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An interview with Theophilus Venn, Millennium Fellowship Class of 2020 Adrija, Team MCN: Thank you so much for joining me today and for taking the time to share your Millennium Fellowship story and what you’ve been doing since. To begin, could you tell me a little bit about yourself?  Theophilus: I'm from Nigeria and I am a pharmacist by training and a social entrepreneur by passion. I run an agri-food brand which is into the production of healthier food options and we also provide alternatives to single-use plastics using food innovations. What we do is we provide foods that nourish the people and protect the environment all at the same time. Adrija, Team MCN: I'm curious to know how this space of social impact has been for you now that you have given so much time and effort to advance these sustainable development goals. Do you find it to be supportive? Do you find it to be isolating? How has that journey been?  Theophilus: I run a business which is impacting life, a social enterprise, Venth Ventures Limited. We are the makers of Venn biscuits and Edveen Edible Cup. Yes, an edible cup. So we’re making healthy biscuits through incorporating or fortifying it with fresh tropical fruits in order to improve quality of life while we also shape these biscuits into cups that serve as an alternative to single-use plastics. The journey has not been easy but I would say it has been rewarding because we got to understand that the best form of advocacy is actually demonstration. So what we decided to do is provide these foods that will nourish the people and protect the environment and we actually started out by providing something that the people would see, they would touch, and they would feel it in their everyday life.  Adrija, Team MCN: It is so powerful to hear how you have created a solution that is not just advancing the sustainable development goals and protects the environment but also it's fun. Could you tell me a little bit about what the future success looks like for you and for your project? Theophilus: We are building a scalable solution that tackles food insecurity and plastic pollution. We want to grow to be a leading brand in the food service industry and in the next five years, we also would like to focus on community impact as we promote the sustainable development goals. In the next five years we want to see ourselves become an export-ready brand across Africa and the global continents. This is because we want to raise our voice in global conversations around health sustainability because we believe that Africa has so much to contribute to the future in terms of food and also the planet. Adrija, Team MCN: Amazing, thank you so much for sharing that here. Coming back to the Millennium Fellowship, what made you in the first place apply to the Millennium Fellowship ?  Theophilus: I joined the Millennium Fellowship in the year 2020 as a pharmacy student from the University of Benin.  I am part of a community of students who look out for opportunities to make an impact and during that period, I noticed that colleagues from other departments were talking about the Millennium Fellowship and at that time the application window had opened. [The Millennium Fellowship] was an opportunity for me to share my ideas with like-minded change makers and connect with change makers around the world. So looking back, the journey thus far is the best decision I have made. This birthed a foundation for what I am doing as a social entrepreneur today. The biggest lesson I still carry with me is that collaboration will always beat competition. It is partnerships that make impact truly sustainable. So for me, that has been something I have been carrying all through my journey. Just start... You know why? Because little drops of water actually fill a bucket...small consistency and good actions can make the change that you desire. Adrija, Team MCN: As somebody who has also done the fellowship, is there one value that the fellowship taught you that you think that has informed how you lead? Theophilus: As a social entrepreneur, you can't do it all alone. You need to collaborate. You need mentorship. You need partnership. You also need people to believe in your idea. So for me, collaboration is key for any social enterprise. And if you would allow me to add one more, integrity is also very important. So when you are able to collaborate and you have integrity as your watchword, then I think you are on the right track to make an impact. Adrija, Team MCN: Thank you so much for sharing that. How has your vision evolved from the 2020 Theophilus to the 2025 Theophilus?  Theophilus: Like I said, the Millennium Fellowship birthed what I'm doing today. So it has not really been so easy, most especially coming in from a low income. But for us, impact is very, very essential. So even in our little way, in our little community, just in my area, I'm trying as much as possible to make an impact, to be able to influence policies just around my community in terms of mitigating problems such as pollution around my community.  Adrija, Team MCN:Brilliant. If you were talking to a Millennium Fellow who has just started the fellowship, what is the one piece of advice you would give them?  