The second edition of Be Empowered, hosted by Layal Jade Tinubu and Noella Foundation, was held on Saturday, 12 April 2025, in Lagos, Nigeria. The event convened over one hundred and fifty (150) guests for a one-day summit focused on supporting women-led businesses.
This year’s programme attracted more than two thousand five hundred (2,500) applicants. From this pool, two hundred (200) business owners were shortlisted to attend the summit, and the top five (5) finalists were invited to pitch their businesses before a panel of judges on Thursday, 10 April. At the summit, nine (9) winners were announced, with the highest grant winners emerging from the pitch session and others selected based on their application. Following the event, an additional eleven (11) attendees were further selected to receive grants, bringing the total number of grant recipients to twenty (20).
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In her welcome address, Layal Jade Tinubu spoke about her passion for empowering women in business, highlighting that these financial empowerment will help them START, SUSTAIN and SCALE.
The summit featured engaging sessions with speakers including Elizabeth Isiorho, Founder of BETH Model Management, and Ibiyinka Ibru, CEO and Lead Financial Advisor at Moneystart.
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A fireside chat with Layal Tinubu, Founder and Managing Director of Tots Toys and Co-founder of the Noella Foundation, delved into her entrepreneurial journey, from transitioning out of the corporate world to balancing family and business.
Previous grant recipients from the 2024 edition returned to share how the programme transformed their businesses. They spoke about how the funding and, more importantly, the intensive bootcamp equipped them with the tools to improve operations, build stronger structures, and pursue growth with clarity.
This year, the twenty (20) grant winners have successfully completed a rigorous five-week bootcamp designed as the culmination of the Be Empowered initiative. The bootcamp provided expert-led sessions on strategic planning, financial management, operational efficiency, and long-term scalability.
By combining funding with an integrated learning experience, BE EMPOWERED founded by Layal Tinubu continues to set a benchmark for impactful entrepreneurship development for Nigerian women in enterprise.
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