Folashade is a pharmacist turned entrepreneur and women empowerment advocate. She describes herself as a disruptor, learner, doer and leader. She believes that education and having tough but needful conversations can drive change.
Growing up in the beautiful city of Lagos, Nigeria with 6 other siblings in a polygamous home as an only girl and middle child, Fola found herself at home alone most days. While the boys were out playing, she was expected to be home to cook and do other chores. She soon turned to books as her companion and read every book in the house and then started to borrow more. As a child, she traveled to many countries and had several adventures on the pages of these books covering a variety of subjects, it was a whole new world!
As a high-schooler, she was the head of the Literary and Debating Society and Secretary of the Junior Engineers and Tech Society. She participated in many statewide debates, Math and science competitions.
She later took to writing short stories, spoken words, and poems and was selected as a change agent by Leap AFRICA, as part of a project funded by the World Bank for selected youths to run Peer Education projects in communities across Africa to create awareness on reproductive health and HIV/AIDS. Little did she know that this project would forever change her life. In the true words of Gloria Steinem, “Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.”
She went on to execute a community project working with 10 football teams as a peer educator on reproductive health issues and the project created such a ripple effect with lasting impact. The Theodore Roosevelt’s saying could not be more apt, ” Do what you can, with what you have, where you are”. We can all effect change, giving the right opportunities.
As an undergraduate of Pharmacy and in the community where she lived, she was passionate about social change and governance, and created awareness of the importance of voting, especially at a time when people were apathetic about voting as they believed that the system was irredeemably corrupt and their votes did not count.
Fola’ believes that women are a great resource and should be a cherished participant of economies and policy changes. According to the UN, societies that allow and encourage active participation of women, statistically experience faster economic growth, and have a healthier populace.
This blog was born out of my love for humanity and womanhood.
Fola currently lives in Ontario, Canada and continues her advocacy works. She is also a proud member of Canada Organic Trade Association.
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