CEO of the Slum2School initiative, Otto Orondaam has a story that’s bound to inspire anyone. Born in Port-Harcourt to parents in the medical field, he has always been very interested and involved in developmental projects and from the young age of 16 started managing projects of his own focused on improving the state of remote communities around the country.
A proud Nigerian driven by his passion to make Nigeria a better place, Otto began the Slum2School initiative during his NYSC days. After coming into constant contact with vulnerable and impoverished kids out of school and seeing the challenges they faced everyday, in the interview, he talks about how he knew he wasn’t actualizing his dreams by remaining at his 9 to 5 and despite pressure from friends and family decided to leave his comfortable and well paying job at a bank to start the program. Orondaam began volunteering for Non-Profits organizations and International development Agencies in Nigeria and within African countries at the age of 16, with a passion to improve the state of his country and improve access to quality education for impoverished children in slums and remote communities.
He has a bachelor’s degree in Human Anatomy, an executive master’s in Project Management from CUPE, UK, and a certificate in Social Change, Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship from the United Nations University for Peace, Costa Rica. Otto plans to build a sustainable network with other Fellows across Africa to ensure that every disadvantaged child across the continent has access to equal education and other opportunities.
Seven years ago, Otto Orondaam started the journey with Slum2School Africa when he noticed the Makoko community while in traffic on a fateful day during his NYSC year in Lagos. After a visit to the community, he made the decision to quit his bank job and start Slum2School Africa.
Slum2School has grown in leaps and bounds, having welcomed and trained over 3000 young volunteers from over 25 countries to provide scholarships for over 600 children from slums, equipped schools with the facilities needed and provided other health and psycho-social support programs to dilapidated schools.
CMB 