Building a Moneywise Generation – The Cowrywise Ambassadors Community.

On the first of November, 2021, Cowrywise made an open call for campus ambassadors all across the country. The message was clear: we want students in tertiary institutions who are passionate about financial literacy, personal development and community. We want students who love investments and savings, who love the Cowrywise brand.

The goal of this call was to increase the number of our campus ambassadors and to also increase our reach. And we did achieve this goal! We got thousands of applications from students all over Nigeria who are willing to join our campus ambassadors community. By the end of the recruitment process, we had 3000 ambassadors in 90 tertiary institutions (universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education) across Nigeria. 

Why the Cowrywise Campus Ambassadors Community? 🤔

At the core of what we do at Cowrywise is financial education. It’s easy to tell people to save and invest their money. However, most people do not take action if they do not know why they should. Nudging people to make wise financial decisions from a place of knowledge is the best way to go. This is what our ambassadors’ community is about. We are educating the Nigerian student populace about money to ensure that they make better financial decisions.

With the weekly knowledge-sharing sessions the ambassadors have, both in their schools and with their fellow ambassadors in other schools, we are revealing the ‘secrets’ of wealth building and wealth management to the younger generation so as to secure their future.

What does the big picture look like? A generation that knows how to make money, save money, invest money and spend money. This is what we are building with the Cowrywise ambassadors’ program, that Moneywise generation. 

Not Just Financial Education…📚

There are other topics that need to be addressed in teaching how to make money, topics like skill acquisition. Currently, we have several skill-based teams in the ambassador program. The oldest of these teams is the design team. This team comprises vibrant students who have a passion for design and are willing to learn and put their knowledge to use. The team hosts regular meetings where they sometimes invite other established designers in the industry to educate them. They also share peer reviews of their works to ensure team and individual growth.

A worthy testimony is that of Hannah Olaniyi, a Biology Education student from University of Lagos who became an ambassador in May 2021. She joined the design team and five months later, became a design intern at the Cowrywise office for two months. During her internship, she was elected by the team as the design lead for the Cowrywise Ambassadors Program. Hannah is currently a product designer and a Women Techsters fellow. 🙌🏽

In addition to the design team, we also have the content team that comprises student content creators who are passionate about financial education and sharing knowledge to their fellow students via their content. 

Why do these skill-based teams matter? They matter because it is easier and better to learn together because skill acquisition is very needed in the internet age where skills which are not taught in schools are required in the job market. They matter because at Cowrywise we are passionate about our ambassadors’ community and want to ensure they have a secure future. 

On Personal Development. 👨‍🏫

In the month of February 2022, the ambassadors’ community focused on learning about Branding. They learned and discussed the basics of personal and corporate branding. During these knowledge-sharing sessions which lasted for a whole month, two ambassadors educated their fellow ambassadors on the subject matter. 

Angel Alphonsus, a Marine Biology student at the University of Lagos and Tolulope Oyejinmi, a Law student from the University of Ibadan handled the knowledge-sharing sessions where they presented to their fellow ambassadors via Zoom. 

Activities like this build confidence, community and leadership skills in our ambassadors, and above all, they bring testimonies like these 

Cowrywise Ambassadors February Branding Meetup.

To end the month, we had a physical meetup at the Cowrywise office. About twenty-five, Cowrywise campus from various institutions were present for this meetup. The event started with introductions and bonding sessions. This was closely followed by games organised by the ambassadors themselves.

After this, there was a talk on Branding by the People and Culture Lead of Cowrywise, Emmanuel Faith. During this session, he touched on why branding matters and why students should be conscious of their personal brand. Emmanuel Faith emphasised that branding is more of how you are perceived than how you are so it is imperative that the public perception of you is controlled by you, not left to chance. 

As with every Cowrywise event, we ended with pictures and food. 🥳

Join the community! 🧘🏽‍♀️

Cowrywise is big on financial education. Knowledge-driven actions last longer than others. This is why we have a campus ambassadors community. We believe that if they know, they will do it. Want to join us? Be a campus ambassador.

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