Theophilus: So if I had the opportunity to talk to my younger self, or fellows coming in, I would say, start where you are with what you have. Don't wait for the perfect condition. You know why? It never comes. So what you have now, just start. That impact you want to make, just start, learn, adjust, and keep going. You know why? Because little drops of water actually fill a bucket, little drops of water actually fills a gallon, little drops of water actually fills up a drum. So small consistency and good actions can actually make the change that you desire.  Adrija, Team MCN: I wish somebody had told this to me when I was starting the fellowship in 2021. I have one final question here, which is not essentially a question, but I want to give you the space for a call to action for the work that you're doing right now . Theophilus: My call to action is simple: support youth-led innovations. Invest in them, partner with them, open doors for them. Because when young people are empowered, they create solutions that are bold, sustainable, and transformative. Together, let’s build a world where the ideas of young changemakers don’t just survive, they thrive, and they make the planet better for all of us. Thank you. When young people are empowered, they create solutions that are bold, sustainable, and transformative. Adrija, Team MCN: Beautiful. Thank you so much, Theophilus. Is there something you would have liked to talk about about your journey that I didn't ask?  Theophilus: My project in 2020 was called Self-Help Garden Initiative, which advocated for nutrition education. Because of COVID it was difficult for people to go out. A lot of people were hungry during that period. We advocated for nutrition education, and growing vegetables and fruits just in your backyard, so that in case there's another lockdown, you don't have to start running around.  At that time, it was also providing some solution that could help with our environment, growing of trees. “Plant something and do something.” That was our little motto. When you have two or three neighbors bring together these vegetables, you can make a soup.  Then another area that I would like to speak about is opportunities for Africans in underserved, low-income communities. Yes, there are certain times that we've seen that it's been very difficult to access global opportunities, to access global speaking engagements, to access global recognition, but I want to say thank you to Millennium Fellowship, for the opportunity to raise my voice, and I want to urge other organizations to look right, into the communities. We have many change makers like myself who are relatively unknown, but they are actually doing great work within their communities, and we would want to get to the global stage so that we can do more.  Adrija, Team MCN: Amazing. I love how you put it, like learn, unlearn, and relearn, and that's how you built your movement today. Thank you so much for being with us and sharing your experience, Theophilus. Theophilus Venn  is a Class of 2020 Millennium Fellow from the University of Benin, and was recognized as an Honorable Mention of the 2025 MCN Stories competition. He joined Adrija Das of Team MCN to talk about his experience with the Millennium Fellowship. The interview has been edited for clarity and length by Team MCN.

Promise Anyanwu  is a Class of 2024 Millennium Fellow from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. She also was awarded Honorable Mention  in the 2025 MCN Stories competition. Promise joined Adrija Das of Team MCN to talk about her experience with the Millennium Fellowship. The interview has been edited for clarity and length by Team MCN. Adrija, Team MCN: Thank you so much, Promise, for agreeing to meet me and talk with me. Could you first tell me a little bit about yourself? Who is Promise, and why was she interested in social impact?  Promise: I'm a final year student of health education at the University of Ibadan. And at the heart of my journey, there's this deep passion for health promotion and advocacy. Earlier on, I realized that health challenges in my community often stem from gaps in awareness and access, with people dependent on curative medicine rather than preventive. And this actually led me to initiatives like Health is Diversification, which is a rural health education program that reaches women with vital information on preventive health. And from there, I found new ways to use my voice while serving as the editor-in-chief of both my department press and the Nigerian Red Cross University of Ibadan Detachment, where I began to use media as a powerful tool for health advocacy. My leadership path expanded further when I actually served as the campus director for the Millennium Fellowship, where we united our voices around social impact and health equity. And I appreciate the power of collaboration in driving change. Currently, my work with the HPV-free future is especially meaningful through cervical cancer awareness and HPV vaccination advocacy. I'm committed to breaking barriers around reproductive health conversations, ensuring that young women and communities are empowered