Precious Ebere is at the forefront of addressing some of Nigeria and Africa’s most pressing challenges through her social enterprise. With extensive experience in social enterprise and leading social advocacy both domestically and internationally, she is a key figure in driving social change and growth in Nigeria.
As the Co-Founder of DO Take Action, Precious leads impactful social projects aimed at transforming communities across Nigeria and the wider African continent. Her leadership at DO Take Action focuses on integrating social change initiatives, dismantling social barriers, and fostering community development.
In addition to her transformative work at DO Take Action, Precious is internationally recognized for her contributions and has received accolades from prestigious platforms, including UNESCO. During this interview, she shared the origin story of DO Take Action, its developmental journey, and her vision for its future.
Can we get to know you?
Oh yes, I am Precious Ebere, a renowned development practitioner and policy analyst with a specific interest in EdTech, Democracy, Corruption, Human Rights, Governance & Leadership Development; where I strive to bridge inequality gaps in African democracy while advocating for effective interventions that provide equal access to education and long-term learning outcomes for marginalized Nigerian children by engaging critical stakeholders, encouraging youths to participate effectively in pushing for accountability and transparency both at the grassroots and national level.
I have a Master’s degree in Social and Public Policy from Cardiff University in Wales, United Kingdom. I am also a Global Ambassador, representing the following organizations on a global scale: TheirWorld, One Young World, and Z Zürich Foundation.
I have headed various youth-led organizations in different capacities and sat in leadership and advisory positions of multiple international organizations such as the Young African Leaders Initiative, Abuja (an initiative of the United States Government in Nigeria), “DO” (dotakeaction.org), a UNESCO Read and Earn Federation (UNESCO REF). I have over 6 years of experience working in the development sector with NGOs, INGOs, and companies in development and local governance. I have worked with approximately 100 stakeholders in four African countries, including Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, and the United Kingdom.
As a member of the Junior Chamber International Abuja Unity Group, Abuja, Nigeria, for approximately seven years, I was responsible for the execution of numerous projects assigned to me, including “The Educational Impact Project,”, geared towards supporting and improving the quality of education in schools, to make them fit and conducive for learning, and, by effect, advancing the goal of SDG 4. The Educational Impact Project won the organization AU$40,000 from the Australian Embassy in 2016, and I was also involved in other tasks within various projects (producing books, leaflets, posters, budgets, etc.) With my computer skills, I was also very useful in helping over 30 farmers’ children gain computer knowledge in a project called Smart Agriculture: so many of them were, with my help, able to improve their computer skills and knowledge in agricultural research and production.
In 2021, I was selected as the first female Nigerian to coordinate the Commonwealth Students Association (CSA) Network, in the United Kingdom. I have also served as the Vice President, and Postgraduate Executive, at Cardiff University, Wales, United Kingdom, and sit on both local and international boards.
In 2018, following a real-time survey, I discovered that Nigeria suffered lots of issues, from reducing 10.2 million out-of-school children to a situation where the unemployment rate jumped from 18.1% to 23.1% between 2017 and 2018, which has been disproportionately borne by young people, with almost 30% of them out of work. I came up with an innovation called DO Skill Up Climb Up, a 10-year Skill-Up-Climb-Up human capacity development project, (https://dotakeaction.org/skill-up-climb-up/). It was primarily targeted at addressing the challenges of the skills deficit, poverty, unemployment rates, and the unpreparedness of both African businesses and the teeming population of young people for the future of work and globalization. The 10-year Skill-Up-Climb-Up human capacity development project was designed to impact 50,000 young people by 2030, with ongoing projects in Abuja, Rivers, and Taraba. This initiative has empowered over 500 women, 50 creatives, and employed 20 creatives.
During the Ministerial round table on ICT for skills development hosted by the African Union and the Government of Botswana in 2019, the Skill-Up-Climb-Up initiative was applauded as the 21st-century innovation to look out for. Various States in Nigeria have indicated interest in replicating this initiative in their states. The initiative is contributing to the achievement of improving access to quality education and opportunities for young people using skills and Human Capacity Development.
Over the span of 6 years, I have worked actively to ensure women, girl-children and youth get access to inclusive and quality education and equal opportunities through her various initiatives at “DO” (dotakeaction.org), and over 10,000 lives have been tremendously impacted through my work.
Can you tell us about your background and what inspired you to create DO Take Action?
