Ada Cuomo has emerged as one of the most influential voices in Nigeria’s modern CSR landscape, transforming the Bet9ja Foundation from a dormant idea into a national force for measurable social development. With more than 220 projects executed across 34 states in just two years, her disciplined, human-centred leadership is reshaping how corporate Nigeria thinks about impact, accountability, and compassion, write Nseobong Okon-Ekong and Iyke Ikenna Bede

In the evolving landscape of corporate social responsibility in Nigeria, few figures embody the fusion of discipline, passion, and strategic clarity as vividly as Ada Cuomo, the Executive Director of the Bet9ja Foundation. Her journey from the structured world of accounting and auditing to the fluid, emotionally demanding realm of social impact work symbolises an uncommon blend of analytical rigour and humanitarian instinct. Under her stewardship, the Bet9ja Foundation, once a seed of goodwill in the background of the Bet9ja corporate structure, has matured into one of Nigeria’s fastest-growing social development institutions, executing more than 220 projects across 34 states in just about two years of full operation.

This reflective exploration examines her philosophy, her work, and the organisational footprint she is helping to shape: a footprint grounded in empathy, sharpened by structure, and fuelled by an unwavering belief that social impact is not a corporate obligation but a moral imperative.

A foundation reborn

Although the Bet9ja Foundation existed in conception for many years, its full emergence happened in July 2023, when the owners of Bet9ja decided it was time to amplify their long-standing but quiet culture of giving. For years, they had funded projects, sometimes exceeding ₦600 million annually, without fanfare or visibility. The acts were genuine, heartfelt, and often personal, but they remained largely unseen, as though generosity was a private duty rather than a public performance.

When Cuomo joined the company in 2023, she entered not as a trophy appointment but as the project driver—a strategist charged with transforming a philosophy of giving into an institution of lasting social relevance. With her background in finance, auditing, banking, and socially responsible investment analysis, she forged a path that married the corporate discipline of numbers with the humanist urgency of need.

Her task was not merely to build a foundation, but to build a system—one capable of handling Nigeria’s complex developmental challenges with structure, transparency, measurable outcomes, and continuous expansion.

The five pillars of impact

Today, the Bet9ja Foundation operates on five strategic pillars: healthcare, education, infrastructure development, sports, and youth empowerment.

These pillars reflect a deliberate choice: to focus deeply rather than widely.

Cuomo often notes that “when you try to do everything, you end up doing very little”. Her strategy is to deepen expertise and intensify impact within specific domains before expanding into new areas—such as the foundation’s emerging interest in climate change interventions.

This disciplined focus has enabled the foundation to transform a well-intentioned charity into structured development work.

The projects that define her work

While Cuomo insists she is proud of all the foundation’s projects, certain initiatives clearly resonate more profoundly with her—and for good reason. GEES: Unlocking the potential of Nigeria’s youths. Originally introduced as the Youth Empowerment Program (YEP), the Foundation’s flagship youth initiative has evolved into the Graduate Employability and Entrepreneurial Summit (GEES). Here, over 400 young Nigerians gather for intensive sessions on: Digital economy readiness, CV writing, Business case design, Entrepreneurship, and Workplace skills.

In a nation where youth unemployment remains one of the most troubling socio-economic challenges, Cuomo sees GEES as a direct intervention—an effort not just to train, but to transition young people into sustainable livelihoods.

GEES is more than a programme; it is a philosophy of empowerment, grounded in the belief that Nigerian youth have talent but often lack opportunity and guidance.

Transforming maternal healthcare

One of the foundation’s most emotionally charged interventions was supporting over 100 women across five hospitals in Lagos—many facing difficult pregnancies, emergency health situations, or the financial abandonment of partners unable to handle medical bills.

These are not just numbers to Cuomo. They are women whose lives hung in the balance—women who miscarried, women with fibroid complications, women hospitalised for months alone because poverty had become their second ailment.

The foundation’s intervention did more than settle bills; it restored humanity to situations where desperation had nearly extinguished hope.

