In some public schools across Nigeria, learning often happens under the weight of scarcity. Children sit on bare floors, their elbows digging into cracked desks shared by three or more students.
The walls are stained with age; the chalkboard barely legible. Torn textbooks: when they exist, bear the names of students from years past, passed down like relics from a forgotten time.
A child clutches her school bag like treasure, but inside there’s no textbook, not even a jotter, just a plastic spoon and a crumpled piece of paper that once served as a note. In some classrooms, the only available material is the teacher’s handwriting on the board: copied word for word, test after test, term after term. And even that is a luxury, because chalk run out too.
This is the daily reality in parts of a country where education should be a right but feels more like a fight.
Chelsea Jegede didn’t grow up in deprivation, but once she encountered it, she couldn’t unsee it. What began as a teenager’s simple act of giving has grown into a nationwide force called Selfless Hearts Foundation, meeting urgent needs in underserved communities and proving that change doesn’t wait for perfect conditions.
Growing up, she didn’t attend those schools or walk barefoot into overcrowded classrooms. Her childhood was surrounded by the comfort of quality education, first at Pampas Private School, then at institutions like Corona, Fountain, and Somerset College, and later, the University of Lagos, where she graduated with first-class honours in Mass Communication. The uniforms were crisp, the books were new, and learning was expected, not struggled for.
She was raised in a home where compassion was currency. Her parents, both pastors, wove generosity and service into the very fabric of family life. “I grew up seeing that kind of thing,” she remembers. “Charity, helping other people, was normal.”
One mantra from her father clung to her: “Every child is your child.”
But even with a heart wired for compassion, Chelsea hadn’t yet figured out how she would make her mark. That clarity came after high school, at a time when she was exploring opportunities to study abroad.
She discovered that many international applications required community service experience, so she began volunteering at a hospice near her home called Hearts of Gold. What started as a resume booster quickly turned into something much deeper.
She showed up once a week at first. Then twice. Then three times. And somewhere between the quiet care of the terminally ill and the unspoken weight of their final days, Chelsea felt something shift. “Let’s just say, long story short,” she says with a small smile, “I kind of found my purpose there.”
From that quiet place, her mission began to take shape. She wanted to because she now knew what it meant to truly see people in need. That was when she coined it: selfless service. Slowly, that idea would evolve into something larger, louder, and lasting.
It would become the Selfless Hearts Foundation.
In 2017, she started with what she had: used textbooks, old school bags, and some soaps bought from her pocket money alongside contributions. She was just 16 years old. She spoke to her friends, who supported her with donations.
Her father stood behind her like a shadow of strength. He helped her plan the first outreach. He reviewed her proposals, covered logistics, and even spoke on her behalf when she was too shy to speak. At the time, it had no name.
In 2023, Chelsea formally registered the Selfless Hearts Foundation. It has grown into a vibrant engine of compassion powered by young people and led by a deep commitment to restore dignity to underserved communities. Over the years, the foundation has developed a range of high-impact initiatives that touch lives across communities in Nigeria.
One of the foundation’s flagship initiatives is its Book Drive, a vibrant literacy campaign that takes different forms: textbook donations, spelling bees or essay competitions, with prizes ranging from school supplies to tablets, laptops and more. Its goal: ignite a love for reading and reward academic excellence.
Through its Pad-A-Girl Project, the foundation commemorates World Menstrual Hygiene Day and International Day of the Girl Child by distributing sanitary pads to secondary school girls. Each girl receives either a half-year or full-year pack, depending on resources.
Beyond the pads, the team also invites health professionals and female experts to educate the girls on menstrual hygiene, body awareness, and self-care.
The Medical Outreach Program addresses basic but often neglected healthcare needs. At these community events, people receive free consultations, essential drugs, blood pressure checks, malaria tests, BMI assessments, mosquito nets, and health talks.
A major breakthrough came with the launch of the Selfless Teckathon in 2023, a tech scholarship and empowerment project that trains hundreds of youths annually in UI/UX design, web development, and data analytics.
Each participant learns for free over a three-month period, with monthly workshops in branding, cybersecurity, tech motivation, and product design led by top industry experts.
The Teckathon culminates in a Hackathon, where students are grouped into teams and tasked with solving real-world problems through technology. Outstanding participants don’t just win recognition, they receive paid internships and scholarships.
In 2024, three students secured internships through the foundation’s partnership with Wakana, while two top-performing data students earned $2,500 worth of data scholarships to support their further learning.
Every December, the foundation runs its Christmas Project, distributing food packs: bags of rice, spaghetti, tomato paste, seasoning cubes, and more to families in need. Alongside these donations, they organize Christmas parties for children, complete with hot meals, new clothes, shoes, toys, and moments of joy that echo far beyond the holidays. In 2023 alone, over 100 families were reached.
“Every time I go and meet some of the people in the community, see them smiling, dancing, praying for you, I feel emotional,” Chelsea says.
The Empowerment Project takes skill-building directly into schools. Students are taught practical vocational skills like makeup artistry, graphic design, catering, baking, tailoring, and basic web design. This equips them with tools they can use to support their families or build a small business.
Underlying all these initiatives is a structure powered by volunteerism, strategy, and love. She often reflects on how many young people today are eager to “eat the national cake,” echoing the entitlement and self-interest seen in past political leaders.
But through the Selfless Hearts Foundation, she’s working to rewrite that narrative, instilling a culture where putting others first is not weakness, but wisdom.
The foundation’s message is clear: true leadership begins with service, and the most powerful legacy isn’t what you take, but what you give. Through this she aims to raise other selfless Nigerians.
Running a movement at a young age came with challenges. “I made so many mistakes,” she admits. “I didn’t know what an NGO structure should look like. I didn’t know how to apply for grants or report projects properly. I just started from my heart, and I learned everything else by failing forward.”
Over time, she built a strong structure around her: a team of department heads, strategic volunteers, and mentors. “It’s not just about me anymore. It’s about building people who also want to serve.”
After a major outreach, one school administrator expressed deep gratitude, saying they had prayed for help for years and never imagined it would come through someone so young. Chelsea also recalled how a woman began praying for her, overwhelmed by the difference she was making. Moments like these, shared with her friends and team, serve as constant reminders of the impact of their work.
She believes that the stress is worth it. “Anytime I think about that, anytime those thoughts come, I remember the people that we will put a smile on their faces. I remember that principal. I remember all the young people and all the old people who are praying for me and telling me how much I’ve changed their lives.”
Today, Selfless Hearts Foundation stands as one of the most impactful youth-led humanitarian organisations in Nigeria, with over 41,000 direct beneficiaries. And she’s only just getting started.
