Happy African schoolchildren smiling together in a bright classroom
“Let your light so shine before men.” — Matthew 5:16

Illuminating Minds, Growing Futures.

LIGHT Foundation is a registered non-profit in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, bringing quality education, skills, mentorship and hope to underserved children, youth and communities across Nigeria.

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African students learning together with books and notebooks at a desk
Learning support in action — Port Harcourt, Rivers State

Seven ways we bring light

Every LIGHT Foundation program is built to remove one barrier between a child and their future — from school fees to digital skills to a safe place to learn.

Scholarship & Learning Support

School fees, uniforms, books and after-school tutoring for children whose families cannot afford to keep them in class.

Teachers Training

Practical training and classroom coaching for teachers in low-resource schools, so one trained teacher reaches hundreds of pupils.

ICT & Library Project

Equipping schools and community hubs with computers, internet access and stocked libraries that stay open after the school bell.

Youth Skills & Digital Literacy

Hands-on training in digital tools, tailoring, catering and enterprise basics that helps young people earn a living.

Health & Hygiene Education

School and community sessions on clean water, sanitation, nutrition and first aid — because a healthy child is a present child.

Girl-Child Advocacy

Campaigns, safe-space clubs and family engagement that keep girls in school and give them a voice in their own future.

Talent & Mentorship Development

Mentors, coaching and platforms for young people in sports, music, art and leadership to grow their gifts with guidance.

Teacher guiding a group of students during a lesson in a classroom

Why we exist

LIGHT Foundation — the Learning Initiative for Growth, Hope and Transformation — was founded on a simple conviction: talent is everywhere in Nigeria, but opportunity is not. We work alongside schools, families and community leaders in Port Harcourt and beyond to close that gap.

We are a registered non-profit organisation, accountable to the communities we serve and to every partner and donor who makes this work possible.

Our Vision

A Nigeria where every underserved child, youth and community has access to quality education, opportunity for growth, and hope for a brighter future.

Our Mission

To illuminate minds and grow futures through education, skills, mentorship and community development.

Voices from the light

Beneficiaries, teachers and partners on what this work changes in real lives.

I had stopped going to school because my mother could not pay the fees. LIGHT Foundation brought me back, gave me books and a tutor. Now I am the best in mathematics in my class.

Blessing O.Scholarship beneficiary, Port Harcourt

The teachers training changed how I run my classroom. I now teach with practical materials and my pupils ask questions freely. It has made me proud of my profession again.

Mrs. Adaeze NwosuPrimary school teacher, Obio-Akpor

We partnered with LIGHT Foundation on a digital literacy drive and the organisation was transparent, organised and deeply connected to the community. We will keep working with them.

Emeka DuruCorporate partner, Rivers State

Get in touch

Whether you want to give, volunteer, partner with us or simply learn more about our programs, our team in Port Harcourt would love to hear from you.

Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
0812 785 0017
Lightfoundation2026@outlook.com
Donate NowBecome a VolunteerPartner With Us

Send us a message

Tell us how you would like to support the work — giving, volunteering, partnering or a specific program.

Learning Initiative for Growth, Hope and Transformation.

LIGHT Foundation is a registered non-profit organisation based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, working to remove the barriers that keep underserved children and young people out of school, out of work and out of hope.

Our motto: “Let your light so shine.”

African schoolchildren smiling together outside their classroom

What we are here to do

Our vision and mission guide every scholarship we fund, every teacher we train and every young person we walk beside.

Our Vision

A Nigeria where every underserved child, youth and community has access to quality education, real opportunity for growth, and genuine hope for a brighter future — regardless of where they were born or what their family can afford.

Our Mission

To illuminate minds and grow futures through education, skills, mentorship and community development — working alongside schools, families and community leaders so that support reaches the children who need it most.

How LIGHT began

LIGHT Foundation started with a small group of teachers, graduates and community volunteers in Port Harcourt who kept meeting the same story: bright children dropping out of school because a term's fees, a uniform or a set of textbooks was out of reach.

What began as informal tutoring and fee support for a handful of pupils grew, with the help of local schools and churches, into a structured organisation running scholarship support, teacher training, ICT and library projects, youth skills training, health education and girl-child advocacy.

Today we work across Rivers State and beyond, still guided by the same conviction that started it all: talent is everywhere in Nigeria, but opportunity is not. We exist to close that gap — one child, one classroom and one community at a time.