with accurate knowledge that can save lives. And the project has actually reinforced my belief that prevention and education are some of the most powerful tools in public health. And looking forward, I'm pursuing a product management course alongside my health education background. For me, this is not actually a detour from my original goal, but it's an intentional step to learning to design scalable solutions, manage resources effectively, and apply innovation to complex health challenges, whether it is through outreach, media, or system design. My vision is to build a career that blends both public health, communication and policy consultancy. Adrija, Team MCN: The work that you're doing is so important. What has the journey been like, what are a few challenges in the arena of social impact itself, how are you overcoming them?  Promise: Right now, my work focuses on cervical cancer prevention. And so that's actually at the heart of my Millennial Fellowship project, where we talked about cervical cancer, breast cancer, and malaria. I saw that the prevalence of cervical cancer in countries like Nigeria is actually due to systemic ignorance and misconceptions surrounding the HPV vaccination. So many believe that giving their children the vaccine is equal to giving them a free pass to promiscuity. My aim was to dispel these myths and empower parents and young people to actually make informed decisions. So my journey so far has been both satisfying and deeply challenging, because it has actually stretched me beyond what I thought I was capable of doing. It has made me break down all the walls I surrounded myself with, going outside of my comfort zone as an introvert and putting myself out there. But I'm deeply satisfied by the fact that each outreach, each awareness, each card that is filled, each vaccine that has been administered, means that one more girl has a fighting chance at life, that communities are now rethinking their stances, and adolescents who might have never had access to these vaccines are now becoming stakeholders in their own health futures, being change makers, propagating and creating a cycle where every other person around them will take their own health into their hands. And in all, this journey has actually been my greatest teacher. It has taught me patience, it has taught me resilience, and it has built an unshakable spirit of hope in me. Adrija, Team MCN: Thank you so much for sharing, Promise. Let's say, you know, with the work that you're doing with HPV Free Future in your community, say five years from now, what would success look like for you ?  Promise: Okay, with my social impact work, which is HPV Free Future, success to me would be creating a scalable product that would not just be limited to my locality and local governments around me, but something that will cut across states, local governments, where everybody will get to become stakeholders in this work, to create a ripple effect, where even the next adolescents will already have it in the back of their head that this vaccine is actually very important for them and are motivated to go to the primary health centers to get this vaccination. And I'm actually trying to build a career at the intersection of public health, health advocacy, product, and project management to improve and strengthen the culture of preventive health through HPV Free Future. I'm trying to design people-centered programs, apply design thinking and confront problems directly to make sure that in the next five years, it becomes a scalable enterprise that will cut across Nigeria to other African countries. Adrija, Team MCN: Thank you so much for sharing that. Coming back to your Millennium Fellowship journey, how did you find out about the program? What inspired you to be part of the fellowship community?   Promise: I actually first heard about the Millennium Fellowship from an acquaintance's WhatsApp status. So he actually showcased the social impact work that he was doing with his team. And I was intrigued. And it just felt like a light bulb went off in my head. Like, at this point, I already had a deep interest in health advocacy, but I didn't have a clear vision on how to go about it. And the fellowship seemed like a perfect platform: it offered skills, structure, networks, and even global communities that I needed to fully become my true self. So the journey itself was deeply transformational. The opportunity to lead over 20 fellows from different cultural, economic, and academic backgrounds stretched me in ways that I never imagined. Many of these fellows were far ahead of me in experience and even in levels. And yet they'd come to me, look for me for direction, ask questions, and all that. It was deeply humbling for me to be in that position. I had to learn that I was not here because I was better than them. It was just an opportunity for me to serve. It was my very first leadership role and since then, it has opened doors to many other leadership roles. Even now, as a study group leader in my product management track, I chased my shift in orientation back to that particular moment. The realization that I should always seek opportunities to serve and get involved, rather than just