Ayodotun Akinfenwa Hosts Inaugural Nigerian Canva Community Labs

Ayodotun Akinfenwa, a Canva Verified Expert, hosted the first-ever Nigerian edition of the Global Canva Community Labs at the Art Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Saturday, June 8, 2024. These labs were also held in various countries including the UK, Brazil, Australia, Spain, India, Indonesia, Turkey, France, Argentina, and others globally. The global Canva team has also reported that the Nigerian Community Lab gathering was the largest globally, according to their records.

The Canva Create Community Labs were part of the commemoration of the 3rd edition of the annual Canva Create event in Los Angeles, showcasing the latest features and tools to empower users worldwide. These local community events, hosted by Canva Staff, Experts, and ambassadors, engaged Canva enthusiasts globally from May to June.

With over 185 million monthly users, Canva is an online design and publishing tool dedicated to empowering individuals worldwide to create and publish anything.

While commonly perceived as suitable mainly for small businesses, Canva has also empowered numerous global teams and enterprises through its expanding range of visual communication and professional products. Additionally, millions of educators, students, and non-profit organizations globally rely on the platform.

Due to its global reach, Canva invited some of its 50 verified experts to host Community Labs, intimate gatherings of 20-30 people in each country. These events served as opportunities for attendees to network, share their passion for Canva, explore new tools, and discover innovative ways to enhance their personal lives, work, and businesses. Nigeria and Ghana represented the African continent. Despite setting a target of 50 attendees for Nigeria, over 100 enthusiastic Canva enthusiasts gathered at the Art Hotel.

They delved into the new “Glow Up” user interface, Magic AI Tools, new Work Kits tailored for Marketing, Sales, HR, and Creative teams, Collaboration tools, the Courses feature, and more. Alongside learning sessions, participants enjoyed light refreshments, engaged in team projects and presentations on Canva, participated in games, received free Canva “Merch,” and much more.

According to Ayodotun,

When Canva asked us, experts, if we wanted to host the Community Lab in our countries, I was excited because I know that we have so many talented creatives and professionals in Nigeria like me using Canva to build their personal and business brands.

I wanted to bring us together so we can learn, bond and support one another and that’s what this lab has done. I’ve been teaching the use of Canva, empowering others to make the most of it since 2017, hosted several workshops, and launched online Canva Courses, but this one is one for the books. It was a real bonding experience with attendees from all walks of life- journalists, bloggers, social media managers, business owners, corporate staff and many more.

Many discovered new and even old tools that would help them during their work. Others found new friends and collaborators. Everyone has been asking me when the next event will be held, and that we need to build a community. The testimonies on social have been pouring in for days. I look forward to doing this again soon.

Ayodotun Akinfenwa is a Brand, Marketing, and Communications consultant, currently serving as the Global Head of Communications at The Elevation Church. She is one of only two Canva Experts representing Nigeria in the global verified experts community. Since 2017, she has been training businesses, SMEs, and corporate staff in strategic marketing and branding, content strategy, and content marketing. Her training programs have reached over 13,000 individuals to date.

Learn more about her work and the Canva Community on:

Instagram: @Ayodotun Akinfenwa or @Lifestylehues

LinkedIn: Ayodotun Akinfenwa Mcim

She can be reached at [email protected]

This content has been published for free as part of BellaNaija.com‘s commitment to youth, education, healthcare and community development as part of our corporate social responsibility programme