Madam Joy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business administration from the University of Lagos, a Higher National Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from Yaba College of Technology, in addition to several other certifications. She is a certified interior designer, and has built extensive capacity in design, production, and operations management.
The Vice President of NECA’s Network of Entrepreneurial Women (NNEW)’s furniture and interior design sector is also a recipient of the Women-X scholarship for women-led businesses; an initiative of the World Bank and the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) of Pan-Atlantic University. She is also one of the pioneer beneficiaries of the OxFam Work-in-progress (WIP) programme where she was named the “Most Improved MSME in Nigeria.”
The OxFam programme inspired her to develop an appreciation for social impact projects and gained extensive understanding of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs). This ultimately led her to restructure the business model of Jaebee Furniture Limited from a profit-driven company into an impact-driven social enterprise.
Based on the new strategic focus, she founded the Skill Up Initiative, a sector-specific social impact programme whose objective is to help 50,000 youths, particularly women, gain practical and in-demand skills. The programme was launched in August 2019 with the initial objective of training 1,000 young women as upholsterers, a skill that is critically in short supply in the Nigerian furniture industry.
Owing to her impact-driven work and commitment to promoting skills education in Africa, she was awarded “MRDC Entrepreneur of The Decade in 2017,” and Daar Communications’ “Outstanding Entrepreneur of The Year Award” in the same year. She is also a faculty member of Masterpiece Resource Development Centre (MRDC), where she teaches operations management, among other topics.
A mother of three (2 boys and a girl), Madam Shittu-Igbodike continues to leverage her voice, business, and platforms to promote the Nigerian furniture and interior design industry, and she is today recognized as one of the thought-leaders in that space. While she continues to grow her business with a view to consistently surpassing customer expectations, her primary objective is to leverage all available resources towards the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, specifically Goal-1, Goal-4, Goal-5, Goal-8, Goal-12, and Goal-17.
Exclusive interview drops tomorrow, 26th September, 2021 on https://gatmash.com….
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