Country of Residence
Nigeria
Age
18
Project title
RiseHub
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
RiseHub is a student-focused opportunity and growth community that uses accessible platforms to help young people, including those often outside opportunity networks, cut through the overwhelming search for opportunities by connecting them with relevant opportunities, application guidance, and the support they need to pursue them.
Website URL(s) or social media handles.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/immaculate-ikegwuonu-16a26b378
Project Category
My project is an existing project that I started
Project Stage
Growth (We’ve moved past the very first activities and are beginning to have consistent weekly or monthly impact)
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 had 250+ opportunities saved in my spreadsheet, yet I felt like I had found nothing. When I received a scholarship to continue my secondary education in Anambra State, I discovered a different side of student life from the rural area I grew up in Taraba State. I saw NGOs, student communities, and platforms connecting young people to opportunities beyond the classroom. I started participating and discovering things I had never encountered before. It showed me how access could change what a student sees as possible. My “aha” moment came in university, when I no longer had teachers bringing opportunities to me. I had to find them. I could spend hours on Google typing “opportunities for undergraduates,” opening websites, checking eligibility, saving opportunities, and moving to the next. The list kept growing, but my options didn't. I had over 250 saved, yet only a handful fit me. That was when I realized the problem wasn't that opportunities didn't exist. Finding the right ones was overwhelming. Then came the applications and requirements, which could make a good opportunity feel out of reach. Sometimes, I didn't need someone to do it for me. I needed help finding what fit, someone to ask, “Have you applied yet?” and keep me going. That frustration became the spark for RiseHub: to help student find the right opportunities, prepare for them, and keep going.
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
I remember the nights I stayed up searching Google for opportunities. I would check each one to see if I could apply, and if I couldn’t, I moved to the next. Then another, and another. After hours of searching, I would look at my list and realize that out of all those opportunities, only a few suited me. My list was very long, but my options were not. After a while, I started wondering if there could ever be an opportunity for someone like me. Then I started noticing the same pattern in my own student community. I saw students with potential miss opportunities because they were not on the platforms where they were shared, did not know where to look, or lacked the CVs, accounts, projects, or guidance needed to apply. Even after finding the right opportunity, the process can be overwhelming. Sometimes, all a student needs is someone to ask, “Have you applied yet?” and encourage them to keep going. Seeing this made me realize the problem is not that opportunities do not exist. There is a gap between students and the opportunities that could change their lives. This matters to me because I have experienced that gap myself and seen talented students in my community face it too. That is the gap I am trying to solve. RiseHub is my attempt to make opportunity access less overwhelming by helping students find what fits, prepare for it, and have the support to keep going.
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
RiseHub solves this problem by turning the overwhelming search for opportunities into a guided process, using WhatsApp, a platform students already use every day. I chose WhatsApp intentionally because students are already using it. Instead of creating another platform they would have to learn or remember to check, I can easily reach students where they already are, through university and departmental groups. When a student joins RiseHub, they fill out a Google Form sharing their education level, interests, skills, goals, and the opportunities they are looking for. This helps me understand what each student needs. I then search for scholarships, fellowships, internships, competitions, bootcamps, volunteering opportunities, and other programs and filter them based on relevance and eligibility. Instead of overwhelming students with hundreds of links, I share opportunities that fit them and explain important requirements and application steps. But finding an opportunity is only the first step. I help students prepare their CVs and LinkedIn profiles, understand eligibility requirements, improve applications, and navigate steps they may not know how to complete. I also organize practical sessions on CVs, LinkedIn, and applications and use voice notes to explain things more clearly when needed. For students who need more personalized support, I hold one-on-one sessions every Sunday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., where we go through opportunities and applications step by step. I also follow up with students. Sometimes the support they need is simply someone asking, “Have you applied yet?” and encouraging them to keep going. Through this approach, RiseHub helps students move from finding an opportunity to understanding it, preparing for it, and taking action.
