When Hammed Alabi was a child, he wanted to be a lawyer, so he spent time discussing social issues with the elders in his community. Then he outgrew that and decided that he wanted to be a footballer, so he enrolled in a local football club and played street football for months. Next, he wanted to be a sports analyst, so he graduated to studying established analysts on TV. When as a teenager, he decided to be an accountant; he pushed himself and became the best student in Accounting in his secondary school.
This go-getting behaviour is characteristic of the man he has grown to become; a man who faces difficult circumstances and chooses every day to challenge them.
Background…
Hammed Alabi was born in 1994 in the Makoko slum, an informal settlement in Lagos state, Nigeria, known for being the world’s largest floating slum. After his mother’s death at age 7, he was raised by his father, who nurtured his many childhood dreams. Due to limited means, he was forced to leave school for a term, and begin teaching basic school at age 15. This was the beginning of his teaching career and his intense passion for education, youth development and social change.
Over the years, Hammed’s culture of excellence has carried him through life with multiple awards, from being the best graduating perfect from secondary school to bagging scholarships for 2 consecutive years in the University of Ilorin, and then the best graduating student award, the MasterCard foundation scholarship and award for transformative leadership to study in The University of Edinburgh and big wins from a basketball tournament and essay competition. The man is an inspiration.

While I consider many of these accomplishments as a work in progress, I believe they have shaped me in a remarkable way and they are testament that change does not have to be big.
Hammed Kayode Alabi
He recognises that technology in Africa has grown by leaps and bounds. Regardless, he believes that ‘it would be difficult to harness the dividends of digital technology when people do not still have access to the devices and when education is at the lowest level’ and this is why what he does is especially important.
Hammed Alabi is what we call a change-maker and an educator.
In 2016, during his compulsory 1-year National Youth Service, he embarked on six community development projects to improve education and development for students of the Ekpon Community in Edo State. One of those projects was constructing a volleyball court to promote sports in the community. Another was a career guidance programme for the students. For those, he won the Edo State National Youth Service Corps Award.
In 2017, he started his own youth-led NGO, the Kayode Alabi Leadership and Career Initiative. It was aimed at helping children in rural communities develop life and 21st-century skills needed to integrate into the workforce. That won him a partial scholarship to attend the First African Youth SDGs Summit in Accra Ghana, and a selection as an SDG Youth Champion by African Monitor—a pan-African organisation that monitors the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa. Hammed was then a guest speaker and panellist at the next SDGs Summit.
Kayode Alabi Leadership and Career Initiative
The KLCI partners with schools in low-income communities and leverages technology to reduce inequalities by empowering children in rural areas. They provide access to leadership and career development training, global citizenship education workshops, mentorship and scholarships and entrepreneurship training.
It also organises training for student teachers, with its teachers-in-training Bootcamp. They connect community leaders with youth in initiatives like the Skill2Rural Bootcamp. Presently, the organization has reached over 3000 children, has more than 13 teachers and more than 90 volunteers mobilized.

Next, Hammed Alabi became a Carrington Youth Fellow, in a program with the US Consulate at Lagos, where he co-created Teaching Edge, a project that trained over 240 low-income private school teachers in the Agege community of Lagos state on contemporary pedagogies and innovative teaching methodologies. His work during that fellowship year won him the US Consul General’s Award.
By 2019, Hammed had moved on to the Peace First Fellowship-in-Residence program where he led a movement of young people from rural communities in over 30 Sub-Saharan African countries who are driving social change. He provided mentorship and connect them to resources to create social change within the region
Currently, he serves on the Peace First Board where he supports and mentors young people in education and community development. He is also the Vice President of the Graciella Foundation for the Girl child where he is involved in sensitizing and helping girls develop key life skills such as leadership and character training and volunteers for the Global Shapers Community, SolidariTee which provided legal aid support for refugees in Europe, and the Nigerian Red Cross where he facilitates leadership courses.
Finally
If you’re a young person in tech, take this one piece of advice from Hammed:
‘Every day is an opportunity to stand for something greater than yourself.’
Hammed Alabi
When you choose to innovate, let your tech solutions reflect that.
You can find out more about him here and read some of his writing on his blog. Techtrend Africa applauds your interesting profile. We find you extraordinary and we wish you all the best in your endeavours.