EBUNOLUWA FAGBENRO
NIGERIA & TURKEY, 18
She/Her
Project: The Sapphires Development Initiative (TSDI)
Ebunoluwa grew up in a Nigerian community with a high prevalence of poverty, illiteracy, teenage pregnancy and school dropouts. The state of the world around her fueled her passion to work in sustainable development. In 2016, Ebunoluwa joined a local initiative called The Miracle Movement Community Impact, where she quickly rose to become Director of her community, leading a team of eighty. In May 2020, she cofounded and registered The Miracle Movement as The Sapphires Development Initiative (TSDI) – a nonprofit organization advocating for quality education, generational equity, and environmental best practices in Nigeria. In two years, TSDI has launched chapters in five Nigerian states and impacted 10,500+ young people with their digital literacy projects, discussion forums, leadership conferences and outreach initiatives. They also provide access to educational opportunities such as studying abroad, scholarships, fellowships and free online courses. All of their programs instill young people with the mindset of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with a focus on health, education, gender equality, and clean water and sanitation. Ebunoluwa experienced domestic conflict growing up, which led her to advocate for mental health. She helped design TSDI’s mental health awareness campaigns and workshops, which have reached 1,000+ people in rural Nigerian communities. She is currently studying psychology in Turkey, where she will be implementing mental health outreach programs as she launches TSDI’s Turkey chapter. Ebunoluwa hopes her work contributes to solving the societal challenges persisting in Nigeria and around the globe.