Growing up I was very passionate about becoming a neurosurgeon, but due to a lack of support, early guidance, and the necessary mentorship, I was unable to achieve this dream. The good news is that I was lucky enough to stumble on an alternative career path in the non-profit and information technology sector, a path I currently find rewarding.
Before I stumbled on this career path, I was an educationist, teaching in my mum’s school, I met with a lot of bright kids with lots of potential, and I struggled to harness their potential, but it was difficult because I lacked the necessary tools and resources to do that, I was limited with what I taught them, I went the extra miles to seek for ways to ensure these kids get quality education, some dropped out, while some stayed, I made a commitment to ensure that a child’s zip code does not define their destiny, but there was little I could do as a classroom teacher. I discovered I could do more in terms of contributing to the reduction of the estimated 4.7 million out-of-school children and improving the quality of access to education in schools.
Due to my passion for making a difference and improving the lives of people, especially women and children, from a young age. In 2015, I worked on a project to empower women with technology skills, which would help them improve their businesses.
Following the training, I shared a report detailing how many women acquired the necessary skills to manage and grow their businesses. Through my hard work and dedication, I was able to secure partnerships with reputable organizations such as Google and the Ministry of Women Affairs Nigeria, among others.
Over time, I have embarked on several community impact projects, often with limited resources.
After a while, It became clear that transformative change in Africa would come from individuals like me, who act to make a difference in their communities rather than merely complaining about the problems.
Together with my team, we were able to drive more projects and impact more communities. I mobilized a team of volunteers, and they achieved the following in such a short time ;
Throughout my journey, my brother and co-founder, Century Favour, has always been a present partner, providing me with the resources – financial, human, strategy, and operational intelligence – I needed to drive these projects, and the level of impact I and my team achieved with limited resources was truly impressive.
During one of our meetings, Century posed a simple question to me: what would happen if we had one billion people like you who took action and made a difference in their communities? What kind of impact could they have on society as a whole?
To answer this question, we co-founded DO, a Civic Startup. We approached the development of DO with a startup mindset, as we recognized the need to leverage technology and think strategically to operate at scale and achieve our objectives.
In 2017, we began building a Minimum Viable Product to answer the question, “Can we inspire people to take action and make a difference in their communities with our support?” We focused on designing a process that would inspire, empower, and mobilize individuals to take sustainable action for community development.
During this time, we were fortunate to secure a mini-grant from GTBank’s Simplechangebigimpact program. This allowed us to support two GDCs (Grassroots Development Champions) in taking action in their communities. This experience taught us valuable lessons about managing people, money, and logistics, and we remain grateful to GTBank for giving us a launching pad to test our idea.
With this knowledge, we continued to refine our processes and systems to support individuals throughout Nigeria and Africa who want to make a difference in their communities. From 2020 to the present, we have scaled our experiment to support 500 GDCs, achieving the following milestones:
DO has been a venture of passion for both of us, and thus far, we have invested our funds and more in sweat equity as we quietly strive to answer the pivotal question of how to inspire individuals to take action, and how to achieve that at scale. In 2020, I was selected for Chevening by the UK Government, which validated our work. In 2021, I volunteered to study and work at the School of Politics, Policy, and Governance, and I convinced Precious to enroll in 2022. These experiences shaped our worldview and influenced our work at our civic startup, DO.
Armed with these transformative experiences, we revisited our approach from a data-driven and research-oriented perspective. This has led to the creation of this document, the DO White Paper, a blueprint that provides clarity regarding what we do, the issues we are addressing, what we intend to achieve, and how we plan to accomplish our audacious objective to inspire, empower, and mobilize over 1 billion people in Africa by 2050 to take action for sustainable development at the grassroots and institutional levels.
When most people think about Africa, poverty, insecurity, corruption, and other ills come to mind. However, for us at DO, we are reminded that the future of this continent will be shaped by innovators, changemakers, storytellers, and young or old people who have decided to take action toward tackling the numerous challenges facing the continent.
I am also reminded that Individuals like my me who decided to DO something to take action will transform this continent and accelerate progress toward sustainable development.
Our DO Whitepaper on our website will provide practical solutions to the most pressing issues, and expound on how we intend to leverage technology, and partnerships to scale our impact and foster a culture of civic participation, accountability, and active citizenship among Africans.
Also, my experience has taught me that it is not enough to inspire girls to choose a career in tech, someone needs to be there for them every step of the way. Especially in Africa where there are numerous reasons for them to give up, from the challenges of early child marriage to the lack of interest in girl child education. To convert inspiration to reality, someone has to be there for the long haul. From helping them choose the right career path to connecting them with mentors who will take ownership of their growth, to connecting them to opportunities, and providing them with the skills and knowledge that they need. I want to be that someone.
