Olamide has been a runner for as long as she can remember, recalling fond memories of the excitement of sports days at school in Nigeria before moving to the UK at the age of nine. A gifted sportswoman, Olamide was immediately put on the Gifted & Talented track for athletics at her new primary school. She went on to captain her secondary school athletics team, was selected for multiple school sports teams and competed successfully as a sprinter at district level, before a torn meniscus called time on her childhood athletics days. By then, Olamide had been training with the Newham & Essex Beagles, had become part of the athletics family and understood how much she had gained in discipline and academic focus, personal development and fulfilment from her sporting endeavours. Olamide had also been volunteering since the age of 14 with the borough of Newham to encourage more of her local community to get involved in sport, and realised how powerful it could be to use a personal passion to effect change.
Aged 16, Olamide read about a youth leadership programme at McKinsey. Alongside her best friend, Kike Adediji, Olamide noted that she was one of just a handful of young people from a state school to attend, and although the many privately-educated pupils on the programme were much more "normal" and down to earth than she had expected, Olamide also saw that they seemed at ease in that corporate environment, having been exposed to a similar situation before. In contrast, it was Olamide's first time so far outside of her comfort zone, despite having volunteered with The Salvation Army, campaigned for The Samaritans, and organised volunteer groups for the Anniversary Olympic and Paralympic Games. In discussing with her friend how spontaneous their applications had been and how many young people like them would have missed out just because they were unaware of the opportunity, Olamide also realised that it was her experiences with sports that had made her comfortable embracing new and sometimes intimidating environments. Out of a desire to help other young people develop confidence and curiosity to explore beyond their local bubble, Olamide and Kike co-founded LIVE - Learn, Inspire, Visualise, Elevate.
LIVE is a mentoring project that encourages young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds to look beyond their immediate environment for positive opportunities for personal development, as well as teaching practical skills including public speaking and networking. Whilst still at school themselves, the LIVE duo began with a five-month pilot study mentoring young people aged 12-18 fortnightly in Olamide's local area of Havering. Olamide and her co-founder planned and ran every session personally, advising other young people on potential career paths, business opportunities and better ways to harness creativity. Since Olamide learned so much informally and as a byproduct of pursuing her passion - such as public speaking, confidence and communication skills through giving college assemblies - much of the focus during LIVE is on keeping sessions fun and informative, while demonstrating how new situations give more opportunities to learn.
Despite having less spare time since starting university, Olamide decided to keep LIVE going by running annual workshops each summer. With funding and event space from the O2 ThinkBig campaign, LIVE hosted a networking, teamwork and communication workshop in 2017, before expanding to run two skills workshops in summer 2018. Looking beyond their graduation in summer 2019, the LIVE team hopes to return to more regular projects, with longer, intensive workshops and development programmes on the horizon for the young people they support.
Olamide was appointed as a Youth Policy Representative for the Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS), receiving interview and research technique training. She went on to investigate how young people learn through formal and informal channels, and to measure the effectiveness of youth clubs and extra-curricular activities in the community. Olamide has since been appointed as one of 24 young people across England by the DCMS and the British Youth Council to advise the Government on the effect their policies may have on young people in their communities. These roles have hardened Olamide's resolve to become a policy advisor for education and youth, having seen firsthand the importance of having young people represented as part of the decision-making process for policies that affect them directly.
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