The 2020 Facebook Community Accelerator, a six-month program to equip impactful communities with the skills and funding to grow, concluded this month with virtual demo days occurring across six regions.
The virtual showcases gave each of the 77 participants a chance to share their progress and celebrate their milestones over the past six months.
The demo days also provided a forum for investors, advisors, and community advocates to engage with some of their region’s most impactful communities.
Sub-Saharan Africa Recipients
The four recipients from Sub-Saharan Africa for the Facebook Community Accelerator include:
- WomEng, South Africa
WomEng was founded in 2006 to create a more diverse and inclusive engineering industry by developing women and girls in the sector. They connect, educate and support women and girls throughout the engineering pipeline. Over 50,000 women and girls have benefitted from their global programs.
2. Mental 360, Kenya
Mental 360 was started in 2016 to give youth a safe platform to learn about mental health and illness and to access affordable holistic solutions. It is a non-partisan non-discriminatory space where youth can grow their emotional wellness, grow their network and get peer support. The Mental 360 team has reached over 5,000 youth through one-on-one interventions and has reached 10,000 youth through events and online communities.
3. Utiva, Nigeria
Utiva is a decentralized ecosystem that helps Nigerians access technology skills training regardless of their location and internet barrier. They have a community of 10,000 people learning through the platform and 4,500 people have completed their structured learning programs and transitioned to new roles. Currently, they have young members across 9 states in Nigeria and have plans to scale to 36 states in Nigeria.
4. HelpMum, Nigeria
In 2017, Abiodun Adereni started HelpMum to tackle maternal and infant mortality in remote rural areas in Nigeria. HelpMum provides Clean Birth Kit for hygienic delivery to pregnant women and provides immunization reminders and health information to nursing mothers. It has reached 27,000+ pregnant women and nursing mothers with the HelpMum Clean Birth and vaccination tracking system.