I am excited about the future, and I encourage you to after reading my story be inspired to take action in your community and join us on this life-changing journey.
Every great venture starts with a vision. What is the core mission of Dotakeaction, and how do you envision its impact?
The core mission of DO Take Action (DO Grassroot Forum and Citizen Empowerment Foundation) is to build an active community of youth and adults taking action to solve key challenges facing their communities across Africa. Our vision is “Change by Africans for Africa” – empowering Africans to take individual responsibility for the continent’s sustainable development.
The core mission of DO Take Action is truly inspiring and ambitious – to ignite a grassroots movement that empowers and mobilizes over 1 billion people to take action for sustainable development across Africa and the world. This vision is rooted in the powerful belief that lasting change can only be achieved when driven by the collective efforts of engaged citizens addressing the pressing challenges in their own communities.
Precious’ overarching vision statement, “Change by Africans for Africa,” encapsulates this ethos beautifully. It envisions a Nigeria, and by extension, an Africa, where every citizen is an active participant and catalyst in fueling the continent’s sustainable development journey. By 2030, the aim is to build a dynamic, decentralized community of changemakers, united in their commitment to solving community-level challenges through collective action.
This vision is underpinned by a comprehensive set of goals that outline the scale and scope of the impact DO Take Action aims to achieve by 2050. These goals are a testament to the organization’s unwavering determination and ambition to create lasting, transformative change.
At the heart of this vision is the goal of cultivating a vast network of 500+ DO Community Development Champions (GDCs) – grassroots leaders who will serve as catalysts for change within their respective communities. These GDCs will not only drive local initiatives but also inspire and empower others to join the movement, creating a ripple effect of positive impact.
Complementing the GDCs will be a vibrant ecosystem of 100+ Creators & Innovators for Change, individuals whose creative and innovative solutions will address the unique challenges faced by communities across Africa. This fusion of grassroots leadership and innovative problem-solving will be a potent force for sustainable development.
Today, at DO Take Action, we have over 3,688+ individuals who have registered as GDCs and are actively lending their voices and advocating for positive change, amplifying the call for action, and holding institutions accountable. This collective voice will be a powerful catalyst for policy reforms, resource allocation, and societal transformation. We have carried out successful projects around our eight (8) thematic areas, and they have resulted in a measurable increase in the sustainable development goals. This proven track record demonstrates our ability to implement impactful solutions that align with the objectives of the funding opportunities. In addition, we are also eager to discuss broader areas of mutual interest where our combined resources could be leveraged for a greater collective impact. For instance, our partnerships with UN Women on Women’s Economic Empowerment through Affirmative Procurement Reform in West Africa have allowed us to implement initiatives that address key economic and procurement challenges women face in Africa. By training over 1800 women in Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, and Cote d’Ivoire on affirmative procurement and business compliance and ensuring they are ready to win bids from both public and private contracts.
Since Inception, we have inspired 3,000+ Grassroots Development Champions, Empowered 800+ Actions for Sustainable Development in Nigeria and across Africa, Reached 84,000 beneficiaries and Impacted over 300 Communities
Z-Zurich Foundation in partnership with DO Take Action is actively working with teachers to promote STEM education in 18 secondary schools, and we are thrilled to announce the successful training of 211 teachers in promoting STEM education within their schools, the goal is to inspire 5,000 teachers that will inspire the next 50,000 young girls to pursue careers in STEM and for this teachers to plan virtual STEM Trees in the primary and Junior secondary schools. This STEM project is a significant step towards fostering a robust foundation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, ensuring educators are equipped to inspire and educate the next generation of innovators and problem-solvers. Through this program, we are actively contributing to the advancement of STEM education, empowering teachers to provide quality learning experiences for their students.
World Bank Partnership to train 600 women on Affirmative Procurement in Federal Capital Terireroty Abuja.
Building on all of these successes, there is more work to be done. To fuel this ambitious vision, DO Take Action aims to secure the support of 50+ donors, contributing a total of $50 million in funding. This financial backing will provide the necessary resources to scale operations, empower communities, and drive innovative solutions.
Ultimately, the overarching goal this year is to mobilize 50,000 people to take individual action, creating a groundswell of engaged citizens actively working towards sustainable development. By directly impacting 50,000 Nigerians across 500 communities and establishing GDC Action Centers across Nigeria, DO Take Action will create a robust infrastructure for grassroots empowerment and community-driven development.
