Age
13
Country of Residence
Nigeria
Founding Story: What was the spark that led you to start your project? What was the "Aha!" moment that led you to get started and see the potential for this to succeed?
I have always been a very curious person. At school, in the car, or even just walking around, I ask questions that might sound weird or even stupid, but I still want to know the answer. Why is the sun so hot? How big is the internet actually? How big is space? My “aha!” moment happened one day while I was sitting on my bed studying for a math test. I suddenly thought, “What if we are focusing on the wrong thing?” That question led me to think about cancer and develop my own ideas about how we approach it. I wanted to explore the question further, so I shared my thoughts with my mom. She seemed uninterested, and instead of making me stop asking questions, that experience made me wonder: What about other people like me who have endless questions but may not always have someone interested in exploring them? That was when I imagined a place where anyone could bring a question—about cancer, health, science, space, art, their community, or something completely unexpected—and other people could add their perspectives and ideas. But I didn't want it to end with discussion. I wanted questions to have the potential to become solutions and real action. That idea became curiousMINDS. I realized that curiosity doesn't have to be weird, insignificant, or something we outgrow. Curiosity has no age or limit—and a simple “What if?” could be the beginning of something meaningful.
How do you encourage other people to join your project or learn about the problem you’re working on? If you have a new idea, tell us how you will do this in the future.
Because curiousMINDS is still in its early stage, I have not yet built a large community, but I plan to begin by sharing the idea with people around me and inviting them to contribute questions and ideas. I would encourage people to start with whatever they are genuinely curious about, even if the question seems unusual or very simple. I would also share examples of how a question can grow into action, such as turning an idea about planting into a school project or exploring an environmentally friendly way to improve drainage. As the platform grows, I would use schools, community groups, social media, and word-of-mouth to introduce curiousMINDS to more people. Users would be able to share interesting questions and projects with others, helping the community grow naturally. I would also highlight ideas that develop into real actions so people can see that participating is not just about posting—it can lead to something tangible. Most importantly, I want people to feel that their voice belongs on curiousMINDS. You do not need to be an expert, have a huge idea, or be a certain age to contribute. You simply need to be curious enough to ask, “What if?”
How many people are on your team?
1
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
curiousMINDS is still at the idea stage, so I have not yet reached a large number of people or completed projects. However, I believe its first impact will be creating a space where people feel that their questions and ideas are worth exploring. I want curiousMINDS to reach people of different ages and backgrounds who may have questions, ideas, or problems they want to explore but do not have a place to share them. I hope to help people move from simply having a thought to discussing it, developing it with others, and eventually taking action. I would measure the project's impact through both numbers and outcomes: how many people join, how many questions are posted, how many ideas receive contributions, how many people collaborate, and how many ideas become real projects or community actions. For example, a question about improving drainage could lead to an environmental project, while an idea about planting could become a real school planting space. My goal is not simply to build a platform with many users. I want to see evidence that curiosity is creating connections and producing action. If a question that might once have been ignored becomes an idea, and that idea becomes something useful in a community, curiousMINDS has made a difference.
Project Category
My project is a brand new / emerging idea
Project Stage
Idea (We’re hoping to get started in the future)
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
curiousMINDS is a platform where people of all ages can ask questions others might overlook, connect different perspectives, and turn curiosity into ideas, practical solutions, and real-world action—because every meaningful change can begin with a simple “What if?”
Project title
curiousMINDS
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
The problem I want to help solve is the gap between having a question or idea and turning it into something meaningful. People everywhere are curious, but questions can be ignored because they seem strange, too simple, or unrelated to what others consider important. Someone may also have an idea for improving a problem in their school or community but not know who to share it with or how to develop it further. This matters to me because I experience this curiosity myself. I ask questions constantly, including questions about science, health, space, and problems I notice around me. I believe some of the questions people overlook could lead to valuable ideas if they were given the chance to be explored. In my community, solutions do not always have to be huge inventions. A question about flooding could lead to an environmentally friendly drainage idea in a village in Yobe. An idea about plants could become a planting space at a school. Someone could even turn a concern about their community into a small service club. I want to help create a culture where people take their questions seriously, learn from different perspectives, and see curiosity not as the end of a thought, but as the beginning of action.
