Closing the opportunity gap for students in Alabama and beyond

Impact First Foundation began when Oluwatofunmi Adojutelegan was a high school junior. She describes it as a youth-led initiative whose primary goal is "to empower students by providing them with opportunities to gain access to leadership development, career skills, and opportunities that they may not have." The goal, she says, is to teach students how to use those resources to make an impact in their communities.

She is now a student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, majoring in biomedical engineering with a minor in education. She also recently incorporated Impact First Foundation as an official nonprofit organization in Alabama. The foundation has already started hosting programs and initiatives on leadership development, mentorship, career exploration and community service.

“Impact isn't just about what you accomplish for yourself; it's about what you make possible for others.”

Oluwatofunmi Adojutelegan

The project comes from her own experience. "As a first-generation student in the US, I often felt like I was figuring out a lot of academic resources on my own," she says. "I didn't know about many scholarship opportunities, leadership programs, internships, how to build a resume, or what a LinkedIn profile was." She was interested in leadership, she says, but did not always have access to the resources or proper guidance that could help her get started.

Part of it also goes back to what she saw growing up in Nigeria. "I saw many young people miss out on opportunities simply because they lacked access to information and resources," she says. Some students could not continue their education. Others struggled to find employment after graduation because there were not enough resources.

"Those experiences inspired me to create opportunities for others," she says.