Alain Nteff’s GiftedMom first came into the spotlight when it received recognition at the 2014 Anzisha Prize. Since then, the internet platform which educates pregnant women who have problems accessing information on safe birth procedures has risen from strength to strength. At the time of winning the prize the start-up had trained more than 200 medical students and reached 1200 pregnant women. This month the efforts of Nteff and his team have not been in vain, as they have been recognized by Queen Elizabeth under the umbrella of the inaugural Queens Young Leaders Award.
The rise of GiftedMom has seen their reach increase from 1200 pregnant women to over 3000 in the country where the company is headquartered, Cameroon. It only makes sense that one of the most powerful women in the world would recognize and reward his hard work. The Queen’s Young Leaders Programme is an initiative of the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust in partnership with Comic Relief and the Royal Commonwealth Society. It was created to commemorate Her Majesty The Queen’s 60 years of service to the Commonwealth at the time of her Diamond Jubilee. Each year from 2014 to 2018, 60 exceptional young people will be selected to receive a Queen’s Young Leaders Award and become ‘Queen’s Young Leaders’ – one for every year that The Queen had served as Head of the Commonwealth at the time of her Diamond Jubilee. As part of the programme, winners will undergo personalized mentoring and online learning delivered by the University of Cambridge.
During the prestigious ceremony Nteff announced to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and the audience at Buckingham Palace expansion plans for GiftedMom; they aim to impact 5 million pregnant women in Africa by 2018. The startup has already increased the rate of antenatal care attendance and baby vaccination by over 20% in Cameroon. Moreover the platform tracks the vaccination of children, circulates information on teen health, sex education, family planning and mobilizes community and health workers.
For many who have been following the upward trajectory of GiftedMom and Nteff, we all know that this is only one of many accolades the initiative has received. Early this year Nteff was recognized by the World Economic Forum as one of the ‘Global Shapers.’ We wish Nteff and his team all the best in his future endeavours.