sit on the sidelines like I was used to. Some of the most valuable lessons I learned were first that solutions must be built with the communities and not for the communities. That when people become stakeholders rather than spectators, the impact is lasting. And second is that leadership is not just about titles or being the “head,” - it's about service, making people feel that they are safe, and creating an environment where other people can thrive. And the lectures, the peer network, further shaped my perception of life and my social impact. These lessons continue to guide me today in my work with HPV Free Future, and is how I envision my career at the intersection of public health, social impact, and product management. The fellowship seemed like a perfect platform: it offered skills, structure, networks, and even global communities that I needed to fully become my true self...the Millennium Fellowship helped me realize that I'm not to present myself as a savior to [the community], but as someone that is trying to work together with them to create solutions that they actually need. Adrija, Team MCN: That is so powerful to learn, and I'm so glad that was a fellowship experience for you. Is there one value that you learned during the fellowship that you carry on till this day?   Promise: It's not just one value, so I'm just trying to pick one out of the many values. But like I said earlier, it actually shaped the way I went about my social impact work because ordinarily we want to go into the community as saviors, trying to save them from impending doom. But the Millennium Fellowship helped me realize that I'm not to present myself as a savior to them, but as someone that is trying to work together with them to create solutions that they actually need. The Millennium Fellowship helped me to go into the community, look for the community's pain points, something that they actually appreciate and something that they actually need to be solved with them. The different case scenarios that were in the lectures and the slides, where instead of going to the community to give them money, they were able to create scalable initiatives that put it in their own hands, where they had to work to become stakeholders. So stories like this shaped the way I go about my social impact work.  Adrija, Team MCN: Amazing. If there was one advice you would want to give the upcoming classes of the Millennium Fellowship program, what would that be?   Promise: Make the most out of the opportunity. As the campus director, I had the opportunity to be up and center and to see a lot of my fellows. I saw different people, both the ones that came in with A-games, willing to serve. I saw the ones that just came to get the certificate. They're the ones that felt like the fellowship was going to offer them some sort of grant and they're just here for the money. But I feel like they should define their why. Why are they here? What do they hope to get out of the fellowship? And they should walk towards it. The fellowship is a platform that, when used judiciously, will reap ripple benefits in their future lives and careers, their professional lives. So if they maximize and make the best of it, it will actually show in every single thing that they do later on in life. So I would advise them to, first off, to know their whys and to let that why direct them in their four months’ journey in the fellowship.  Adrija, Team MCN: That is a very important advice to take home.To the wider audience who would be reading this blog, Promise, is there something about the work that you're doing you would like for them to know, any pointed advice for people who want to work in the space of reproductive health and preventive medicine?   Promise: So one thing I would want the fellowship to know is the fact that, unlike other types of cancers, cervical cancer can be, to a large extent, prevented as we have been able to trace  a particular variant of HPV to be one of the leading causes of cervical cancer along with other risk factors. So now that we have this in our hands, I want us to actually leverage it. So many developed and developing countries have actually adopted this and taken this seriously, but countries like Nigeria and other African countries have sort of developed a misconception around it, which is preventing us from going ahead and having a scalable vaccination drive. So I want people around us to actually take it into our own hands to, as much as possible, educate people around us, because it's collective work. It's a collective journey and we all need to take action around it, because one less person needs to suffer from this, one less family needs to go through the burden and despair of cervical cancer. So I want us to educate people around us, make sure that each girl has been vaccinated against the HPV vaccine, and we thank God that here in Nigeria the vaccine is actually free and readily available, but these same misconceptions and myths still serve as a barrier to them taking it. So I just want us to be change agents and propagators of this information to those around us, especially those in rural communities where this information is not readily available to them. Thank you.