Teacher guiding a group of students during a lesson in a Nigerian classroom

The people behind the work

A small, hands-on team of educators, community organisers and volunteers, supported by partners and donors who believe in this work.

Portrait of Grace Okonkwo, Founder and Executive Director

Grace Okonkwo

Founder & Executive Director

A former classroom teacher who built LIGHT Foundation around the pupils she could not bear to see leave school. She leads strategy, partnerships and community relations.

Portrait of Emeka Duru, Programs Director

Emeka Duru

Programs Director

Oversees our scholarship, teacher training and youth skills programs, and works directly with schools and community hubs across Rivers State.

Portrait of Adaeze Nwosu, Education Lead

Adaeze Nwosu

Education Lead

Designs our learning support and teacher coaching, and tracks how the children on our programs are progressing in class.

Portrait of Tunde Balogun, Finance and Compliance Officer

Tunde Balogun

Finance & Compliance Officer

Keeps our books, reporting and donor accountability in order, so every naira given can be traced to a child or a classroom.

Portrait of Blessing Okafor, Volunteer Coordinator

Blessing Okafor

Volunteer Coordinator

Recruits, trains and supports the tutors, mentors and professionals who give their time to our programs every month.

Portrait of Chidi Amadi, Community Outreach Officer

Chidi Amadi

Community Outreach Officer

Works with families, traditional leaders and schools to identify the children who need support and to run our community outreaches.

Registered, accountable, transparent

LIGHT Foundation is a registered non-profit organisation. Our registration details are available to donors, partners and the communities we serve.

Registration details

  • Registered nameLIGHT Foundation
  • Full nameLearning Initiative for Growth, Hope and Transformation
  • Organisation typeNon-profit / NGO
  • CAC registration numberCAC/IT/NO 0000000
  • Registered officePort Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
  • Year established2026

Governance & accountability

  • Board of Trustees5 members
  • Annual auditIndependent, yearly
  • ReportingAnnual impact report to donors and partners
  • Bank accountOrganisation account, Rivers State
  • ContactLightfoundation2026@outlook.com
  • Phone0812 785 0017

Registration numbers and audited accounts are shared on request. Write to us and our team will send the documents directly.

Support our workBack to Home

Seven programs, one purpose.

Every LIGHT Foundation program removes one specific barrier between a child and their future — school fees, an untrained teacher, no computer, no skill, no mentor. Here is exactly what each one does, who it reaches and how you can help it grow.

African children studying together with books in a classroom

Scholarship & Learning Support

Our founding program. We pay school fees, provide uniforms, sandals, textbooks and writing materials, and place children who are falling behind with a tutor for after-school lessons. Each child on the program is paired with a LIGHT volunteer who checks in with the family and the class teacher every term.

Children are referred by their schools, churches, community leaders and sometimes by their own parents. Every referral is visited at home before a child is enrolled, so support goes to the families who genuinely cannot manage the cost.

  • Who it reachesPrimary and secondary pupils, ages 6–17
  • What it coversFees, uniforms, books, tutoring, exam fees
  • WherePort Harcourt and surrounding communities, Rivers State
  • How to joinReferral by a school, church or community leader
Sponsor a childRefer a child
African schoolgirl smiling in her classroom with her exercise book

Teachers Training

One well-trained teacher reaches hundreds of pupils, so this is where our money works hardest. We run practical workshops for teachers in low-resource schools on lesson planning, teaching with locally available materials, classroom management, reading instruction and inclusive teaching for children who learn differently.

Training does not end at the workshop. Our education team visits participating teachers in their own classrooms during the term, observes a lesson and coaches them one to one. Teachers who complete the program become peer mentors for colleagues in their school.

  • Who it reachesTeachers in low-resource primary and secondary schools
  • FormatTermly workshops plus in-classroom coaching visits
  • CoversLesson planning, literacy, classroom management, inclusion
  • OutcomeTrained teachers mentor colleagues in their own schools
Nominate a schoolVolunteer as a trainer
African teachers in a training workshop in a classroom

ICT & Library Project

We equip schools and community hubs with computers, power backup, internet access and shelves of books — then keep them open after the school bell so children can read, research and practise. Many of the pupils we serve have never touched a keyboard before their first session with us.

Each ICT centre is run by a trained local facilitator on a simple timetable: school pupils in the afternoon, out-of-school youth and adults in the evening. Libraries are stocked with Nigerian and African authors alongside curriculum texts, because children read more when they recognise themselves in the pages.

