Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo chaired the launching of DashMe Foundation – an initiative championed by former Minister of Finance of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Kemi Adeosun.
Osinbajo, in his remarks, recalled that as a minister, Adeosun prioritised the Federal Government’s Social Investment Program (SIP) and hence he is not surprised that she has decided to use her talent and influence to establish an organization that raises funds and provides for indigenous grassroots charities.
He expressed how important it is to reach the grassroots, in order to reach Nigerians, which forms the idea of funding local charities.
In her welcome address, Adeosun, who describes herself as the enterprise’ Chief Volunteer, shared the long-term vision for the social enterprise.
She explained that donations would be sourced from within Nigeria and from the diaspora community. She also noted that the DashMe Store would sell donated goods to raise funds which would be channeled to various partner-charity organisations.
According to her, the DashMe Store is the first of many projects that the Foundation would undertake to raise cash as well as through other conventional and unconventional fund-raising avenues to accomplish its vision.
She emphasised the importance of DashMe’s Donor Assurance policy and its commitment to ensuring that all funds raised get to the right people. She stated that the organization has hired a Director of Donor Assurance who is responsible for validating and reporting on the activities and statuses of Impact Partners.
In her words, “We recognise that throwing money at a problem is not always a solution and so once we are satisfied with the ‘who’ aspect of our Impact Partners, we must also ensure funds are deployed efficiently. We will measure impact, benchmark, costs and ensure maximum value. We hope that Dash Me can play a part in the relief mission and truly support changing lives.”
Corroborating Adeosun was the Foundation’s Chief Operating Officer, Omorinsola Arogundade, who submitted that “DashMe is building a family of supporters within Nigeria, her diaspora and among those (across the globe) who love all things African.”
Notably, the organisation has an overwhelmingly young leadership team. For example, it has an Advisory Board made up of entirely youth, with its above-mentioned Chief Operating Officer being in her 30s.