Welcoming an Inspiring Young Founder to the O'Shaughnessy Fellowships

Congratulations to Oghenekevwe Emadago, who will use his fellowship grant to continue researching and developing eco-friendly and cost-effective sanitary pads in Nigeria

A note from the team: we have previously been encouraging those interested in hearing more from us to subscribe to two separate places: this Substack and the O’Shaughnessy Ventures (OSV) newsletter.

We have decided to simplify this by merging the OSV newsletter into this Substack.

Moving forward, we will periodically share OSV updates (such as the below Fellowship announcement) from here. If you prefer not to receive OSV updates, you can easily opt out of this section of our Substack at any time via the “Manage subscription” page. Further instructions for how to do this are available here.

We are delighted to announce that we have awarded an O’Shaughnessy Fellowship to Oghenekevwe Emadago, a founder based in Nigeria.

Oghenekevwe will use his $100,000 fellowship grant to continue researching and developing eco-friendly and cost-effective sanitary pads in Nigeria.

Oghenekevwe’s company, Girlified LTD, created the Girlified sanitary pad in 2022. It is made from banana fiber and natural cotton and is an eco-friendly and cost-effective alternative to conventional sanitary pads.

Oghenekevwe intends for the Girlified sanitary pad to reduce pollution and help girls remain in school and carry out their daily activities.

Here’s Jim:

“Over the past five years, Oghenekevwe has demonstrated an admirable commitment to positively impacting communities in Nigeria, both in his professional and personal life. We're delighted to support him in his mission to solve period poverty— in particular, the lack of access to sanitary products —with the Girlified sanitary pad.”

About Oghenekevwe

Oghenekevwe is an environmental activist, entrepreneur, and advocate for young women and girls. He has a background in physics and speaks four languages fluently.

His goal in life is to continue impacting his communities and raising investments to build impact-focused businesses that support local youths while championing climate action.

Over the past five years, he has worked closely with youths in remote villages in Nigeria, where he discovered the acute problem of period poverty affecting women and girls in their communities and the issue of plastic pollution from conventional sanitary pad use.

Among other roles, Oghenekevwe is currently a member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) and Chatham House’s Common Futures Conversations. He is also the regional director of the Naza Agape Foundation.

About the Fellowship Program

The O’Shaughnessy Fellowship is a one-year program for ambitious people who want to build something great. Fellows will receive a $100,000 grant and access to our network of founders, investors, and experts to support them in bringing their projects to life. 

We will award twelve Fellowships in total. You can find more information about each Fellow here. 

Applications for the Fellowships are now closed and will reopen on 1 January 2024. Creators interested in learning more can do so via OSV’s website.