By Bianca Iboma-Emefu
The creation of women’s and girls’ safe spaces has emerged as a key strategy for the protection and empowerment of women.
“I am driven by the passion to change the world, that’s my mission,” says Omotoyosi Ogunbanwo.
She reiterated her commitment to impacting women who would in turn empower others through Synerge, a platform that advocates women’s empowerment and rights, especially in career development.
Ogunbanwo stated: “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.’
“Synerge is a platform that creates a safe space for women worldwide. We are on a mission to close the career and financial gender gap. We are democratizing sponsorship for women and building a community where everyone can be the best versions of themselves.
Ogunbanwo added that at Synerge, we believe in mind, body, and soul growth. We are not just focused on growing your career, we are focused on improving your mental health and becoming a better version of yourself every day.
” As women, we want you to find sponsors, mentors, coaches, cofounders, business partners, and investors in our community. But we also want you to find a safe space where you can access resources to help your mental health.
She said women are three times more likely than men to struggle with their mental health, according to research, which has shown that having a community of women where they feel supported helps them with growth and induces dopamine which influences motivation.
Ogunbanwo explained how it works, we believe that even though we are a huge community, humans thrive better in smaller groups. Every woman who is part of our community is added to a subgroup with five other women. These women become your accountability partner for the year with quarterly check-ins from our team.
“We try our best to match-make women in the same or similar locations because we don’t just want you to interact online, we want you to build and develop a solid relationship that thrives in the real world. Each community of women is unique and diverse. We encourage every subgroup to use their network and resources in lifting each other.”
Also, there are various clubs, where women can interact. We have the book club, the career club, the investor’s club, the sponsors club, and the mental health club – A diverse group of women who have offered their time and effort to help other women.
Moreso, she explained, as we continue to grow and expand, we hope to provide all the resources that truly make us a one-stop shop for women’s welfare.
Furthermore, Omotoyosi Ogunbanwo is a Finance and Data Expert, Tech enthusiast, the co-founder of TechAvilly. She is passionate about emerging technologies in consumer finance. The US-based Nigerian data scientist currently works as a Senior PM, Devices FinTech @ Amazon where she helps build products on the Fintech team.
As the co-founder of TechAvilly, an EdTech platform that impacts knowledge, she has trained over 10,000 people to date. In the first six months of training, she provided FREE tech training to over 2,000 people worldwide. Both in-class and online training sessions.
Ogunbanwo also Co-Founded Emerald where she taught financial literacy to Nigerians at home and abroad. 2020/2021 was her peak year of growth where she made six figures in dollars and invested in the stock market. Emerald’s mission is to help millennials grow and invest their money. We teach people how to manage their debt and buy shares, options, and real estate.
Being the co-founder of Synerge – A one-stop resource outlet and community for women. This summer, she will be helping SMBs in Seattle redefine and restructure their businesses by integrating technology for expansion.
Ogunbanwo has been able to provide FREE mentoring to a lot of people over the last few years and assisted many of them to get scholarships abroad, relocate, upskill, and get remote jobs. Most of her mentees attend the best schools in the US, UK, and Canada. Some of them have graduated and are working with Fortune 500 companies. The best part about her mentees is how they all go ahead and develop a friendship with each other, which makes her very happy.
She equally provided scholarships for Nigerian women who are looking to go for their post-graduate program in the United States. She comes to their aid through her scholarship scheme. Her scholarship covers GRE, transcript fees, application fees, visa fees, visa fees, and flight ticket fees to the United States. In 2021, five girls were chosen and benefitted from the scholarship offered.
The twenty-nine-year-old has a bachelor’s degree in finance and accounting from the University of Portsmouth, England, an MSc in Business Analytics from Texas A&M, and a Micro Master’s in Statistics & Data Science. She has invested in two startups and her goal is to continue expanding that portfolio over the next few years.
She is also the Co-Founder of Localy, a blockchain payments platform redefining the future of DeFi and how SMBs in sub-saharan access funds.
Speaking further on her journey so far, Ogunbanwo said; “It’s been amazing. I never thought people are this hungry for knowledge and willing to pay hundreds of dollars to acquire new tech skills and knowledge. It’s been rewarding I must say. One thing that makes technology evergreen is INNOVATION. Nigeria needs to embrace technology and its benefits to the generations unborn. We would do our part to change people’s orientation about tech. Yes, it has its bad side, but there is always a good side to every story.
Omotoyosi had this to say about the feat; “Our scholars are currently in the University of Colorado, Oklahoma, and Jefferson University – all studying tech-related degrees. She has used her platform to help several scholars to achieve their study-abroad dreams. We believe thousands of people want to take this bold step to improve their lives and get an international degree but don’t know how or where to get started. We guide people in this category through the process, helping them with the information they need and holding them by the hand through the process to ensure a smooth sail all through.”
Ogunbanwo stated that the most important people in her life are her parents, sister, handsome Pomeranian Zane, and the community of my friends.