Infrastructure for youth: Ajiran Mini Stadium

The foundation’s construction of the Ajiran mini-stadium on the Lekki-Lagos axis stands as proof that community development requires creativity. By redefining recreational infrastructure as a tool for youth engagement, Cuomo and her team have created a safe, productive space for hundreds of young people to engage in sports, build community, and develop discipline.

Scale up: Building the next generation of entrepreneurs

This nine-week accelerator programme teaches budding entrepreneurs everything from bookkeeping to marketing to inventory management. Participants receive ₦1.5 million each, culminating in a pitch competition where the winner earns ₦10 million to scale up their business.

One of the program’s recent success stories—a young woman who finished third—has already opened her own shop. These are the kinds of results that fuel Cuomo’s conviction that structured empowerment delivers measurable, lasting impact.

Undergraduate scholarships

After an overwhelmingly inspiring response to the foundation’s undergraduate scholarship program last year, the foundation doubled its offering to 200 scholarships this year. Scholarships are issued for one year at a time, but beneficiaries are closely monitored. For third-year students, the foundation monitors their academic and financial stability and considers them for support in their fourth year. This follow-up culture is one of the Foundation’s strongest markers of professionalism and accountability.

A leader moulded by experience

If Cuomo’s leadership seems unusually calibrated, it is because it is built on a foundation of diverse experience. She began in accounting—sorting receipts, balancing books, learning the granular discipline of numbers. From there, she moved into auditing, working at PwC and in smaller firms, ensuring financial systems were transparent and accurate.

Later, she transitioned into banking and investment analysis at institutions such as Barclays Bank and Bank of America, where she encountered socially responsible investment projects. These projects ignited a dormant passion, revealing to her that true fulfillment lay not only in financial returns but in societal transformation.

Thus, when the opportunity arose to return to Nigeria, she did so with clarity: she would pursue work that combined her analytical expertise with her passion for impact. Bet9ja offered that intersection, and the Foundation became her canvas.

Building a team, building a system

The foundation’s staff strength has grown from a handful of seconded staff to over 27 dedicated team members today. Recruitment was organic at the start, driven by passion rather than payroll, but as operations expanded, roles became clearly delineated.

Finance, internal controls

HR, Administration, Marketing, Project management, Programmes. Cuomo envisions the foundation becoming the biggest social development institution in Nigeria. To get there, she acknowledges that scale will require more hands, more partners, and more resources.

Ethics, responsibility, and regulation

The foundation operates separately from Bet9ja’s internal responsible gaming programs. While the foundation focuses on public-facing social impact, Bet9ja maintains its own budget and structures for responsible gaming awareness and enforcement, managed by the legal department.

Cuomo regularly interfaces with gaming regulators—not because the foundation is regulated by them, but because regulators often inquire about the company’s CSR initiatives. In these engagements, she represents the company’s social conscience, presenting evidence that impact work is not an afterthought but a structured commitment.

Challenges and decisions

Her greatest challenge? Prioritising funds. In a country with complex layers of need, every naira could go to 20 equally urgent problems. To navigate this, the foundation conducts quarterly reviews, tracks emerging national issues, and rebalances its budget accordingly. Yet one thing remains constant: youth development is always a priority.

Funding, partnerships, and the future

While Bet9ja remains the primary funder, external organisations have begun supporting the foundation’s work, a sign that credibility and reputation are rising. Cuomo sees this as a crucial milestone and a springboard for future partnerships.

Her ambition is not to compete with institutions like MTN Foundation or UBA Foundation, but to complement them. “The more we are, the better,” she says—insisting that Nigeria’s challenges require collective effort, not competition.

The heart of ger leadership

There is one question that reveals the essence of her journey: Is she happier doing impact work than she was in her past corporate roles? Her answer is immediate and sincere:

“Absolutely. I love what I do. I love my team,” she stated. “I know this is where I belong.”

Her passion is not sentimental. It is structured, strategic, and measurable—but it is passion nonetheless. It is the kind that builds institutions. It is the kind that changes lives. It is the kind that reminds us that impact work—when done with discipline and heart—can redefine the legacy of an entire organisation.

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