Debola Williams recreates Elumelu’s speech at Harvard Business School

Chief executive officer of RED | For Africa Debola Williams has recreated a speech made by businessman Tony Elumelu on the latter’s visit to Harvard Business School last month.

Mr Elumelu was at the graduate school to witness it teach students using Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) as a case study in using philanthropy to empower generations.

On his arrival at the school, the philanthropist made a short speech standing near the Harvard Business School board. He said it was nostalgic to be at the institution several years after attending the school as a student.

Mr Williams remade the speech on Wednesday and posted the video on Instagram on Thursday.

“Yesterday I saw the @harvardhbs board and decided to reenact @tonyoelumelu,” he wrote.

“Proud to see another Nigerian case study adopted in Harvard! The Tony Elumelu Foundation has done incredible work and built a powerful model worth global assessment. Congrats Sir.”

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The case study, first of its kind on any philanthropic organisation in Africa, was launched on February 29 before a class of graduate students in Boston, Massachusetts and explored the foundation’s unique approaches and transformative initiatives, showcasing how strategic philanthropy offered by TEF is driving positive change and elevating countries and communities.

The Harvard Business School session provided a platform for thought leaders, scholars, and business enthusiasts to engage in a meaningful discussion on the role of philanthropy in shaping sustainable and inclusive economies.

Since the launch of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme in 2015, the foundation has trained over 1.5 million young Africans on its digital hub, TEFConnect, and disbursed over $100 million in direct funding to 20,000 young African women and men, who have collectively created over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs.