US to raise Carrington Youth Fellowship funding

The United States Government has expressed its readiness to increase funding for the annual Carrington Youth Fellowship Initiative (CYFI), often organized for Nigerian youth with leadership interests.

The Public Affairs Officer, United States Consulate, Lagos, Darcy Zotter made the disclosure while addressing the 20 graduands who participated in the 2016 fellowship programme, in Lagos.

According to Zotter, the fellows in the 2016 class of CYFI have been

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quite impactful and their commitments have earned plaudits from the United States Government which has thus resolved to increase funding for the annual fellowship programme.

“We are Americans and we like to know how our money is being spent. We have about 50 grants and none has given us so much result like you graduands of today. You have all done so well that Washington has agreed to increase its funding of this fellowship,” Zotter said.

The Consul General, John Bray also applauded the fellows, saying the fellows made the US Lagos Consulate proud this year. @LatifatOpoola

How did you start your advocacy, ‘Steer’?

I studied economics at the University of Birmingham and I hold a master’s degree from the London school of Economics and Political science but came to Nigeria and after NYSC worked as a tax consultant with Deloitte Nigeria in Lagos. I did that for two years before I resigned to start a business with my friend called ‘Shuttlers’. I also started a nonprofit, ‘Steer to Greatness’ which is an education social enterprise.

During my NYSC year, I realized there is a gap in conventional education and what is actually needed out there is skills acquisition but nobody actually teaches those skills in schools.

So ‘Steer to Greatness’ helps bridge that gap, by organizing trainings, boot camps for teenagers. Our target audience is those in secondary schools or just out of secondary schools before they go into University.

What do you hope to achieve