Ms. Seyi Oluyole is the Executive Director and Founder of the Dream Nurture Foundation and The Dream Catchers Academy – an academy that provides free dance, drama and music classes for underprivileged children.
Her academy also provides shelter and all the basic necessities of life to her students who can’t afford these. She has worked with underprivileged children for 14 years; starting as a teenager. She uses innovative education to impact the lives of young kids. She has catered to over 500 kids in Ebute Metta Slum and in Ikorodu.
Aside from catering to underprivileged kids, she houses them, clothes them and takes care of their general welfare. Her foundation holds an annual summer program which offers free summer coaching to children in Ebute-Metta Slums and empowers them with back to school materials at the end of the summer program. Her Dream Catchers project has gotten international attention from celebrities like Beyonce, Naomi Campbell, Rihanna, Diddy, Cardi B, John Boyega; to mention a few.
In 2018, She was selected as one of the 20 Outlook Inspirations for the year. Herself alongside her students, received a recognition plaque from the then Lagos state Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode after performing for him and other dignitaries at a Government function.
In line with her belief that every child deserves an opportunity to succeed irrespective of their background; Ms. Oluyole is a recipient of awards from the Nigerian Child Initiative (2018)
Having conquered the local scene, she has been internationally recognized and alongside her kids, been featured on CNN African Voices Change Makers series, BBC, Aljazeera, Yahoo News, and ET Canada. She was featured by UNICEF for their youth project tagged ‘Naija Youth Talk’ and also served as a resource personnel for UNICEF with two of the Kids from her foundation for their project tagged ‘Girls 4 Girls’ conference in 2019.
She was nominated for The Future Awards Africa 2019 in the education category and won The D & KSuomi Humanitarian award in the same year.
Ms. Oluyole is also a writer, filmmaker and dance choreographer. As a filmmaker, she creates short films that talk about the plight of impoverished and street kids using mostly the kids in her academy as her actors. Her first Short film ‘Gbera’ won the Eko International Film Festival and was also nominated at Afriff in 2018.
She was also featured on the August edition of InStyle Magazine ‘BadAss women’. As top 50 BadAss women to look out for in 2020. She was born and bred in Lagos.
MRS. OLABOWALE OLUWAFUNMILAYO is Popularly known as Olori Oba. She had her primary and secondary school education in Lagos state before proceeding to Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, Oyo State; where she obtained her Bachelor of Technology in Chemical Engineering.
She obtained a certificate in General music at The Light Music School before proceeding to The Music Society of Nigeria (MUSON), Lagos, Nigeria. She also obtained a certificate in the Art and Business of Engagement Anchoring at Strictly Weddings Academy, Lagos, Nigeria.
She discovered her God’s given talent in music in which she has been pursuing for the past 20 years. She is the founder and CEO of Olori Oba Global Ministry, a subsidiary of Olori Oba Global LTD. She currently sits on the board of The Dream Nurture Foundation.
She has a passion for Growth and Children. She is happily married with kids.
ENGR. OLUBOWALE ROTIMI R. had his primary and secondary education in Lagos state before proceeding to the federal polytechnic, Ilaro, Ogun state; where he obtained his National and Higher National Diploma in Civil Engineering. Engr. Olabowale R.R is a registered Engineer with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN)
He is a professional member of The American Society of American Engineers (ASCE), Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Nigerian Institute of Civil Engineers (NICE) and a certified Professional Engineer (PE) in the United States of America.
He has over 20 years of experience in the fields of Engineering, Telecommunications, Technology and Project Management.
He was recognised as an outstanding Engineer in the field of Science and Technology in 2008, and was published in Who’s Who, United States of America.
He is currently the CEO/Project Director of Intektel Nigeria Limited and sits as a board member of The Dream Nurture Foundation.
He has a passion for Children and the Environment. He is happily married with kids.
Chinyere Ilodianya is a Certified National Accountant by profession who has worked in almost every sector ranging from Education, Manufacturing, Media, NGO etc.
She has a combined eleven years of experience through these sectors as an Accountant. She has also worked for new start-ups, which has afforded her to gain a wide range of experience for accounting methods applicable for the sectors.
Chinyere joined the Dream Nurture Foundation joined in 2019. She prepares the necessary books of Accounts, oversees Grant management analysis and plays a role in preparation of audited financial statements, reports and schedules.
She has also stepped out of her comfort zone by acquiring certifications on Customer Relationship Management and Project Management which has given her the opportunity to offer Dream Nurture Foundation services that are not only centered on Accounting and Finance.
Esther Essien is a prolific Performer: a Dancer, Choreographer, Drummer, Singer, Actor, and a Researcher. In 2004, she started training and performing with some local theatre Organisations in Lagos until 2009 when she joined Drumsview Academy, where she studied performing art. She later joined the Society for performing arts in Nigeria (SPAN) and QDance Center.
