By Constance Adaurie
Evanna Empowerment Initiative (EEI) has provided more than 100 bakers across Lagos, Owerri, Abuja and Abeokuta with essential baking materials during a two-day empowerment drive held from September 25 to 26, 2026.
The beneficiaries received margarine, cake icing, sugar and other baking supplies to support their businesses and strengthen their baking activities.
The drive forms part of EEI’s continued work training and supporting bakers and small enterprise owners across Lagos. For EEI, it is a direct extension of the mission of putting real materials into the hands of bakers already doing the work, not a one-off gesture.
Grace Ilesanmi, Founder and Executive Director of Evanna Empowerment Initiative, described the drive as a direct extension of her own path into baking, and a practical investment in the futures of the bakers who took part.
She said, “Baking is what brought me here, but teaching others to bake is what keeps me here. When we put real materials directly into a baker’s hands, we’re investing in a skill they’ll carry for the rest of their working life.”
EEI’s baking and confectionery classes run free of charge each year from February to October, open to anyone aged fifteen and older. In October, EEI will welcome its next cohort of students for hands-on training in bread, pastries, small chops, and other baking skills.
Grace Ilesanmi will also host Ogba Bakers Connect, a meet-and-greet bringing together bakers from across Lagos with established names in the industry to share practical insights from their own kitchens.
About Evanna Empowerment InitiativeEvanna
Empowerment Initiative was founded in 2023 by Grace Ilesanmi, a baker and mother of five whose own path into baking grew into a wider mission of teaching others the practical skills to build a livelihood of their own. Based in Lagos, Nigeria, EEI trains people in cakes, confectionery, and related enterprise skills, working from the belief that practical training builds real, lasting opportunity. Its motto, “We Rise by Lifting Others,” guides that work. Learn more at evanna.org.
