We are empowering children in low-income communities with the skills that they need to transform their communities

We are empowering children in low-income communities with the skills that they need to transform their communities

Empowering Children in Low-Income Communities through Quality Education

Talent Mine Academy is a free school that provides 12 years of high-quality education to children in low-income communities. Our mission is to raise these children as young leaders who can solve the problems in their community.
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Why we exist!

In Nigeria, there are 13.2 million out-of-school children, and 80% of the children in school are not learning the relevant skills that they need to thrive due to poor quality of the curriculum, underskilled teachers, lack of conducive learning environment and lack of quality learning materials. The foundational door to accessing bigger opportunities is knowing how to read and write, and without that, these doors of opportunities are shut against kids in low-income communities because of their background.

Young people from different backgrounds have a huge impact on us and all our activities. They highlight those parts of the society that are broken, so we can help them in all possible ways to regain hope and flourish in life.

What we do

Through a Problem-Based Learning delivery model, we are empowering children in underserved communities with the intellectual stimulation and life skills development that they need to make better life choices and solve the pressing problems in their communities.

Our Programs

Talent Mine Academy programs are focused on two critical areas that can impact the life of a child: Intellectual Stimulation and Life Skills Development.

Talent Mine School

Through our free school, we are creating a safe, supportive, and inclusive learning environment for children in low-income communities to access 12 years of fully-funded high-quality education.

Life Skills Enrichment Program

Every week, we deliver our life skills program to children in public schools to empower them with the relevant life and leadership skills that they need to make better life choices and solve the problems in their communities

Our Programs

Private School Scholarship Scheme

We partner with private individuals, and organizations to send kids in low-income communities to quality private schools in their communities.

Life Skills Enrichment Program

Through our Saturday enrichment program, we balance the intellectual stimulation that our kids get in the classroom with life skills development so that they learn the skills that they need to thrive in life.

How you can support

Sponsor a Child

We match out of school children in low income communities with sponsors like you.

Sponsor a Cohort

Our life skills enrichment program runs in cohort. You can sponsor our next cohort.

Donate to our Work

We receive both cash and in-kind donations from individuals and corporates.

Volunteer with us

We are always looking for exceptional people with passion for education to join our team.

Support with Certainty!

Every donation you make directly fuels our mission. Operational expenses are fully covered by our dedicated community of partners, ensuring that 100% of your contribution goes towards empowering children in low-income communities through 12 years of fully-funded education. But our commitment doesn’t end there.

From providing nutritious school meals through our School Feeding Program to empowering underprivileged children with life skills to lead change in their communities, we’re going all in to create a world where children in low-income communities can create a better world for us. And these organizations agree.

Immerse Coaching
Immerse Coaching
KPMG
KPMG
PWC
PWC
Immerse Coaching
Immerse Coaching
KPMG
KPMG
PWC
PWC
Immerse Coaching
Immerse Coaching
KPMG
KPMG
PWC
PWC
Immerse Coaching
Immerse Coaching
KPMG
KPMG
PWC
PWC
Immerse Coaching
Immerse Coaching
KPMG
KPMG
PWC
PWC
Immerse Coaching
Immerse Coaching
KPMG
KPMG
PWC
PWC
Immerse Coaching
Immerse Coaching
KPMG
KPMG
PWC
PWC
Immerse Coaching
Immerse Coaching
KPMG
KPMG
PWC
PWC
Immerse Coaching
Immerse Coaching
KPMG
KPMG
PWC
PWC
Immerse Coaching
Immerse Coaching
KPMG
KPMG
PWC
PWC
PWC
PWC
Schoolinka
Schoolinka
UNDP
UNDP
PWC
PWC
Schoolinka
Schoolinka
UNDP
UNDP
PWC
PWC
Schoolinka
Schoolinka
UNDP
UNDP
PWC
PWC
Schoolinka
Schoolinka
UNDP
UNDP
PWC
PWC
Schoolinka
Schoolinka
UNDP
UNDP
PWC
PWC
Schoolinka
Schoolinka
UNDP
UNDP
PWC
PWC
Schoolinka
Schoolinka
UNDP
UNDP
PWC
PWC
Schoolinka
Schoolinka
UNDP
UNDP
PWC
PWC
Schoolinka
Schoolinka
UNDP
UNDP
PWC
PWC
Schoolinka
Schoolinka
UNDP
UNDP

Our Numbers that Speak for Us

We have numbers that push us to give in our best and make sure that we break our own records. We are happy to be growing and helping more day by day.