Margaret Awoyo  is a Class of 2024 Millennium Fellow from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. She also won the 2025 MCN Stories competition . Margaret joined Adrija Das of Team MCN to talk about her experience with the Millennium Fellowship. The interview has been edited for clarity and length by Team MCN. Adrija, Team MCN: Thank you so much for joining me to talk about your Millennium Fellowship story and the journey after the fellowship. Why don't you begin by telling me a little bit about yourself and who you are.  Margaret Awoyo: My name is Margaret Awoyo, I'm a Nigerian, and at my core I would say I'm a storyteller and a bridge builder. I'm very passionate about communication and social impact. For me, I grew up seeing so many brilliant young people who had dreams but not tools to achieve them. That planted in me a burden to create systems that would unlock opportunities regardless of where someone was born. Professionally I've worked in communications, branding and PR, helping organizations craft narratives that inspire people to take action. My deepest passion lies in education, empowerment, and designing ecosystems where possibility is not limited by environment. That's what has shaped my journey so far, and why I wake up every day excited to build.  Adrija, Team MCN: Could you share with us a little bit more about the work that you're doing right now and how your journey in the arena of social impact has been?  Margaret Awoyo: Okay, right now I lead the Bridging the Gap Initiative,  under Limitless Africa. We work with underserved teenagers to improve literacy, provide mentorship, and equip them with digital skills that are directly tied to opportunities. For example, earlier this year we started a book club in schools. Kids have told us, “oh, this is the first book I've ever read outside schoolwork. Oh, I understand identity better.” Moments like that have struck me, showing me how something as simple as introducing books could ignite a new horizon for a child. And on the digital side, we've introduced students to skills like video editing, writing and graphic design. One of our girls, learned graphics, started designing, and has already matched up with an industry leader. This is a reminder that when you give skills, you give dignity and responsibility.  The journey has not been easy. Resources are scarce and sustainability is always a concern. But I've learned creativity, resilience, and the power of starting with what you have. I've also seen our community and collaboration multiply impact. Working in social impact means navigating immediate resources, but finding creative ways to make lasting change.  Adrija, Team MCN: Of course. Thank you so much for sharing. Could you tell us a little bit more about your future aspirations? How do you plan to leverage the leadership and the social impact skills you have acquired in shaping the future?  Margaret Awoyo: My vision is to scale Limitless Africa into a pan-African organization that transforms how we approach education and empowerment, something that really finds access to opportunity based on creativity. I want to build student hubs that combine literacy, mentorship and digital innovation, a physical space they can walk into instead of a mobile initiative that we have to move from here to there, places where young people can learn, practice, and connect. The leadership skill I've been honing has been mobilizing people that I will use to scale this work. From my MCN journey, I learned that impact is about consistent, thoughtful steps that create ripples. My focus is on building strong, replicable systems that will impact without losing quality or depth.  From my MCN journey, I learned that impact is about consistent, thoughtful steps that create ripples. My focus is on building strong, replicable systems that will impact without losing quality or depth.  Adrija Das, Team MCN: Could you describe your Millennium Fellowship journey for us, particularly how you found out about the program and what led you to apply? And are there any learnings from your time in the program that you still carry with you till this day?  Margaret Awoyo: I found out about the  Millennium Fellowship during my undergraduate years from a friend. During the Millennium Fellowship, my project was quality education for all (QEFA). This was born out of the frustration I carried from childhood. While everyone believes education is a pathway to a better life, society has consistently failed to provide equitable access to it, especially for children in underserved communities. So QEFA was my first structured attempt to confront that disparity. I partnered with Slum2School Africa to advocate and create awareness about the access to education. We had mentorship programs for students in schools. We also had skill acquisition and we also provided psychosocial support because we were working alongside a professional psychologist to help these children in vulnerable settings.  The deeper I went, the more I realized that awareness was not enough. Inequity wasn't just about access to classrooms. It was more about access to opportunities, mentorship, and practical tools to rise above systemic barriers. It was due to that realization that I first started Bridging the Gap under Limitless Africa. In so many ways, my Millennium Fellowship project itself was the seed. But, you know, I would say bridging the gap is a tree that is still growing anyway. The vision has matured. It has become more practical, more measurable, closer to the sustainable impact I've always dreamed of.  