Website URL(s) or social media handles.
I have none because, this is a developing idea but I am working on it .
What’s Next: What are the next steps you plan to take to grow or strengthen your project over the next year? If your project is still in the idea stage, describe the steps you will take over the next three months to launch or begin developing it.
Over the next three months, my first goal is to turn curiousMINDS from an idea into something people can actually experience. I will begin by defining the main features of the platform and creating an initial prototype where people can post questions, share ideas, respond to others, and develop promising ideas into possible solutions. I will test the prototype with a small group of students, teachers, family members, and other people who are interested in asking questions and solving problems. I will use their feedback to improve how curiousMINDS works and make it easier for people of different ages and backgrounds to participate. I also want to identify a few questions that could become small real-world projects, such as creating a planting space at a school or exploring an environmentally friendly drainage idea for a community. After the initial testing, I plan to expand the community through schools, community organizations, social media, and word-of-mouth. I will look for people with different skills who can contribute to questions and projects, because curiousMINDS should not depend on one person's knowledge. My goal for the first year is not simply to have more users. I want to see questions become ideas, ideas become collaborations, and collaborations become real action. Curiosity has no age or limit.
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
What makes curiousMINDS different is that it does not treat curiosity as simply a way to find answers. It treats questions as starting points for collaboration and action. There are already platforms where people can ask questions, share content, discuss topics, or organize community projects. However, curiousMINDS would bring these ideas together around one simple process: a question can become an idea, an idea can become a collaboration, and a collaboration can become a real-world solution. For example, someone could ask, “What if our community could improve its drainage without harming the environment?” Instead of the question receiving a few answers and disappearing, people could research possible approaches, add different perspectives, identify others interested in the problem, and develop the idea into a practical project. The same process could happen with a school planting space, a community-service project, or a scientific question. Another part of the innovation is that curiousMINDS is designed for everyone. Curiosity is not limited by age, profession, education, or subject. A student could contribute to a question alongside a teacher, artist, engineer, researcher, parent, or community member. Different perspectives could make an idea stronger. I also want the platform to document what happens to ideas after they are posted. Users could follow an idea's progress and see whether it led to research, collaboration, a project, or another useful outcome. The innovation is not simply creating another place to post questions.
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
curiousMINDS would be a digital platform where people of all ages can post questions, ideas, and problems they are curious about—even when they seem unusual, simple, or difficult to explain. A person could ask something about cancer, health, science, space, art, their school, or a problem in their community. Other users could respond with their knowledge, perspectives, questions, experiences, or possible approaches. This allows one person's curiosity to connect with perspectives they may never have encountered on their own. But curiousMINDS would not stop at discussion. Users could develop promising questions and ideas into practical projects or community actions. For example, a question about improving drainage in a village in Yobe could lead to research into affordable, environmentally friendly drainage solutions. An idea about plants could become a planting space at a school, while a concern about a community could inspire a small community-service project. The platform would allow users to continue developing ideas instead of letting them disappear after one conversation. People could follow questions, contribute to ideas, find others interested in the same problem, and document what they learn or create. My goal is to create a cycle: Ask → Explore → Connect → Build → Act. curiousMINDS would show people that they do not need to be experts or have a huge invention to contribute. Sometimes meaningful change begins with one person asking, “What if?” and then finding others willing to ask, “What can we do about it?”
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
I am currently developing curiousMINDS independently, so I am the project’s founder and lead. I guide the vision, develop the concept, and make the main project decisions. As curiousMINDS grows, I would like to build a team with people who bring different strengths, such as technology, research, community engagement, and design. I would share leadership by giving team members responsibility for areas they are best suited to lead.
