Please help review - Evidences for Exceptional Promise

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Greeting everyone.

I am gathering documents for my TN Visa application.

I would appreciate it if you could help me review my pieces of evidence (rearranging, adding, or adding/removing some pieces of evidence).
@Francisca_Chiedu @Maya @deepak @Shreeniwas_Iyer @Victrr @Ido_Moshe @happysoul @May @alexnk @sojo

Finally, I will be grateful if you tell me how many chances I have to be endorsed

Recommendation Letters

  • Executive Director of a Civic-tech

  • Founder of a tech company A
    Co-Founder & CTO at Gamr | Gaming & Esports Platform | Techstars ‘23
    Member of ForbesBLK Community

  • Founder of a tech company B
    Founder of Vey, Tech Entrepreneur, Forbes 30under30

Professional Resume

  • Creative Lead at Civic-tech
  • Senior web graphic designer at Media house
  • Website / Graphic designer at a Tech firm
  • Design management fellow
  • Design leadership Forum (Member) - Invision
  • Mentorship - Volunteering
  • Low-code/nocode enthusiast (Developer)
  • Product school
  • UX Experience Certificate - Accenture

Personal statement

Evidence ( Impact and Contribution )

[MANDATORY CRITERIA] - POTENTIAL LEADER
How do I demonstrate that I have been recognised as (or recognised as having the potential to be) a leading talent in the digital technology sector?

  1. Employment/ Confirmation letter, Salary increment (evidence focusing on the EDs statement of my leadership and bringing to life a new arm of the organisation)

  2. Acceptance letter to Design Leaders Fellowship (evidence focusing on selection amidst thousands of applications - email engagements) + Scholarship decision for same (email evidence) + Screenshot and link to the website

  3. Acceptance letter into InVision’s Design Leadership Forum (evidence showing the criteria for selection, email application, and acceptance feedback) + link to the website

  4. Birthing a new arm within the organisation that provides structured tech support to NGO’s, non-profits and social enterprises (Evidence showing screenshots of the website and a salary increment letter that captures this)

[OPTIONAL CRITERIA 2] - IMPACT
How do I demonstrate that I have been recognised for my work outside of my immediate occupation that contributed to the advancement of the sector?

  1. Volunteer App review for a No-code tech company for designers/developers ( contribution implemented) - (evidence showing screenshots of review and contribution, engagements - email from CEO, link to product update version log highlighting my implemented contribution, Invited by CEO, Product Manager to a focus group discussion on discord, screenshot of improvement announced on App’s Discord community)

  2. Volunteer mentoring at a structured platform that provides equal access to educational resources and mentors for designers across the world - (evidence showing screenshots of mentorship, mentees, and feedbacks)

  3. Youtube channel of tech design tutorials for aspiring designers - (Evidence showing screenshot of channel, videos with top views of about 15,000, analytics of channel till date, feedbacks, link to channel).

[OPTIONAL CRITERIA 3] - CONTRIBUTION
How do I demonstrate a significant technical, commercial or entrepreneurial contribution to the field as a founder, senior executive, board member or employee of a product-led digital technology company?

  1. Led the redesign of the Civic-tech website where i work and increase donation via this channel - focus at the time was to increase donation via the website (Show processes, charts, prototypes, statistics, revenue generated through donations till date, show old site vs new site).

  2. The organisation’s tech product (A WhatsApp chatbot assistant that encourages civic engagement ) - didn’t champion it but was part of the team. (Evidence showing newspaper clippings, publications, flyers, and evidence of selection Chat for Impact Accelerator 2022 - Turn.io & WhatsApp, screenshot of the 20 winner out of 920 organisations, social media mentions). show reference letter from project lead that captures my involvement, show data, show grant.

  3. MC Evidence 1 - expanciate showing processes, resources, prototypes, growth / revenue

EXTRAS - I’m not sure if these extras would suffice as evidences to consider.

  • My contributions to FlutterFlow Community (a no-code mobile app builder for android and iOS)—basically notifying community managers of bugs
  • Currently building an Ed-Tech app for aspiring designers (development phase).

Thank you for always coming through.
This forum gave me so much clarity within the short period I joined (yesterday).

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Please help review my evidences for exceptional promise.:pray:
@May @alexnk @Francisca_Chiedu

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MC:

  • #1: You will need to compare your salary to the industry benchmark if you are showing your Salary as a highlight.
  • #2 and #3: Acceptance letter is nothing. Try to get the confirmation or Thank you letter from what you had contributed or earned.

OC2:

  • #1: Is this only for one company or many companies? Private or public contribution? It will also have to be unpaid volunteer in Digital Tech too,
  • #2: Structured platform is not what TN guideline requested. You mentorship needs to be structured program with a certain number of participants, and the digi tech topics and etc. Getting the thank you letter will add and confirm your contribution.
  • #3: I don’t think this will add value much to the OC2 requirements. It may be better if you were an invited speaker in a popular digital tech related media with large number of viewership. Your own channel with high number of views does not prove much.

OC3:

  • #1: Focus on the quantitative data. This could help you acquire 1 of the OC3 here.
  • #2: Is this your within company? How does it show your impact? Otherwise, remove it, or move it to MC if applicable.
  • #3: Are you reusing the same evidence of MC-#1?

All in all, I think you still have low chance to influence the assessor, as per my review and commented above. However I can see that you are putting some efforts here. To me, it is always nice to see of those business people (non-developer) to challenge this visa. So keep it up, do some more homework on the Tech Nation guideline (Tech Nation Visa Guide - Tech Nation), and come back again with a new version of your application.

I hope this helps @Emmanuel_Akujobi

1 Like
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Thank you @alexnk.
I do not take this valuable gesture for granted.
Your review gave me lots of clarity and I really wished I also got @maya and @Francisca_Chiedu perspective as well.