The scale and scope of this vision are truly awe-inspiring, reflecting DO Take Action’s unwavering commitment to catalyzing transformative change across Africa. By harnessing the power of collective action, innovation, and community ownership, the organization envisions a future where every African citizen is an active participant in shaping a more sustainable, equitable, and prosperous continent.
What is your theory of change and why is DO unique
We are taking a radically different approach to driving sustainable development across the continent. DO’s ambitious theory of change aims to inspire, empower, and mobilize 1 billion Africans to take individual action on key issues – with a firm belief that this critical mass can catalyze transformative change.
“Imagine an Africa with 1 billion-plus people taking action at the grassroots and institutional levels to address wicked problems,” says DO’s mission statement. “We believe a better future is possible through the concerted efforts of individuals putting the UN Sustainable Development Goals and African Union’s Agenda 2063 into practice.”
While development frameworks provide high-level roadmaps, DO recognizes that real impact requires bottom-up action by citizens themselves. “The conversation can’t just be about Africa’s problems, but about what each of us can do to drive sustainable development,” says cofounder Precious Ebere.
What sets DO apart is its novel application of behavioral science and human-centered design principles to influence behaviors and drive citizen engagement at scale. The team conducts deep research to identify barriers preventing individuals from taking action, then designs interventions, leverages social norms, uses “nudges”, provides feedback loops, and makes it easy for people to get involved.
We’re bringing a startup mentality of rapid experimentation and tech-enabled strategic thinking, Our goal is to create a movement of 1 billion engaged Africans whose collective micro-actions, strategically amplified, can create macro-level positive impact.
With an innovative approach rooted in behavioral psychology, creative citizen mobilization could turn out to be the catalyst that unlocks Africa’s long-stalled development potential. DO’s bold billion-strong theory of change just might write the next chapter of the African renaissance.
Starting a company is never a smooth ride. Can you share some of the significant challenges you faced in the early days and how you overcame them?
Starting DO Take Action was a challenging journey filled with significant obstacles that tested our resilience and determination. Initially, one of the biggest hurdles was securing adequate funding. With limited access to traditional funding sources, we relied on personal savings, crowdfunding, and support from our networks, which were often insufficient. To counter this, we adopted a lean approach, optimized our resources, and forged partnerships to stretch our capabilities and enhance our impact.
Navigating the complex sociocultural landscape and earning community trust was another significant challenge. To address this, we developed a comprehensive community engagement strategy, working closely with local leaders and members to co-create culturally sensitive solutions. We also prioritized transparency and accountability, involving the community in our decision-making processes to build trust and ensure their active participation in development initiatives.
Additionally, assembling a strong, cohesive team aligned with our mission was crucial. We valued passion and commitment, investing in training and capacity-building to equip our team with the necessary skills. We fostered a culture of continuous learning and professional development, encouraging teamwork and resilience.
These early challenges were daunting but crucial for our growth, helping us lay a solid foundation for the impactful organization we’ve become today.
One of the most significant challenges you encountered was inspiring people to take action, tell us more about how you are solving this.
I would say we wake up every day on how to Crack The Code On Citizen Engagement in Africa, here is what we came up with.
One of the biggest obstacles to sustainable development in Africa has been a lack of grassroots citizen engagement and ownership of the change process. Top-down programs have often floundered due to a disconnect with local priorities and realities.
At DO we are taking a fresh approach we are building an operating system for action – we are applying behavioral science to systematically understand and overcome the barriers preventing Africans from taking action on key issues. Our solution? DO Rewards, is an innovative digital platform incentivizing citizens to get involved.
We realized that to drive real change, we needed to make it worth people’s while to take action, both economically and socially, and our behavioral research showed that combining different incentives in the right way could be a powerful motivator.
At its core, DO Rewards is a social impact marketplace. Individuals earn redeemable digital points by completing awareness campaigns, and advocacy tasks, creating content and supporting local champions across DO’s focus areas like health, education, and the environment.
These “impact points” can then be exchanged for valuable goods and services from DO’s partners – providing a tangible economic upside for socially conscious actions. But just as importantly, the platform leverages social incentives by giving visibility to top contributors and enabling skill-building that boosts employment prospects.
We understand It’s about creating an entire ecosystem of opportunity around making a positive difference, We’re tapping into people’s desires for purpose and impact while removing the barriers that often prevent action.
