dr. Cassandra Akinde, Emmanuel, Faith, Frances Theodore, Grace Ihejiamaizu-Paul, Ireen Chikatula, Itofa Ivarah, Mariam Momodu, Oluwaseyi Moejoh, Peace Itimi, Sabrina Awuni, Seun Olagunju-Lana, Titilope Adedokun, and Tunde Onakoya.

International Youth Day with Growdiance proved to be an extraordinary occasion, leaving an indelible mark on all who participated. We were reminded about the impact and unique qualities that young people bring to the table.

To learn more about Growdiance, check out their website and connect with them on all platforms – @growdiance.