The Leadership and Mentoring Programme is one of the flagship initiatives of Grassroot People and Gender Development Center (GRADE), designed to equip youths especially girls and young women with the knowledge, skills, confidence, and values needed to become responsible leaders and positive agents of change in their families, schools, and communities.

Recognizing that girls face numerous social, cultural, and economic barriers that limit their opportunities, the programme creates safe learning spaces where participants are empowered to develop leadership abilities, build resilience, make informed life choices, and reach their full potential.

The Empowerment Workshop is facilitated by GRADE’s Executive Director, Vivian Ifeoma Emesowum, a certified trainer of the Empowerment Institute, founded by David and Gail Gershon. The programme is designed to help women understand themselves more deeply, heal from limiting beliefs, strengthen healthy relationships, and build the confidence to make intentional choices that improve their lives, families, and communities.

The Breaking the Silence Initiative focus on the prevention of Gender-Based Violence (GBV). The initiative seeks to empower women, girls, children, men, and communities with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to prevent violence, challenge harmful social norms, support survivors, and promote a culture of dignity, equality, and respect. Many women and girls continue to experience domestic violence, sexual abuse, child sexual exploitation, harmful traditional practices, emotional abuse, and other forms of violence because of stigma, fear, discrimination, and limited awareness of available protection mechanisms

The Healthy Ageing Initiative is Grassroot People and Gender Development Center’s (GRADE) flagship programme dedicated to improving the health, wellbeing, dignity, and social inclusion of older women. The initiative recognizes that healthy ageing is not merely about living longer but about ensuring that older persons remain healthy, active, respected, socially connected, and able to enjoy a good quality of life.

Through health education, preventive healthcare, psychosocial support, community engagement, and advocacy, the Healthy Ageing Initiative empowers older women to maintain healthy lifestyles, access essential services, and age with dignity.

My Baby, My Milk is Grassroot People and Gender Development Center’s (GRADE) maternal and child health programme that promotes Exclusive Breastfeeding (EBF), optimal infant and young child feeding practices, and improved maternal nutrition. The initiative empowers pregnant women, nursing mothers, families, and communities with accurate information and practical support to ensure every child has the healthiest possible start in life. GRADE encourages mothers to exclusively breastfeed for the first six months of life and to continue breastfeeding alongside appropriate complementary feeding up to two years and beyond.

This programme enables Grassroot People and Gender Development Center’s (GRADE) to establish Environmental Bees Club as a school-based environmental education programme that inspires children and young people to become champions of environmental conservation, climate action, and sustainable living. The club was established in response to the growing environmental challenges affecting communities, including poor waste management, pollution, climate change, flooding, and declining biodiversity.

The Put Food on the Table Initiative is Grassroot People and Gender Development Center’s (GRADE) community-based nutrition and economic empowerment programme that helps women improve household food security through collective savings and financial discipline. The initiative was developed in response to the growing cost of food, increasing household poverty, and the nutritional challenges faced by many low-income families.

Established during the COVID-19 pandemic, when schools were closed and many girls were isolated from learning and support systems, Girls Corner was created to ensure that girls continued receiving guidance, encouragement, and accurate information despite the challenges of lockdowns and social distancing. What began as an emergency response has evolved into one of GRADE’s flagship programmes, connecting girls across different communities through a safe and interactive online learning space.