The Story of Rev. Mathias Bodam Yashim
My name is Rev. Mathias Bodam Yashim, the founder of Hope Builders Enterprise Academy. Hope Builders is developing the next generation of leaders by empowering young people and creating opportunities through skill acquisitions, interests, and professional experiences. In May 2023, the jury at the Roxbourg Institute of Social Entrepreneurship (RISE), Switzerland accredited Hope Builders Enterprise Academy to coach candidates to earn their Roxbourg.MBA degree.
What was your first project? What were your lessons learned?
In 1995, when I moved to the city of Kaduna, I discovered that the discrepancies between applicants’ education and employers were a curriculum content issue and not the candidate's fault. I needed to provide opportunities for young people and develop their personalities, interests, and professional experiences. I invited 22 young people to a four-day training camp. We discussed - What can we do when school is gone? How can we build community when jobs are gone?
When did you realize you wanted to be a social entrepreneur? How did you define your purpose?
I believe the best education is the one that opens up the learners’ minds to think critically, learners’ hearts to embrace all even when they disagree on opinions, and learners’ hands to be practical in all endeavors. Hope Builders was founded in response to a commitment to developing the next generation of leaders, empowering the lives of young people, and developing their skills for independence and self-reliance through the creation of opportunity. The purpose of Hope Builders Enterprise Academy is to empower entrepreneurs with system-changing innovations, strengthen their social and economic status, and create sustainable livelihoods.
What are you building right now? What is your ambition?
We have a team of six leaders and a very strong local and global team of advisors and fellows that are facilitating our workshops. The Hope Builders Enterprise Academy is strongly positioned to:
:: Empower candidates with system-changing innovations to become changemakers in their community.
:: Provide coaching to graduates to drive results at the highest level of vocational performance for NGOs, companies, and government agencies as employees or interns.
:: Offer psychological support and coaching to school dropouts to enable them to acquire employability skills.
Our ambition is to train 100 entrepreneurs annually in Kaduna to enable them to solve societal challenges through entrepreneurship.
How can everyone support you?
The Academy welcomes sponsorship and partnership. By leveraging the power and impact of the Academy’s core leadership team’s learning experience, we are producing a generation of transformed leaders, teams, and companies ready to lead change for global sustainable development.
If you would like to learn more about the Hope Builders Enterprise Academy, please visit the website and social media pages:
