At the 2026 Luminary Awards, Inyene Ikpe, Director of Learning Programmes at Genesys Foundation, was named one of Nigeria's Top 10 Luminary Changemakers, recognising the Foundation's contribution to youth empowerment and human capital development. Alongside the honour, Genesys Foundation received an impact grant from The Luminary Project to help scale its mission of transforming lives across Nigeria.
The award represents the work of a whole community, years of quietly building pathways for young Nigerians to access quality education, acquire in-demand skills, secure meaningful employment, and build sustainable careers.
This report is a look back at that work: where it started, what it has grown into, and what the recognition means for what comes next.
Where It Started
Genesys Foundation traces back to 2016, when Genesys Tech Hub launched a free initiative to train tech talent for its parent company, Tenece, and affiliated businesses. What began as a single on-site cohort, capped at 32 people a year, has grown into a structured, multi-programme non-profit dedicated to reducing poverty and unemployment among women and young people across Africa.
Across Upskill, Learnable, Genesys Academy, and CodeVille alone, over 2,860 interns have been onboarded over the past year.
Graduates of the programme have gone on to roles at companies including Google and Microsoft, and others have founded their own ventures.
Building People, Building Possibilities
Genesys Foundation’s belief is simple: talent is one of Nigeria’s greatest resources, and every young person deserves the chance to learn, grow, and contribute, regardless of background. That belief runs through every initiative the Foundation has launched.
Impact Snapshot
Behind every cohort table above is a group of young people who walked in looking for a foothold and walked out with a skill, mentor, and a network. Each number is a life changed, and a ripple effect that extends into families, businesses, and communities across Nigeria.
Recognition Rooted in Impact
The 2026 Luminary Awards was the third edition of the ceremony, held in Victoria Island, Lagos, bringing together Nigeria’s top 10 changemakers working across education, health, community development, youth empowerment, sustainability, innovation, and social enterprise. Genesys Foundation stood among them, recognised for the same quiet, unglamorous work of skills-building that has defined the organisation since 2016.
Alongside the recognition, The Luminary Project announced up to ₦6 million in impact funding for selected changemakers, part of a broader push to move beyond recognition into tangible, long-term support. According to its Executive Director, Napa Onwusah, credible changemakers doing sustainable work on the ground are often the ones with the least access to funding and government support, and the Awards exist to change that.
The funding itself runs through three distinct streams: one dedicated to top-performing changemakers within the Awards cohort (the category Genesys Foundation was recognised under), a second supporting alumni beneficiaries through periodic funding rounds, and a third open to NGOs beyond the Luminary network entirely. Onwusah has also pointed to a wider gap the Project is trying to close, funding alone isn’t enough; visibility and experienced mentorship for emerging NGOs matter just as much.
The ceremony drew representatives from MTN, Amazon Web Services, and the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) initiative, among other development partners and ecosystem leaders, a sign of the growing collaboration between the private sector and grassroots social impact work in Nigeria.
For Genesys Foundation, the recognition affirms a belief that has anchored the work from the start: sustainable development begins with investing in people.
The Work Ahead
The impact grant from The Luminary Project is more than financial support. It is an investment in a model that has consistently shown that empowering people creates lasting change. It will let Genesys Foundation deepen its programmes, expand its reach, and keep creating opportunities for young Nigerians to thrive.
Recognition is encouraging. But the Foundation’s greatest measure of success will always be the lives transformed through access to education, technology, mentorship, and opportunity.
With Gratitude
Genesys Foundation extends its thanks to The Luminary Project for recognising this journey, and to every partner, mentor, volunteer, alumnus, and team member who has helped make this impact possible.
This honour belongs to all of us. Because when one young person is empowered, an entire community moves forward.
#weAreGenesys