50+

Partners

200+

Children Empowered

100+

Families Reached

₦10M+

Raised

Inspiring Stories of Transformation

When Uchechi came for her scholarship application interview, she looked so malnourished, even though she was eager to learn.

In the first few weeks of attending school, Uchechi would show up looking sick and weak. Her mum is only able to feed her once a day – after school.

Many times, Uchechi would come to school without eating at all and on the best days, she came with a bottle of garri in her bag

Don’t miss out on updates about our work

Get the latest details on our impact stories as we change the lives of children in underresourced communities through quality education

Oluwaseun Kayode

Director , Talent Mine Academy

Oluwaseun is a key voice in conversations surrounding the Improvement of Teacher Quality in Africa. He currently leads at Schoolinka as the CEO, an edtech company utilizing technology to create a community of highly skilled educators for African schools.

Through an online learning platform and live masterclasses led by experts, his team offers dynamic professional development opportunities for over 3,500 teachers and school leaders. Schoolinka also facilitates teacher placement within their partner schools.  Drawing from two years of hands-on teaching experience in an underserved Nigerian school as part of the Teach For Nigeria Fellowship program, Oluwaseun witnessed the dire need for enhanced teaching quality.

With ten years at the nexus of education and youth development, he has been actively engaged in various local and international educational initiatives. His leadership as Senior Program Manager at Peace First involved guiding a global team of 120 youth across six regions reaching over 30,000 young people globally.

Oluwaseun shared his insights at the Teach For All Global Conference and was accepted into the Peace First Accelerator Program. He boasts a string of accomplishments, including being a 2017 Teach For Nigeria fellow, 2019 Orange Corners Grantee, 2020 Peace First fellow, 2021 UNLEASH Global Talent, 2021 ALA Education Entrepreneur, 2022 Westerwelle Fellow, and 2023 Mastercard Foundation Edtech Fellow.

Amidst his commitments to education, Oluwaseun treasures moments spent with his family.

Dr. Roti Balogun

Director , Talent Mine Academy

Roti is currently the Managing Director, Head of Talent for JP Morgan Chase, Community and Consumer Banking. He is a key business partner to the CCB Management Leadership Team of the bank in managing executive talent development, c-level succession, organizational effectiveness, workforce planning, culture, diversity & inclusion practices for 130,000+ employees globally.

Prior to joining JPMC, Roti held multiple roles of increasing responsibility at General Electric (GE) as the Global Talent and Diversity Leader for the GE Power business, the Head of Human Resource for GE International Markets, Africa, and the Region Head of Talent & Learning.

 He spent most of his career at Ericsson Africa, with his last role as the Chief Learning Officer for Ericsson, where he spent over a decade in diverse roles spanning Technology Services, Talent Management and HR Business Strategy.

Roti is a lifelong learner with a bachelors and postgraduate degrees in software engineering, an MBA from Imperial College London, and an Executive doctorate (EdD) in Education from UPenn. He is also a member of the Association of Talent Development, International Coaching Federation, an Accredited performance consulting practitioner, and a certified Emotional intelligence coach.

He has been recognized as a global HR thought leader in the areas of talent management, learning and economic inclusion through education and diversity. Roti is a board member at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) Graduate School of Education and serves on several other global professional boards, technology start-up boards and non-profit organizations.

When education meets passion, changemakers connect opportunity and creativity, which propels transformation, and the extraordinary founder and her TMA story consistently emerge. 

