Princess Kelechi Oghene: Celebrating a Decade of Social Impact
In celebration of 10 years of social impact, fashion entrepreneur and CEO of GMYT Fashion Academy, Princess Kelechi Oghene, through her three social impact platforms under the wings: GMYT Foundation, GAH-awards and GMYT Fashion Academy is raising N700million to provide free hybrid skill-acquisition training, distribution of free sewing machines and other services to 100 women and youths. During the 2022 GAH awards and the academy’s graduation ceremony held recently in Lagos, she talked about her journey so far and plans to create more impact in Nigeria in this interview with MARY NNAH
You just celebrated a decade of social Impact how did that make you feel?
Excited. It is our 10th anniversary and we are also taking on another step to empower more people, say 1000 for the year. 2023. We kicked it off with 100. This evening we are also going to be giving start-up funds and also sewing machines to empower the next generation. So, I feel fulfilled doing this.
How many people benefited from the free items you gave out at the graduation ceremony?
25 people went home with sewing machines while three persons got startup funds, which were for the best-graduating students, so we had three runner-ups. The first got N500, 000, second N300, 000 and the third got N200, 000. It is one thing to start and then to give them the skill. It is another thing to empower them with machines. This year we gave out over 400 machines. Also, we are looking at giving out 500 machines without sponsors but if we have sponsors we are going to do much more.
Let’s talk about how it all started and the driving force for you.
My mum was a seamstress and so it started from the house. I have been in the fashion industry for about 16 years. So, this is just one of the babies. It is a group of companies, the GMYT Group which includes Hostel Accommodation, Fashion Academy, GMYT Foundation, The GAH-awards and more. It has been years of experience and it has not been all successful but everything has been a learning curve.
I used to have a restaurant and a saloon but after all the investments, it didn’t work. So, it has not been all rosy but these are the surviving companies but for the fact that the bottom line of all the companies that I have created is giving back and impacting lives just makes me fulfilled.
There have been a lot of testimonies from the beneficiaries during the 2022 graduation ceremony, what were the criteria used for selecting the beneficiaries?
We have three different categories. We have those who came as a result of the collaboration we have with other organisations, then we have those that are being sponsored by the NYSC. We are waiving tuition fees so that as little as N100,000 can come on board and learn for free and we are giving out 12 months of scholarships.
We have another set, where we are partnering with Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and they are going to be giving us students, all they have to do is just pay for the kits, and they would not pay for the tuition fee.
Then we have another category, the graduating students and beneficiaries for 2022 that have just graduated. What they would need is the start-up funds and machines to start their businesses, and this why we are looking for sponsors and partners that will help them to start their businesses and we are talking to our partners on this.
Then, the fourth category would be the new intake, the 2023 foundation. They have been able to purchase their kit for just a token of N100, 000. But then it goes beyond that. These people, I know over the years, because it is intensive practicals will still need more kits and they struggle but I have tried. Most of them come from a far distance and they need hostel accommodation.
We need space for that as well and they need transportation. They also need items for their practicals, those are very basic things. Then some people cannot even pay for their kits – they cannot afford the 100,000 for their kits. Some of the ones we got today, paid two times, that is 50,000 for two times because they have to do the administrative fee, and we need all their kits to be uniform and telling them to pay those token fees, there is nothing we can do.
I wish I can train everybody for free but then it is as good as free because there is no tuition fee at all. And how we have been able to do this over the years is that if one student pays tuition fee, we get to train one other student for free and that is how it has been sustainable over the years. But now, even when we give them those scholarships, they still struggle in the long run, some of them even fall out at the end of the day because they are not able to do every month’s practicals and they need that.
And then some of them do not have machines to practice at home. So we are looking for sponsors to pay for those people that cannot even afford their kits. And we can empower people around us; we currently have about three foundations that have partnered us. They send us foundation students for full-time studies.
We are looking at collaborating with more foundations this year where one organisation through their CSR programme can send us five or 10 students. We can train these people.
Another thing will be, instead of giving people around your money, why not just empower them with a token of 100,000? So it is about time that our voices will be heard and that is why we are organising this.
Some of those who graduated showcased exceptional design. How did they get to such an extent in a short time?
It is all about intensive training. We have our textbooks, online platform as well and student portal, so there are no excuses. We are running a hybrid section for both part-time and full-time students. So, whether you are in school or not, you have to learn because we have made everything easy for you.
It has been 10 good years, tell us about some of the highlights for you.
The highlights are the every year impacts I have had on people. I have a lot of alumni today. I hardly go out but in the last three weeks now because we have begun to open up to sponsors and partners, I have called my contacts and we have done some little movements and each time I go out I meet one or two of my alumni on the street. Now, I begin to feel like I have a community.
Tell us a bit about the GMYT African Humanitarian Awards (GAH-award).
The GAH-award is a platform that has hosted the most prestigious events of the African continent in the last decade, recognising and awarding organisations and individuals in their diverse fields, whose exemplary lives have significantly contributed to positively affecting society.
Over the years, the GAH-award initiative has achieved 9 out of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This is evidenced in the empowerment of over 12,000 women and youths with skills empowerment in fashion design and entrepreneurship training, free accommodation, grants and startup capitals.
The GAH award has also championed the distribution of industrial and domestic sewing machines to empower the next generation of fashion entrepreneurs through the GMYT Foundation.
In addition, we are focused on the ultimate goal of impacting the lives of 10,000 women and youths by 2030 through a step-wise approach to skill acquisition and entrepreneurship in partnership with GMYT Foundation.
So, in celebration of our 10th Anniversary which was held on December 19th, 2022, GAH-award kicked off its 2023 goal of training 1000 women and youth on skill acquisition, skill empowerment, sewing machines, hostel accommodation, and grants.
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We are looking at collaborating with more foundations this year where one organisation through their CSR programme can send us five or 10 students. We can train these people.
Another thing will be, instead of giving people around your money, why not just empower them with a token…? So it is about time that our voices are heard