Adrija, Team MCN: Amazing. Thank you so much for sharing that. I'm curious to know if there is one experience during the fellowship that stands out for you, and what was it? Margaret Awoyo: The fellowship was when I led my first real social impact project. But the fellowship taught me that impact is not always about skill. You know, it's about small, consistent steps that actually create change. And the campus directors then were very helpful. I still remember Gamaliel and Eniola. Millennium Fellowship opened my eyes to the fact that passion is not enough. The passion is there. It can cause you to start, you know, but sustainable systems are what sustain it. Sustainability is not something that you can take out of your project. Adrija, Team MCN: Thank you so much for sharing. As somebody who has been in the Millennium Fellowship program and continued on the path of social impact, what would be the one advice you would want Millennium Fellows to know as they prepare to enter the social impact space?  Margaret Awoyo:  Start small, but stay very consistent. When it comes to social impact there's that zeal to want to do so much, want to reach so many people, you know. But when you start to see the magnitude you can easily get overwhelmed. So don't wait until you have everything figured out. Use what you have, where you are, and even who you are, and let your vision go with you. Also understand that passion ignites the fire, but purpose is what drives it. There will be challenges, there will be doubts, and seasons of slow growth. But what will keep you grounded is the reason you started, your why. And finally, impact is not a sprint. Impact is a journey. It's something that you have to keep doing and doing. So you have to build for sustainability. Passion ignites the fire, but purpose is what drives it. Adrija, Team MCN: That was powerful, Margaret. Speaking about the work that you're currently doing, what would you want our Millennium Fellowship community to know? And if anybody's interested in working in the space of quality education, what would be any lesson or advice for them?  Margaret Awoyo: I want the communities to know that Bridging the Gap initiative under Limitless Africa is about giving young Africans the chance to dream, and build beyond the environment. We work with teenagers in underserved schools, through literacy clubs, digital empowerment programs, mentorship, and exposure opportunities. Imagine a student from a rural community, not only reading their first book, but also learning web design,  building their first website, and interning with a company. That's the kind of transformation we're creating. It's important because Africa's future depends on its young people, but too many people are left behind because of geography or lack of resources. So when we bridge this gap, we're able to unlock limitless possibilities, not just for individuals, but for the future of our continent. Transformation and impact starts with one person. You can look at the number, look what you need to solve, but you can start with one person and you don't have to cover numbers. Transformation doesn't equal numbers, actually. It's just consistency that gives you that number. If you have transformation at the core of what you're doing, you really want to make an impact. It starts with one person. Adrija, Team MCN: Wonderful. That brings us to the end of today's call. Thank you so much for sharing, Margaret!

Class of 2024 Career Accelerator now through December 2025 Propelling Millennium Fellowship alums from the Class of 2024 to early career success by leveraging networks and expanding social impact career pipelines. Register for upcoming events Class of 2024 Alumni Career Accelerator Programming Calendar Register for upcoming events Career Accelerator Event Recordings Click on any of the event recordings below to catch up on Career Accelerator offerings. Register for events Career Accelerator Event Resources Download resources from the Career Accelerator events.

Welcome Home Welcome Home Welcome Home Welcome Home Propelling Millennium Fellowship alums from the Class of 2024 to early career success by leveraging networks and expanding social impact career pipelines. Register for upcoming events Class of 2024 Alumni Career Accelerator Programming Calendar Register for upcoming events Career Accelerator Event Recordings Click on any of the event recordings below to catch up on Career Accelerator offerings. Out of gallery Register for events Career Accelerator Event Resources Download resources from the Career Accelerator events. Out of gallery

< Back to opportunities Marshall Scholarship Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission Presented by: Scholarship/Fellowship This opportunity is a: Applications are due by: July & September About this opportunity Offers funding for graduate study at any university in the United Kingdom. Eligibility: U.S. citizens who have earned a bachelor's degree and demonstrate leadership potential. Please consult the host website to confirm these and other details regarding eligibility and deadlines. Learn more & apply Previous Next