  • What we provideComputers, power backup, internet, stocked shelves
  • Opening hoursAfternoons for pupils, evenings for youth and adults
  • Run byA trained local facilitator at each centre
  • Needed mostLaptops, books, solar power units, data bundles
Donate equipmentHost a centre
Students working on computers in a digital literacy lab

Youth Skills & Digital Literacy

For young people who have finished school, or left it early, we run hands-on training in the skills that actually earn money here: tailoring and fashion, catering and food handling, phone and computer repair, graphic design, social media management, bookkeeping and small-business basics.

Every cohort ends with a practical assessment and a starter package — a sewing machine, a set of tools, a small grant or a placement with a local business — so graduates leave with something to work with, not just a certificate. We also run a short digital literacy track for market traders and artisans who want to sell and keep records online.

  • Who it reachesOut-of-school youth and young adults, ages 16–30
  • TracksTailoring, catering, repairs, design, bookkeeping, digital basics
  • Length8–12 week cohorts, two or three sessions a week
  • On graduationStarter tools, a small grant or a business placement
Enrol a young personTeach a skill
Young African people learning tailoring during a vocational skills session

Health & Hygiene Education

A child who is sick, hungry or thirsty cannot learn. Our health team runs school and community sessions on handwashing, safe water, sanitation, nutrition, malaria prevention and basic first aid — practical lessons children take home to their families.

We work with local health centres to arrange screening days for eyesight, hearing, dental health and common conditions, and we help schools set up simple handwashing stations and clean water points. Where a child needs treatment beyond our reach, we refer the family to a partner clinic and follow up.

  • Who it reachesPupils, families and community groups
  • TopicsHygiene, safe water, nutrition, malaria, first aid
  • Also providedScreening days and handwashing stations for schools
  • PartnersLocal health centres and clinics for referrals
Fund a screening dayVolunteer as a health professional
Children learning handwashing during a hygiene education session

Girl-Child Advocacy

Girls in our communities are the first to be pulled out of school — for fees, for housework, for early marriage, or simply because a family decides a boy's education matters more. This program pushes back on all of it, with campaigns, safe-space clubs in schools and honest conversations with parents and traditional leaders.

Our girls' clubs meet weekly for mentoring, life skills, menstrual health education and leadership practice. We provide sanitary products so that a girl never misses a week of class, and we work with families one to one when a girl is at risk of dropping out, finding a way to keep her in school.

  • Who it reachesGirls in primary and secondary school
  • ActivitiesSafe-space clubs, mentoring, life skills, family engagement
  • Also providedSanitary products so no girl misses class
  • WithSchools, parents and traditional leaders
Sponsor a girls' clubMentor a girl
African schoolgirl smiling confidently in her classroom

Talent & Mentorship Development

Talent is everywhere in Nigeria; guidance is not. This program gives young people in sport, music, art, drama and leadership a mentor who has walked the road before them, plus coaching, practice space and a platform to perform or compete.

Mentors meet their young person at least twice a month, set goals together and report back to our team each term. We also run holiday camps, inter-school competitions and showcase events where young people present their work to the community — many of them for the first time in front of an audience.

  • Who it reachesYoung people, ages 12–25
  • AreasSport, music, art, drama, leadership
  • Mentor commitmentTwo meetings a month, one term at a time
  • Also runsHoliday camps, competitions and showcase events
Become a mentorSponsor a showcase
Young African people performing music and art during a mentorship session

How to get involved

You do not need to be in Port Harcourt to move these programs forward. Choose the way that fits your time, your skills or your budget — and our team will take it from there.

Give

Fund a scholarship, a set of textbooks, a computer or a term of tutoring. Give once, or set up a monthly gift that lets us plan a whole school year for a child.

See what your gift does

Volunteer

Tutor a pupil, train teachers, teach a skill, mentor a young person or lend a professional skill such as accounting, design or medicine. A few hours a month is enough.

Join the team

Partner

Schools, companies, churches and foundations: sponsor a whole program, donate equipment, host an ICT centre or co-run an outreach with our team.

Start a partnership

Talk to our programs team

Want to enrol a child, refer a school, volunteer a skill or sponsor a program? Tell us which one and our team in Port Harcourt will get back to you with the next steps.

Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
0812 785 0017
Lightfoundation2026@outlook.com
Sponsor a programVolunteer with usAbout LIGHT

Send us a message

Tell us which program you are interested in and how you would like to help — enrolling a child, volunteering, giving or partnering.