She participated in TAKWEEN 2016 INTENSIVE CONTEMPORARY TRAINING organised by Maqamat Dance Theatre, in Baakline, Mont-Liban, Lebanon. During this period, she had working experience with Omar Rajeh (Artistic Director at Maqamat Dance Theatre, Lebanon), Mikki Shoji (Japanese but lives in Berlin, Germany), Hooman Sharifi (Artistic Director and CEO Carte Blanche, Oslo Norway), Laurence Yadi Nicholas Cantillon (Geneva, Switzerland) and Nacera Belaza (Choreographer at Cie Nacera Belaza).
She won the award of ‘PRIX YONGONLON OU MEILLEUR ESPOIR’ at the ‘Africa, Simply the best contest 2019 organized by ANKATA in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. Esther Essien was selected as one of the emerging choreographers of generation 2020 to perform her solo dance piece ‘just me’ at the dance biennial in Africa hosted by ‘On Marche’ Festival International de danse contemporaine a Marrakech.
Esther Essien is the co-artistic director of Tantoloun Productions, a Dance Company in Lagos. She is one of the organisers of As’tele Hangout.
ADESOYE VICTORIA Is a Dancer, Choreographer, Music Artist and a Fashion Designer. She majors as a Bgirl (Break dance).
In 2007 she started her Dance Career as she joined a dance crew (Crowns star steppers ) Over the years, she had grown professionally and artistically enough for her to start her own dance crew – Vtek Dancers.
She participated with Vtek Dancers in Dance Competitions like FEMIRA DANCE COMPETITION , RHEMA DANCE COMPETITION amongst others.
She is the winner of BATTLE OF THE YEAR ( 2019) Bgirl 1 vs 1 category. She also won a scholarship to DANCE BOSS WITH KAFFY . In 2022, she came out as First runner up at the GLOBoty in 2022.
Olúwáfúnmitọ́ is a Leadership and Management practitioner with a background in Media and Communication from Babcock University. Her passion for humanity inspires her to work with the girls at Dream Catchers Academy.
Olúwáfúnmitọ́’s selflessness motivates her to volunteer for different causes.
She has a budding interest in SDG 4, Menstrual Hygiene Health(MHH), Female Genital Mutilation, and Sports (actually, a two-time Football Gold medalist).
Olúwáfúnmitọ́ is teachable and a creative teacher with 5 years experience. She has taught Literature-in-English and Physical Health Education at private Senior and Junior Secondary Schools respectively in the past years of her experience.
She currently teaches Year 7 and 9 English Studies, National Value Education and Cultural and Creative Arts at Dream Catchers Academy For Girls, Elepe, Ikorodu, Lagos State.
Olúwáfúnmitọ́ enjoys, sporting, travelling and all that nature has to offer.
Lawal Lateef is an educator with over four years of teaching experience and is currently a tutor at Dream Catchers Academy. A graduate of history and international studies with a passion for teaching, Lawal has worked with diverse groups of children all over Nigeria – such as Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board.
Similarly, he spends his time volunteering for organizations that are committed to ensuring the inalienable rights of every child’s access to quality education. Lawal, in his spare time, loves to travel and spend time meeting new people.
Rachel Biaye is a Teach for Nigeria Fellow with a BSc in Health Education and three years of teaching experience. Rachel teaches physical health education and home economics at Dream Catchers Academy. Rachel is passionate about girls education, health education and fitness. She is always ready to learn, unlearn and relearn.
In her free time, Rachel likes playing table tennis and video games.
Adebayo Christianah is a Teacher – Leader with a background in Educational Technology (B.ed) University of Ilorin (Probitas Doctrina), Nigeria.
Christianah has vast experience as a teacher and loves to work with children. She is an advocate for girls education and women empowerment.
Christianah is a disability advocate, passionate about autistic kids and kids living with cerebral palsy. Christianah sees the glass as half full and uses every opportunity to educate people on empathy. She believes there is ability in every disability.
She currently teaches year at Dream Catchers Academy, Ikorodu. Christianah loves being creative. She is a lover of art and is a beautiful singer. Being a teacher in an art school is giving her more opportunities to broaden her horizon and learn more about arts and its form.
Gbenga Adeyemi is a Professional farmer and an advocate of sustainable development goals with a strong passion for Zero Hunger, Climate Action, and has over 4 years of experience as an Agricultural extension Advisor through the Federal Government Empowerment Initiative (N-Power) in Oyo State, he’s driven by social impact innovation and passionate about Nutrition, Climate Smart Agriculture, Organic farming, Youth employment, Inclusive society, and Environmental sustainability. He has been trained on agribusiness and entrepreneurship by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), is a recipient of a merit award from the Grooming Leaders for Agriculture Organization and graduate at the Social Innovators Programme of the LEAP AFRICA Organization.
He was an ambassador to the Global youth climate action initiative and GreatMinds International. He became an SDGs Star in 2019 when his project was selected among the best by the Nigerian Youth SDGs Network. He currently teaches the girls at Dream Catchers Academy how to grow their own healthy and organic vegetables, fruits and food.
When girls grow up healthy, educated, safe and empowered, they can fulfill their potential to be leaders in their communities, countries and the world.
Dream Catchers Academy for Girls is a program of The Dream Nurture Foundation. Creating a future for orphaned and indigent girls through quality education, arts and leadership and life skills.