By making it easy, rewarding, and even aspirational for Africans to engage on development issues, DO believes they can inspire a grassroots billion-strong movement for change. If their innovative, incentive-driven model catches on, it could catalyze the citizen buy-in missing from many previous initiatives.
With an aging continent yearning for opportunities and impact, harnessing Africa’s rising passion for social good may just be the key to unlocking its vast potential. And few are better positioned than DO to connect that passion to tangible rewards.
They say a company is only as good as its team. How did you go about
assembling your core team, and what qualities were you looking for?
You’re absolutely right, a company or organization is only as strong as the team behind it. At DO Take Action, we understood early on that assembling the right core team would be critical to realizing our vision of Inspiring over 1 billion grassroots-driven change across African communities.
When I started out, one of my biggest priorities was to bring together individuals who shared our unwavering passion for empowering marginalized groups and catalyzing sustainable development from the ground up. I looked for people who had a deep connection to the issues we were trying to solve – whether it was a lack of quality education, youth unemployment, gender inequality, or civic apathy.
Beyond just passion, I deliberately sought out diversity in perspectives, skills, and experiences that could allow us to tackle multi-faceted challenges more holistically. We needed a mix of grassroots mobilizers, policy experts, technologists, creative professionals, and more.
Crucially, I focused on individuals who exhibited a true spirit of service and willingness to roll up their sleeves. Building an impactful social enterprise requires tireless efforts with few resources initially. So grit, resilience, and an embracement of our scrappy underdog mentality were essential.
I also valued self-starters who could take ownership, make decisions, and run with ideas autonomously. As a founder, I knew I couldn’t micromanage every aspect, so empowering team members as leaders in their own right was key.
Lastly, I looked for a commitment to constantly learning, unlearning, and evolving one’s mindset. We were venturing into uncharted territory in many ways, so adaptability and openness to new perspectives from communities on the ground were vital.
While hard skills were important, I primarily focused on these kinds of cultural attributes and mindsets during our recruitment. I tapped into my networks, from former classmates to community partners, to find outstanding people.
The result is a compact but highly dedicated, multi-talented core team united by a common cause. We’ve become a family, supporting and pushing each other to achieve more. Our diverse team is the secret sauce that has allowed DO Take Action to punch way above its weight.
In assembling my core team at DO, I looked for passionate individuals who shared our vision of grassroots-driven change in Africa. A willingness to roll up their sleeves and an unwavering commitment to our cause was essential.
Can you walk us through the major milestones and what each meant for
the company since its inception?
Certainly, I’m happy to walk through the major milestones DO Take Action has achieved since its inception and what they meant for our organization:
One of our biggest early milestones was being recognized by the African Union in 2019 for our Skill-Up Climb-Up initiative. This brought significant validation and visibility to our skills training and capacity-building work aimed at preparing African youth for the future of work. It was an affirmation that we were on the right track in addressing a critical need.
Another proud achievement has been empowering over 500 women and providing employment opportunities for 20 creatives through our various programs so far. This demonstrated our commitment to uplifting marginalized groups and using our platform to create economic empowerment avenues.
Being featured in international publications like the France journal, US magazine LadyBrille, and others for the tangible impact of our grassroots work was also a milestone. It helped amplify our model and the voices of the communities we serve to a global audience.
In 2021, even amidst the COVID-19 challenges, we mobilized over 600 grassroots development Champions who drove over 100 community projects nationwide. Evaluating the pre and post-data, we realized these initiatives reached over 5,000 families directly and indirectly – a testament to the power of our decentralized, grassroots approach.
On a personal note, I received the prestigious UK government scholarship and it was a proud moment, as it recognized my years of unwavering leadership and validated the significance of our work.
More recently, I developed ALLO – an innovative $10 audio-visual learning device that won the UK Social Impact Award. ALLO addresses access and quality gaps in STEM education across Africa through an affordable, interactive multi-media platform. Its impending distribution across northern Nigerian states is poised to be a game-changer.
We are also trailblazing in the clean cooking tech space with our Cookits product – an IoT-enabled smart biomass cookstove that leverages data to reduce emissions while opening up economic opportunities like carbon credits for low-income communities.
Each of these milestones has propelled us forward, confirming we’re on the right path while illuminating new horizons of impact to pursue relentlessly our mission of empowering marginalized African communities through innovation.
What role does technology play at Dotakeaction, is it core to your
product/service delivery or not?
Technology actually plays a very critical role at DO Take Action as we are a civic startup driving grassroots change. Allow me to elaborate on the important ways we are leveraging technology:
Data for Development: We are utilizing cutting-edge data collection, analysis, and visualization tools to gather insights from communities and measure the impact of our initiatives. This data-driven approach allows us to make informed decisions and optimize our programs.