I am full of gratitude to be a small part of the purposeful mission and its advisory team and to learn from her everyday

Derby Chukwudi

Director , Talent Mine Academy

Derby Ozioma Chukwudi is the current Miss New Jersey USA and a 1st generation Nigerian-American born in Dallas, TX, raised in Lagos, Nigeria, and now resides in Hoboken, New Jersey. On September 29, she placed Top 20 at the 72nd Miss USA competition in Reno, Nevada. 

She is on a mission to inspire the next generation of leaders by leveraging her multi-talented background, encompassing communication, strategy, pageantry, financial education, and community development.  

 

She is passionate about advocating for financial literacy among young people to prepare them for a future of financial freedom and choices.  Broadly, she believes everyone should dream and dream BIG – she is excited to continue empowering people and reminding them that their dreams are valid.

She is a member of the Global Investment Strategy Team at JPMorgan Private Bank in Midtown, New York. Derby graduated cum laude from Berea College with a BSc. Degree in Business Administration and B.A. degree in Economics.She has also been featured on Yahoo Finance, Moneywise.com, Essence, JPMorgan, Women’s Wear Daily, Business Insider, and Bella Naija. Outside of work, she is an award-winning Toastmasters public speaker passionate about creating awareness for financial education.
 

She invests her time in volunteering within her community, mentoring young adults, and empowering people, reminding them that their dreams are valid. 

I believe that every child deserves access to quality education. Talent Mine Academy is a product of genuine care, love, and passion to see every child thrive regardless of where they are coming from.
 
I am always looking for opportunities to partner to be an agent of positive change and impact in my community. Talent Mine presents that opportunity to drive the change we want to see when it comes to education reform and providing access to every child in Nigeria.

Chioma Okotcha

Director , Talent Mine Academy

Chioma is the co-founder/COO of Payhippo. Payhippo finances under-served businesses in Africa.

 After starting her career with a short stint in finance and consulting, she transitioned to the world of public policy and impact. 

Since then, she has analyzed social policies in Paris and Cape Town, designed programs to support the launch of an education non-profit start-up in Lagos, and supported the NCDC through the Tony Blair Institute. 

Today, she forms part of a group of Nigerian women in the tech start-up space that has raised over $5m in early-stage funding. With a passion for impact, she’s leading Payhippo to provide millions of small businesses with capital and business solutions to run and grow their businesses.

Access to quality education must be fair for all children. Aramide and her team are making this happen everyday. 

Chioma’s sleeves are rolled up to support and guide the Talent Mine Community to make a difference in the lives of underserved children

Abimbola Dosunmu

Director , Talent Mine Academy

Learning and schooling are fundamental to human development. This thought process has shaped and styled the career of Abimbola Dosunmu, who is a renowned Educationist and Management Consultant in educational services. 

With over two decades of professional experience that covers cross-discipline and global best practices, Abimbola Dosunmu has masterminded improved learning at several schools through curriculum and assessment development, qualitative leadership, and strategic management. 

With a profound interest in academics, Abimbola has scaled from a vibrant Class Teacher who taught with passion and dedication at Montessori House in Ikoyi to becoming an Assistant Head of Junior School at Children’s International School, Lagos with the responsibility of leading strategic management and operational excellence at the School. 

From the design of a world-class learning and development strategies which ensured maximum student and teacher performance, Abimbola has effectively impacted the achievement of organisational and educational development. 

Along with her professional experience, Abimbola Dosunmu is a well-read professional who has a Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition from University of Ibadan, Montessori Teaching Diploma from the College of Modern Montessori, South Africa, Postgraduate Diploma in Education from University of Lagos, Nigeria, and a Master of Science in Multidisciplinary Studies from University at Buffalo, SUNY, New York in the United States of America.

Her vision is to see that every Nigerian child reads, writes and makes informed decisions which will in turn cause a shift in the society and create a positive change. 

She volunteers/ collaborates with organizations like TFN( Teach for Nigeria) to coach teachers, TAL (Touch A Life) to help support teenagers to university and Dabira Lydia Initiative to assist children in primary and secondary school, WRAP, EduAid, Embrace, Schoolinka, Talent Mine Academy and other NGOs.