About us

No one is born an avid reader.

A child becomes one by having something worth reading within reach, at the age when reading is still being decided. In the Nigerian schools we work with, they are not. We exist to put it there.

Our story

The name carries the reason.

The AVID Foundation is a Canadian non-profit working to restore school libraries in Nigeria. We were founded by members of the Nigerian diaspora in Canada who believe that a functioning library is among the most cost-effective investments available in a child's education — and that too many Nigerian schoolchildren attend schools where the library is locked, empty, or has never existed at all.

Avid is not a word anyone is born into. A child becomes an avid reader by having something worth reading within reach, at the age when reading is still being decided. That gap is not a funding mystery — it is a shelf, a room, a trained teacher and a timetable. We fund exactly that, so that avid readers can happen where they currently cannot.

We are a Canadian organisation by design. We are incorporated in Canada, governed by a Canadian board, and accountable to Canadian regulators and donors. We do not maintain a separate Nigerian entity. Instead, we deliver our work through carefully selected local partners who know their communities, or directly with the schools under written agreements that hold them — and us — to a clear standard. We begin in Lagos, and take what works to schools across Nigeria.

Our mission

To refurbish, restock and sustain libraries in under-resourced Nigerian schools, and to support the people who run them, so that every child in those schools has books to read and a place to read them. We begin in Lagos.

Our vision

Where every classroom has a library behind it.

A Nigeria in which no child's literacy is limited by the absence of a library, and every school library is a working, used and valued part of school life.

Our values

Five commitments, written so you can hold us to them.

Dignity: We refurbish to a standard we would accept for our own children. We do not send what we would not use.
Local leadership: Nigerian educators know what Nigerian schools need. We fund and support their judgement rather than substituting our own.
Accountability: Every dollar is traceable to a school, a receipt and a result. We report to our donors as rigorously as we are required to report to regulators.
Durability: A library that closes within a year is a failure, however good the photographs. We fund maintenance, training and follow-up as part of every project.
Evidence: We measure whether children are reading more — not merely how many books we delivered.

Leadership

Who is accountable for this.

The Library Prefect who now builds libraries.

Photograph to follow

Founder

Ade Olumide

Ade Olumide is a Nigerian-Canadian who spent her formative years in Nigeria before settling in Canada as a young woman. A project management professional with over 8 years of experience, she has led initiatives across government, banking and CPG sectors. She holds a Master’s degree in International Development and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics — a combination that shapes both her conviction that education is the surest lever for opportunity and her insistence that good intentions be matched by rigorous execution.

Her commitment to AVID’s mission traces back further than the foundation itself: she served as Library Prefect in her secondary school years, an early stewardship she now returns to at a larger scale. At AVID, Ade leads strategy, partner selection, and the foundation’s relationships with funders.

Beyond her work, she is an avid traveller who values time spent with those closest to her.

Our board

AVID is governed by a volunteer board of directors whose members deal with one another at arm's length. We are appointing our founding board now, and each director's name, role and biography will be published here as they are confirmed — before we accept institutional funding, not after.

Governance

Built for the scrutiny, from the outset.

Canadian charity law places clear obligations on organisations working abroad. We built our operating model around them from day one: we maintain books and records sufficient to demonstrate that every disbursement was used for the charitable purpose intended, we do not act as a pass-through for funds destined for any foreign organisation, and our board retains genuine authority over our resources.

Legal status: Incorporated in Canada as a not-for-profit corporation. Charitable registration status is in progress; we will publish the registration number here the moment it is granted.
Board: A minimum of three directors at arm's length from one another. The board sets strategy, approves all grants and disbursements, and is responsible for ensuring our resources are applied exclusively to our charitable purpose.
Financial controls: Dual signing authority; staged disbursement against milestones; retention of all supporting documentation.
Reporting: Annual financial statements; annual return filings; project reports to funders and donors.
Conflict of interest: A written policy requiring disclosure and recusal. Directors do not transact with the organisation.
Safeguarding: A child protection policy governing all activity conducted in or around schools, by us or by our partners.

We are seeking partners for our first cohort in Lagos.

Sponsor a library Email the founder