GDC Digital Platform: Our innovative “Grassroots Development Champion” model is enabled by a robust digital platform that facilitates recruitment, training, coordination, and knowledge sharing among these local change agents across Nigeria. This tech backbone exponentially scales our grassroots mobilization.
LMS & Digital Learning: The DO Learning Center is a comprehensive online learning management system providing digital skills training, educational resources, and interactive courses tailored to our beneficiaries’ needs across Africa.
M&E Tech Integration: We have deeply integrated technology into our monitoring and evaluation processes through real-time data tracking, digital feedback loops, and tech-enabled progress assessments for transparent and accurate impact measurement.
Civic Engagement Tools: We leverage civic technology tools like mobile apps, social platforms, online campaigns, etc. to actively engage citizens, amplify voices, drive accountability, and galvanize collective action on local issues.
Internal Operating Systems: Like any forward-looking startup, we utilize modern productivity suites, project management software, CRMs, and cloud collaboration tools to efficiently coordinate our team’s operations.
From this perspective, it’s clear that transformative technology is not just an add-on but core to how we at DO Take Action conceptualize, deliver, and scale our civic products and services across the African communities we serve. Our seamless blend of grassroots efforts with robust digital infrastructure positions us as a pioneering civic tech leader catalyzing inclusive development through innovation.
How does DO Take Action’s DO points system incentivize users to take
action on important issues?
Our DO Points system incentivizes users by giving them recognition and ranks for taking action within their communities through our platform. It gamifies civic engagement in a positive way.
By actively participating and taking action on dotakeaction.org, you earn DO points with which you can unlock access to exciting rewards. DO points are a form of recognition and incentive for your engagement in making a positive impact on the issues you care about. A list of rewards you will be able to redeem with your DO points can be seen below.
DO has designed a digital platform called the DO Rewards Center that operates like a social impact marketplace. The core idea is to incentivize people to take real-world actions on critical issues by allowing them to earn redeemable “DO Impact Points”.
Users can accumulate these points by actively engaging in a variety of social impact tasks and activities, such as:
– Organizing community outreach projects
– Lending their voice to advocate and raise awareness on issues
– Creating multimedia content or tech solutions addressing issues
– Supporting local grassroots champions taking action
The more impactful actions a user takes, the more DO Impact Points they earn. These digital points can then be redeemed for valuable goods, services or experiences from DO’s partners.
This incentive system leverages multiple drivers of human behavior:
1) Economic Incentives – Earning redeemable points provides a tangible economic motivation to take action.
2) Social Incentives – The platform gives visibility to top contributors, appealing to desires for reputation and social status.
3) Moral Incentives – Enabling simple ways to “do good” activates people’s sense of purpose and moral obligations.
By combining economic rewards with social recognition and moral satisfaction, DO aims to make taking socially conscious actions more appealing and sustainably motivating for users.
The point system gamifies social impact, turning it into a rewarding digital experience where citizens earn real benefits from their activism. This incentive design leverages behavioral science to inspire ongoing engagement on Africa’s most pressing issues.
Raising funds is a critical aspect of growing a startup. Can you
Share your experience with fundraising and any advice for founders on
this journey?
As a mission-driven startup working to inspire social change across Africa, fundraising has been both a challenge and an opportunity for our team at DO. Like many impact entrepreneurs, we’ve had to get creative and tireless in our pursuit of capital to scale our innovative model.
One major strategy for us has been tapping into the massive African diaspora community around the world. This global network of people with deep ties back to the continent has been a tremendous source of financial and moral support.
“The diaspora represents such an underutilized resource when it comes to African development,” says our co-founder Precious Ebere. “These are individuals who want to play an active role in shaping the future of their home countries and communities.”
DO has developed tailored campaigns targeting diaspora communities, clearly communicating the impact their donations can have. We make giving easy through seamless digital platforms and diaspora fundraising events. Crucially, we work hard to maintain transparency and constantly update our diaspora supporters on how their money is being deployed.
But we also get scrappy way beyond diaspora fundraising. Our rewards marketplace model itself opens alternative revenue streams – we can offer sponsorships, branded experiences, and even take a cut of transactions on the platform in the future.
We are also working on exploring some wildly creative fundraising avenues like NFT sales, crypto crowdfunding, YouTube partner programs, and even the occasional celebrity-driven flash fundraiser. We remain constantly open-minded to potential revenue sources that align with our mission and brand.
