Ingressive for Good partnered with Geneza School of Design to help 1000 women build skills and careers in design. During the training, we realized the need and benefits of study buddies to better help the women learn and complete their courses. So we created study groups. At the end of the program, we recorded over 70% completions. Ewaoluwa Balogun Deborah tells us about her experience leading a study group, the impact she made and the impact it had on her.
“My name is Ewaoluwa Balogun Deborah, a 22 year old young entrepreneur in fashion and aromatherapy. The world is changing, moving into more of technology, especially for women. As a young woman that had always been fascinated by these “computer things”, I decided that it was time to step out of my comfort zone and take up a new challenge.
I was so elated when I received the mail that I had gotten the scholarship. I was astonished because I didn’t think I’d be one of thousands to receive it. I was quite happy and thankful.
I was team lead for group 10 and it was such an experience. At first I saw the message that those interested in leading teams should indicate interest and I said I didn’t have to do it, seeing that many others would be interested. It was eventually pressed in my heart to give it a shot and reach out so I can have the opportunity to learn new leadership skills and make an effort in lending a hand to the Team.
Leading my team was a bit tricky, it wasn’t easy as not a lot of them were responsive to messages. There were different personalities but I was at ease knowing that many of them were up to date with the program, so it encouraged me to not judge by their responses but their results. All in all from getting to lead my team I got to answer questions that required me to research, which served as new knowledge, I made new friends, got to successfully be involved in a fellow woman’s success story no matter how little, I’m thrilled.
As a leader I learnt patience and perseverance because it was very much needed. As a learner as well, I learned patience in doing my work, listening and following instructions, not assuming i know but following due process. Truthfully, I almost gave up many times but determination and the fact that I was responsible for motivating others kept me in check and encouraged. I knew I loved design when I successfully completed the Netflix interface. I was in awe that I could do something like that and since then I’ve tried my hands on a number of others but the Netflix work inspired me.”
You can reach Ewaoluwa here
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