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
I created the RiseHub WhatsApp community on September 9, 2026, with 8 students. I started sharing it through my school's departmental group, and students began inviting friends. In less than two weeks, we grew from 8 to 50, then 90, and now about 140 members. But the impact for me is not just the number. It is what I have watched students begin to do. I started receiving messages like, “How do I do this?” and “I don’t understand this.” Students were interested in opportunities, but many needed someone to make the process clearer and encourage them to take the first step. During one practical session, more than 20 students created LinkedIn accounts and began building their professional profiles. Students who were initially unsure started asking questions, learning how to present themselves, and becoming willing to try. I have seen this lead to actual opportunities. After I shared the International Youth Conference opportunity through RiseHub, 8+ members were accepted as delegates, with 3 also becoming ambassadors. For a project less than a month old, these are meaningful early signs of change. RiseHub is helping students move from “I don’t know how” to asking questions, preparing themselves, and taking action. What started from a problem I personally experienced is becoming a pathway for other students to discover opportunities and believe they can pursue them.
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
Funny enough, when I started RiseHub, competitors were the last thing on my mind. I had experienced the problem myself, got frustrated, and started thinking, “Okay, how can I solve this?” So I started building. It was only after I began that I thought, “Wait, let me see if someone is already doing this.” I searched for opportunity platforms and communities and, wow, I found plenty. There were websites, apps and platforms with thousands of followers doing things similar to what I was building. I was impressed by how far they had gone. But it made me ask: what about students who are not on those platforms? Many students use LinkedIn and Instagram, but many others do not. Yet those are places where opportunities are heavily shared. That became one thing I wanted RISEHUB to do differently. I chose WhatsApp intentionally because it is already part of everyday student life. Through university and departmental groups, I can reach students where they already are, including those who may never see the same opportunities elsewhere. Students can also invite friends, helping the community grow from connection to connection. But accessibility is only part of it. Many opportunity groups simply post links. RISEHUB takes students further. I filter opportunities based on what they are looking for, explain requirements, help with CVs, LinkedIn profiles and applications, offer one-on-one support, and follow up. Sometimes I ask, “Are you still applying?” Because students do not always need another link. Sometimes they need clarity, guidance, or a push to keep going. RISEHUB is still small, but its uniqueness is in combining accessibility, personalized opportunity matching, practical preparation, and follow-through in one student-centered community.
How many people are on your team?
1
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
RiseHub currently has one core team member: me. I’m the founder and project lead, handling strategy, opportunity research and filtering, community management, student support, sessions, and follow-up. I also have two coaches and a mentor who I share my ideas and progress with. They give feedback, challenge my thinking, and keep me accountable. I also listen to feedback from friends in the community. As RiseHub grows, I expect the team to grow with 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.
Sometimes when I think about what RiseHub could become, I have to pause. The vision in my head is much bigger than what it is today, and that is exciting, but a little scary too. I started with literally what I had: WhatsApp, Google Forms, and a problem I personally experienced. But seeing how quickly RiseHub is growing has made me realize I cannot keep thinking of it as just a WhatsApp community. Over the next year, I want to grow RiseHub into a small, structured organization that can reach students beyond my university. I also want to build myself through trainings, workshops, and leadership programs in advocacy, community building, and project management. Then I want to train 3–5 student volunteers in research, outreach, community management, and student development. I also want to explore the OpenAI API to make opportunity matching more personalized. I can build a database of opportunities, while AI analyzes their requirements and matches them with students based on their interests, goals, education, skills, and activities. Eventually, students could receive relevant opportunities directly through email or WhatsApp. Getting there will require resources for training, technology, outreach, and workshops. Sometimes the size of this vision scares me and makes me smile. I want to keep building, keep learning, and build something that can last.
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.
When I created RiseHub, I realized the easiest way to get students involved was to make them see themselves in the problem. Whenever I shared my RiseHub flyer in WhatsApp groups, I started with the problem, not “Join my community.” I talked about spending hours searching for opportunities, finding most were not a fit, and not knowing where to start. Students would reply, “This is exactly what I’m experiencing.” That connection made them curious enough to join and get involved right away. I also reached out personally. Early on, some joined and left. I went to their DMs, asked about their experiences, explained why I created RiseHub, and invited them back. Sometimes, making someone feel understood was enough. Since launching, RiseHub has grown from 8 to about 140 students in less than two weeks. More than 20 have created LinkedIn accounts through our practical sessions, shared CVs and applications, and started taking action. Then something happened that showed me the community was becoming bigger than me. After I shared the International Youth Conference opportunity, 8+ members were accepted as delegates and 3 became ambassadors. Those members started inviting their friends without me asking. For me, activating others means helping someone take that first step, experience the value, then bring someone else along.