My biggest advice? Don’t box yourself into one-dimensional fundraising thinking. Keep exploring diverse capital channels – from traditional institutional investors to cutting-edge new models. And make sure your revenue strategy is baked into your product or service from day one, not an afterthought.
Building a sustainable startup, especially in the impact space, requires entrepreneurial resilience and creativity when it comes to fundraising. Diversify your strategies, get donors emotionally invested in your journey, and keep putting one foot in front of the other. The right supporters will inevitably join your movement.
What advice do you have for other founders who want to build a
company with a social or environmental mission?
If I were giving advice to other aspiring founders wanting to build a company with a social or environmental mission, I would emphasize a few key things:
First and foremost, ensure your mission is authentic and rooted in addressing a real need you have witnessed or experienced firsthand. Too often, social enterprises are built on lofty ideals disconnected from the gritty reality of the communities they aim to serve. Immerse yourself in those spaces, listen intently to the stakeholders, and let their voices shape not just your vision but your entire approach. Your offering has to tangibly improve lives, not be a superficial checking of boxes.
Secondly, be prepared for a long, arduous journey requiring relentless perseverance. Effecting meaningful societal change is a generational endeavor – it cannot be achieved through short bursts of action. You have to embrace a mindset of patience, adaptability, and playing the long game. There will be countless obstacles, failures, and naysayers to overcome. But stay stubbornly committed to your mission’s core “Why” – that anchoring purpose will sustain you through the toughest storms.
Another crucial piece of advice – begin by proving your model through tangible local impact before chasing ambitious scale. Too many founders become enamored with the allure of rapid growth without first perfecting their solution and building a strong foundation of success stories. Start small, achieve early wins that you can showcase, and then let the demand for your work pull you into expansion versus being driven by the profit imperative.
On that note, have a sustainable revenue strategy that balances your social good with operational viability. Well-meaning founders have seen their enterprises wither due to a lack of business acumen and over-reliance on grants or donations. Contemplate revenue models like freemium offerings, corporate partnerships, or even for-profit subsidiaries that can subsidize your mission-driven work while maintaining its integrity.
Perhaps most critically, surround yourself with a diverse team united by their commitment to the cause, not just skills or pedigree. These are the true believers who will go into the trenches with you through the inevitable crises and help you emerge stronger. Foster a culture of shared leadership that empowers your people and prevents a hierarchical, founder-centric structure that can limit your impact.
Ultimately, being a founder uplifting marginalized communities or stewarding environmental resources is both a profound privilege and an immense responsibility. It demands an unwavering moral compass, infinite reserves of grit, and a selfless embrace of life as a humble servant leader. The path is winding, but the opportunity to leave a truly indelible legacy that betters our world and uplifts humanity makes any sacrifice worthwhile. We need more intrepid voices like yours to drive this movement.
Being a called founder comes with its own set of challenges. How do
you stay motivated and avoid burnout?
Being a mission-driven founder tackling complex societal challenges does come with its own unique set of demands that can easily lead to burnout if not navigated carefully. As a woman pioneering grassroots change across African communities, I’ve had to be extremely intentional about maintaining my motivation and passion over the long haul.
At the core, what sustains me is bearing witness to the tangible impact our work creates in people’s lives each day. Whether it’s the young girl from a remote village getting access to quality education through our initiatives, the marginalized youth finally gaining marketable skills to launch their career, or the rural communities taking ownership of their development – each of these lives transformed is like a rocket fuel replenishing my depleted reserves of energy and conviction.
I make it a practice to regularly go back to the field and immerse myself in the communities we serve. Spending time with our beneficiaries, hearing their stories of struggle and hope, and seeing the light of opportunity spark in their eyes is an unmatched motivator. It reminds me of the “why” that originally set me on this entrepreneurial path.
However, I’ve also learned that no founder can afford to just run endlessly on passion and impact alone. Strategic self-care has to be a non-negotiable priority. For me, that means enforcing digital detoxes, setting boundaries around work schedules, and carving out dedicated times for personal rejuvenation through activities I enjoy like reading, journaling, or just spending quality time with loved ones.
Cultivating practices like mindfulness, meditation, and gratitude have also been instrumental in grounding me through the inevitable storms that face any change-making venture. They serve as a salve to process the myriad emotions that come with the territory – the fatigue, frustrations, failures, and fears.
