The Visiola Foundation Brings Women and Girls into STEM

Founded in 2013, the Visiola Foundation strives to increase access to STEM education and opportunities for African girls and young women from underserved communities in Nigeria and beyond. The organization recognizes that education and gender equality are critical to driving economic growth and sustainable development in Africa, rooted in a vision of “thriving African countries where women have equitable access to educational and employment opportunities and where they contribute to sustainable development.” Through its work, the Visiola Foundation seeks to create a multiplier effect through which young women exposed to STEM education and career opportunities can then help others while contributing to social and economic advancement in their communities and countries. In an interview with FP Analytics, Nigerian diaspora member and founder and president of the Foundation Ladé Araba emphasized this multiplier effect, noting, “What we’re doing is investing in the betterment of Africa, of Nigeria.” She elaborated that the Foundation’s work is driven by a core objective, “How do we stimulate that economic transformation that creates jobs, that is inclusive, and that [leads to] economic growth that actually develops the economy?”

The Foundation’s work is driven by a core objective, “How do we stimulate that economic transformation that creates jobs, that is inclusive, and that [leads to] economic growth that actually develops the economy?

— Ladé Araba, president, the Visiola Foundation

The Visiola Foundation runs three types of program to achieve this vision and in furtherance of its mission. After-school STEM clubs for girls are based at 45 secondary schools across Abuja, Nigeria, to introduce girls to computer programming and robotics and spark an interest in STEM and IT, while complementing the school curriculum. Twelve-week coding boot camps for women aged 17-30 act as a foundation for computer and technology careers, held either in person or online. Finally, residential STEM camps for girls aged 13 through 18 are held during school holidays, focused on robotics, engineering concepts, computer programming, and the practical and real-world applications of the STEM subjects they learn in school.

While it began, and is based, in Nigeria, Visiola has run programs in Ghana, and began extending access via a hybrid model to students from across Africa. Ladé noted that the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent spread of online and hybrid learning models have in fact enabled the Foundation to expand its offering to women and girls across multiple African countries. As a result, over 22,400 African women and girls have participated in Visiola’s programs, with over 80 percent of girls in summer and after school programs completing their secondary education, and 90 percent recording improved overall academic performance. Additionally, over 60 percent of women graduating from Visiola’s coding boot camps have secured scholarships, internships, or full-time jobs in STEM-related fields. Visiola’s blended hybrid and in-person model could enable it to expand to new countries, offering additional programs more frequently as its capacity grows, and thereby reaching new cohorts of girls across Africa.

Over 22,400 African women and girls have participated in Visiola’s programs, with over 80 percent of girls in summer and after school programs completing their secondary education, and 90 percent recording improved overall academic performance. 

In addition to the STEM skills the Foundation focuses on, Ladé shared that the programs are additionally critical to the development of social and emotional skills: “We’re building both the hard technical skills as well as the soft skills. For instance, a shy student who was not making eye contact on day one [of the camp], by day seven she’s the leader presenting [her team’s final project].” In addition to the gender imbalance the Visiola Foundation seeks to overcome in STEM professions in Nigeria, and more broadly Africa, the organization emphasizes the importance of working against social hierarchies. Accordingly, Visiola intentionally engages with women and girls from across different ethnic and religious communities and makes an effort to do outreach and offer scholarships to girls from economically marginalized families or in remote villages.