Raphael Stephen is an exceptional leader and an advocate for great leadership, Raphael has worked tirelessly to build a foundation that is collaborative and known as a force for good.
Today, the Fashioned and Made for Excellence Foundation is fast becoming one of the most impactful foundations in Africa. Its vision is a world where more young people find their true identity and purpose, take the lead now, be the change they want to see, solve complex problems and collaborate to empower the people in their communities to prosper. Under Raphael’s leadership, the Foundation has focused its work in Oyo State, Osun State and most recently Jigawa State, Nigeria. We have invested millions to help improve leadership education and provide access to skills for youths in various local communities in Nigeria. Its programs have impacted the lives of more than 25,000 young people.
A strong believer in listening, Raphael can often be found in the field, working directly with the people whom the Foundation’s programmes serve. Raphael has a massive passion and purpose to become a major contributor to the national reorientation of youths in Nigeria and youth development globally. He believes once we get our values right as African people, we will become more productive people.
Raphael’s dedication to the work of the Foundation has its roots in his NYSC experience. Serving in Kano, Nigeria, Raphael discovered a leadership identity and values crisis through conversations with the students in the Secondary School he was assigned to teach, this experience he said marked a turning point in his life and enabled him to realize how big this leadership mindset problem was in Secondary Schools, it helped develop his capacity to listen and the empathy with which he approaches the Foundation’s work. Raphael is regularly called upon by Secondary Schools, Youth Organizations, Universities, and local stakeholders in the education space to speak, train, mentor and contribute to educational development strategies.
Raphael has over six years of experience as a development professional and he holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Ibadan. In November 2018, Raphael was nominated as part of 15 outstanding young social innovators in Nigeria and awarded as the overall winner of the Talent of the Future Award by Ideation Hub Africa and in April 2019, Raphael was selected as part of 17 exceptional young change-makers in West Africa by Ashoka under its CXC Young ChangemakerXchange program. He is also the recipient of the 2019 Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni Young Leaders Award in the Education Category.
He currently serves as the Executive Director of the Fame Foundation.