Ultimately, I’ve realized that avoiding burnout is a collective endeavor that requires the support of those around me. I consciously work on building trust and empowering my core team to share the load, make decisions, and own key responsibilities without my constant intervention. Letting go of control and creating a culture of ownership beyond just myself as the founder has been hugely liberating.
The path of an impactful founder striving to transform complex social issues is certainly a marathon, not a sprint. By nourishing my mind, body, and spirit, while distributing the weight across trusted teammates, I’m able to remain motivated and inspired to take on this lifelong mission of catalyzing grassroots change across Africa, one resilient community at a time.
What are some of the misconceptions you encounter as a female
founder if there are any?
As a female founder, one of the biggest misconceptions I often encounter is doubt about my leadership abilities and capacity to build and scale a successful enterprise. There seems to be an inherent bias that questions whether women, especially those from developing regions like Africa, have what it takes to be effective leaders and entrepreneurs.
This narrative couldn’t be further from the truth. Through sheer grit, passion, and an unwavering commitment to driving positive change, I’ve been able to prove the naysayers wrong time and time again. At DO Take Action, we’ve created a tangible impact by empowering thousands of marginalized youth, providing skill training to underserved women, and catalyzing grassroots action across communities.
These achievements didn’t happen by chance but through meticulously assembling a team that shares my organization’s vision, strategic planning and execution, and a relentless focus on achieving our mission objectives. As a female founder, I’ve had to work twice as hard to gain respect and recognition in a world that often sells my abilities short.
However, I don’t view this as a challenge but an opportunity to shatter perceptions and inspire the next generation of African female entrepreneurs. My journey is a testament to the fact that passion, resilience, and an entrepreneurial mindset can overcome any societal bias or resource constraints one may face.
The key is to remain steadfast in your conviction, surround yourself with those who believe in your vision, and let your results speak louder than any preconceived notions. For every doubter, there are countless others whose lives you can transform through the power of entrepreneurship. That’s the driving force that keeps me going as a female founder disrupting the status quo, one community at a time.
What advice would you give to your younger self who was just
starting out on this journey?
If I could go back and advise my younger self who was just starting out on this entrepreneurial journey, I would say:
Never doubt your power to create meaningful change, even when faced with insurmountable odds. The path of an impactful founder, especially one driven by social impact over profits, is rife with challenges – from securing funds and talent to dealing with skeptics who question your vision. Embrace those obstacles as opportunities to develop resilience and fortitude that will serve you well in the long run.
Understand that meaningful change rarely happens overnight. It requires consistent and dedicated effort over years, if not decades. Have the humility to start small by proving your model through tangible impact in local communities. Those initial wins will not only build your confidence but also serve as powerful proof points when seeking broader support and buy-in from stakeholders.
Seek out mentors, both men and women, who have walked the path you aspire to tread. Their guidance, wisdom, and lived experiences can save you from numerous pitfalls. At the same time, don’t be afraid to fearlessly chart your own course when required. As a woman founder tackling complex societal issues like gender inequality, you will frequently find yourself in uncharted territory.
Most importantly, stay infinitely curious and be a lifelong learner. The issues you aim to solve demand constant evolution of your strategies based on emerging insights. Be willing to unlearn past approaches that are no longer effective. Remain open to new ideas from diverse perspectives, including those of the communities you serve. Their voices should be the beacon guiding your venture’s direction.
Finally, savor the small wins along this often arduous journey. Celebrate the lives you positively impact each day. In those moments of jubilation, you’ll find the energy to persist and become a force for transformative change. The path is never easy, but such is the burden and privilege of the impactful founder striving to make a dent in society’s greatest challenges.
Any final words to wrap this up?
In wrapping up, I am thankful for the chance to share the story and mission of DO Take Action. Despite facing many challenges, the potential of grassroots movements to make a substantial impact across Africa continues to inspire our progress. At DO Take Action, we aim to foster sustainable change by empowering and harnessing the entrepreneurial spirit within African communities. We provide a platform for individuals to drive transformations in areas like education, anti-corruption efforts, and uplifting marginalized groups.
Although our work is just beginning, the impact and the community of “DoErs” we are building are promising. Our focus is on empowering local changemakers to ignite a continent-wide movement towards accountability and progress. I encourage all aspiring founders, especially women, to start with what they have and push past doubts with conviction. Surround yourself with supporters, and never lose the hard-working ethos that started your journey. I believe that the most significant investments in Africa’s future will come from its own people taking action. I’m excited about the future and invite all passionate change-makers to join our growing movement. Thank you for allowing me to share our journey and vision.
