Think Africa is the winner of the Moniheli Association of the Year (MAYA) award 2022! We interviewed Akin Akinsola, the vice-chairperson and partnerships’ lead, and Roberto Raitasuo who is a board member and the lead of Think Africa’s communications team to ask them what they would like to highlight from the work Think Africa does and what they have planned for the future of the association.
What is Think Africa?
Think Africa is best known for the annual Think Africa Week and their work for supporting the African diaspora in Finland. They have created a platform for people to meet and to connect as well as find and give support to each other. Empowering and engaging their members with a diversity of projects and ideas ranging from the corporate sector to upholding the various cultures of the African continent is also at the core of their work. Think Africa supports their members with both small and big scale ideas from volunteer opportunities, and internships to building their careers or companies. Their vision is wide, as they aim to empower people in social, economic, cultural, artistic, and musical affairs.
Think Africa was founded by a group of students and researchers from the University of Helsinki. Its members currently represent 24 nationalities, and the network is growing consistently. The goal of their work is to fulfill the potential of the African diaspora living in Finland. They support people by offering access to information, networks and resources such as collaboration, a platform, funding or venues for activities otherwise not easily found. The work at Think Africa is done fully on a voluntary basis. This year, however, they also got a grant from STEA which will allow them to employ two people, which Moniheli also congratulates them on!
The importance of the MAYA award
The purpose of the MAYA award is to show our appreciation to an active member association that has had a clear impact in the Finnish society. To Akin and Roberto, as well as the whole Think Africa team, being awarded the MAYA award means a large morale boost. The award is a signal for work well done and encouragement to keep going. Akin and Roberto highlight that the member associations of Moniheli are competent and skillful and consider the MAYA award as a great honor. It is especially important to receive recognition for work done on a voluntary basis.
What’s next for Think Africa?
Think Africa aims to grow in members and reach more people outside of Uusimaa as well as continue their work focused on improving the representation and participation of the African diaspora. They wish to reach a larger scale of people both on the socio-economic scale as well as people from different age groups. They also plan to reach an even greater diversity of members and collaboration as they wish people, both African and non-African from different nationalities, areas, positions, and expertise to join and connect. A special focus is given to activating young people. To support this goal, Think Africa aims to bring the young and old people together so that the older ones can educate, inspire, and support the younger generations.
We congratulate and respect Think Africa for the great work that they are doing and will do in the future. As always, Moniheli encourages the cooperation between our member associations and other organizations to strive for a more diverse and inclusive Finland.
