On DFA Interview Series- Meet Daisy Enekole Ibilola Yusuf, the Co-Founder/Chief Operating Officer of Siloan Medical Centre & Founder, Accessible Care for Everyone Initiative.
Tell us about yourself?
My name is Daisy Enekole Ibilola Yusuf, I am the Co-Founder/Chief Operating Officer of Siloan Medical Centre & Founder, Accessible Care for Everyone Initiative.
I’m innovative, proactive, and highly intelligent lawyer with post-graduate qualifications in Business Management and Leadership, Consulting, International Investment Law, Corporate Commercial Law, and Non – Profit Management and Project management in Global Health.
I am also the Co-founder/COO of Siloan Medical Center a private hospital helping to achieve the universal health coverage target for sustainable development by ensuring that indigent communities have access to quality health care services at very affordable rates. I also founded the organization- Accessible Health for everyone (ACE) Initiative an NGO that has provided medical support, education, and advocacy to over 7000 Nigerians especially women and children.
I have over 15 years of experience in volunteering and working with other NGOs such as International Missions Opportunities where I work on medical projects in Northern Nigeria which accounts for over 200 life-changing surgeries every year.
I serve Life foundation as their legal adviser and also serve Youth with a Purpose (YWAP) as a mentor.
I love art and love all forms of arts but I have no artistic skills whatsoever.
Tell us about your organization, impacts, and achievements since establishment?
Accessible Care for Everyone (ACE) was founded in March 2019.
The vision of the organization is to see an Africa where everyone has unfettered access to quality health care irrespective of their social and economic status and it does this by providing; community enlightenment on prevalent medical issues, essential medical supplies, medical aid, quality and essential healthcare services, and by providing educational materials and training for healthcare workers.
ACE carries out its vision using three pillars;
Community Support Services, Advocacy, and Education.
As an organization, ACE had over 4 years of relevant documented program experiences before the initiative was incorporated in 2019.
The Organization runs on two thematic areas of Health and Education as her pivotal points and has deliberately designed program interventions to reach her target beneficiaries i.e.
– the most vulnerable members of the society; women and children. ACE has held over 10 projects; which includes health gatherings, food drives, and medical outreaches since its inception, some in collaborations with other foundations such as International Missions Opportunities, LIFE Foundation, and EL-Harris and has supported many more organizations.
ACE has trained both locally and internationally, over 50 traditional health practitioners and local midwives on contemporary healthcare practices has dispensed free medical care to over 5,000 people, sensitized and provided materials to protect over 1350 women from 5 leading cause of death in pregnancy and childbirth associated dangers and records an average of 200 free surgeries every year in partnership with other medical organizations.
During the wake of the pandemic and the effect on the health of Nigerians, the organization ran a free mobile clinic which attended to the health needs of over 2000 Nigerians and provided protective medical resources to traditional health practitioners and local
midwives and with the rise of hunger-related illness witnessed during our outreaches, ACE provided food and health care services for over 300 families in some communities such as Agodo, Mushin, Isolo and Ejigbo in Lagos State.
During the outreaches, drugs and foodstuff were also given to 10 orphanages in Lekki, Ajah, Surulere, and Yaba in Lagos State.
What advice can you give to young people who want to build a career in the development sector?
“Seek to know”
Passion is not enough and can be exhausted.
Without the right knowledge (managerial and technical know-how) you will fail at reaching your full potential and be shy of achieving your vision. Learn, Learn, Learn. Enroll in classes, understudy organizations who have achieved the same or similar feats.
There is more to running an NGO than planning successful programs. There is an entire structure that makes the NGO sustainable and able to scale for impact.
How has been your participation in the inner circle program or other programs prepared you for opportunities ahead?
It has been eye-opening, educative, and extremely supportive.
It like the treasure map that leads you to exactly what you need and teaches you how to apply what you know to translate knowledge gained into achievements.
It has also taught me how to identify and maximize opportunities, how to attract grade-A – A volunteers, and how to channel their skills into productive outcomes aimed at the vision of our organization.
Are there any ongoing projects your organization is working on at the moment? Please share it with us.
We are giving away 1000 Ace care packages (antenatal and delivery kits) to 1000 pregnant women in disadvantaged communities. The pandemic hit us all hard but being pregnant and in a disadvantaged community (where you struggle with the basic needs), the pandemic hits worse.
We hope to help in this little way.
To know more about Daisy, and her amazing work in the development sector, you can follow her on social media platforms:
@ACEinitiativehq (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter).