ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM FELLOWSHIP - CLASS OF 2025
United Nations Academic Impact and MCN are proud to partner on the Millennium Fellowship. This year, 60,000+ young leaders applied to join the Class of 2025 on 7,000+ campuses across 170 nations. 290+ campuses worldwide (less than 5%) were selected to host the 4,500+ Millennium Fellows.
UNITED NATIONS ACADEMIC IMPACT AND MCN PROUDLY PRESENT JOY OBASESAM OKOI, A MILLENNIUM FELLOW FOR THE CLASS OF 2025.
University of Lagos | Lagos, Nigeria | Advancing SDG 3, SDG 4, SDG 5, SDG 10 & UNAI 10
" I am passionate about empowering young people, especially girls, to unlock their full potential and become catalysts for change. I stand where I am today because others believed in my dreams, and I am committed to paying that forward. Through Gracias Learning Academy, Biodrive 2.0, and the AM Detector, I am creating pathways that expand access to education and healthcare. As a Millennium Fellow, I seek to collaborate with like-minded fellows to scale impact, inspire global change, and shape a future defined by equity, innovation, and opportunity. "
Millennium Fellowship Project: Way to Go Africa (WTGA)
Way To Go Africa (WTGA): Empowering Young Health Innovators is a direct response to the critical lack of indigenous health technology innovation in Nigeria. We identified that the root of this issue is not a lack of intelligence, but a lack of exposure and belief at the grassroots level. Our project therefore targets secondary school students in underserved public schools, with a strategic focus on young women, who are often furthest from these opportunities.
We serve this audience by moving them from passive consumers of technology to active creators. Through dynamic workshops and mentorship, we introduce them to the fields of biomedical engineering and design thinking, empowering them to ideate and develop low-cost, contextually relevant solutions for local health challenges. This work directly advances SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) by building a pipeline of future innovators, while also critically supporting SDGs 3 (Good Health), 4 (Quality Education), and 5 (Gender Equality).
About the Millennium Fellow
Okoi Joy Obasesam is a Biomedical Engineering student at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. She is passionate about healthcare innovation, education, and leadership. She founded Gracias Learning Academy to expand access to quality learning, organized Biodrive, an AI-for-health innovation program, and currently leads the AM Detector project, a portable, low-cost diagnostic tool for maternal health. Advancing SDG 3 and SDG 4, while reflecting UNAI 3, Joy combines research, innovation, and community impact. She envisions becoming a global leader who pioneers transformative healthcare technologies, strengthens educational systems, and inspires young Africans to create sustainable solutions with worldwide relevance.