MC:
#1: You will need to compare your salary to the industry benchmark if you are showing your Salary as a highlight.
(Wasn’t looking like a strong-enough evidence so I am changing it).

#2 and #3: Acceptance letter is nothing. Try to get the confirmation or Thank you letter from what you had contributed or earned.
(Honestly, haven’t earned that yet in the fellowship… those were the only evidences available with regard to the fellowship).

OC2:
#1: Is this only for one company or many companies? Private or public contribution? It will also have to be unpaid volunteer in Digital Tech too,
(It’s for a Digital Tech… It’s private… It’s NOT paid)

#2: Structured platform is not what TN guideline requested. You mentorship needs to be structured program with a certain number of participants, and the digi tech topics and etc. Getting the thank you letter will add and confirm your contribution.
(I get it… I really don’t have enough mentees and feedback to use this as a strong evidence).

#3: I don’t think this will add value much to the OC2 requirements. It may be better if you were an invited speaker in a popular digital tech related media with large number of viewership. Your own channel with high number of views does not prove much.
(I see your point, so i will rewrite it - trying to see if i can guide the assessor to impact).

OC3:
#1: Focus on the quantitative data. This could help you acquire 1 of the OC3 here.
(Noted)

#2: Is this your within company? How does it show your impact? Otherwise, remove it, or move it to MC if applicable.
(It’s within my company. Yes i have to make impact visible… )

#3: Are you reusing the same evidence of MC-#1?
(I intend to, but i have changed my mind)

I will do some home work and come back with a new version (with some context this time).

Thank you.

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REVISED

Recommendation Letters

  1. Assistant Manager of a Civic-tech
  2. Co-Founder & CTO of a tech company A
  3. Founder of a tech company B

Professional Resume

  • Creative Lead at Civic-tech
  • Senior web graphic designer at Media house
  • Website / Graphic designer at a Tech firm
  • Design management fellow
  • Design leadership Forum (Member) - Invision
  • Mentorship - Volunteering
  • Low-code/nocode enthusiast (Developer)
  • Product school
  • UX Experience Certificate - Accenture
  • Founder TraditNow, HowOnly & Orplift (These didn’t sail).

Personal statement

Evidence ( Impact and Contribution )

[MANDATORY CRITERIA] - PROMISE
How do I demonstrate that I have been recognised as having the potential to be a leading talent in the digital technology sector?

  1. Employment / Confirmation letter that captures my position as a creative lead.

  2. Birthed a new arm within the organisation that provides structured support to NGO’s, non-profits and social enterprises.
    *- Screenshots - website / url, *
    *- EDs statement of my leadership and bringing to life a new arm of the organisation), *
    - Evidence of revenue metrics.

  3. Letters of Reference - Supervisors, or industry experts who can attest to my work and impact in the civic-tech sector.

  4. Proof of Work (Project Documentation) - Impact of campaigns, Provide documentation related to projects I have worked on.

  5. Led the team responsible for all visual campaigns of one of the organisation’s digital platform. A digital technology platform to facilitate citizen engagement in Nigeria.

In 2021, the website was a great resource for citizens, as they sought contact details to engage their representatives in the National Assembly on key issues such as the Twitter ban, Petroleum Industry Bill, and the Electoral Amendment Bill.

- Show proof of work
- Links to videos created
*- Publications, flyers, metrics, *
- Feedback
- Show grant/funding

[OPTIONAL CRITERIA 2] - IMPACT
How do I demonstrate that I have been recognised for my work outside of my immediate occupation that contributed to the advancement of the sector?

1. Volunteer (Not Paid) Review of a powerful platform that allows you to create web applications without writing any code.
I actively volunteered my expertise to review and enhance the platform that help designers and developers create custom apps from MVP to scaled SaaS.

My contributions are well-documented, including screenshots of my review and implemented improvements. The CEO acknowledged my efforts via email, and I was invited by both the CEO and Product Manager to participate in a focus group discussion on Discord.

The impact of my involvement is evident in the product update version log, where my contributions are highlighted, and the subsequent announcement in the App’s Discord community showcasing the improvements.

2. Member of the FlutterFlow Community:
In this community, I contributed to the improvement of the advanced app development tool by identifying and reporting bugs encountered, actively troubleshooting/engaging in constructive discussions.
- Screenshots/link to my Flutterflow profile and engagements

Also, as a way to demonstrating my commitment to the platform’s advancement, I promote the FlutterFlow App development tool with my posts on twitter/threads using short clips know apps redesigned using the Flutterflow app.
- Screenshots/link to posts

3. Giving Back To The Design Community - Not Paid:
Affinity Designer is an award-winning vector graphics software that is setting new industry standards.

I actively contribute / giveback to the design community by uploading educational content for aspiring designers on how to use the design tool. Through my content I have garnered a dedicated following, an interactive and supportive audience providing valuable feedback and an accumulated substantial viewership of 22,000 views and 962 hours of watch time, indicating sustained interest and value provided. The broader reach is evidenced by 272,792 impressions, highlighting the visibility of my content across the platform.

This comprehensive evidence not only validates my impact as an educator but also demonstrates the positive reception and influence of my content within the design community.

*- Screenshots capturing key metrics and share relevant links that lead directly to the mentioned statistics. *
- Positive community’s feedback/engagements, visible through screenshots of comments.

[OPTIONAL CRITERIA 3] - CONTRIBUTION
How do I demonstrate a significant technical, commercial or entrepreneurial contribution to the field as a founder, senior executive, board member or employee of a product-led digital technology company?

1. Led the redesign of the Civic-tech website and as a result, opened up a new channel for donating to the organisation’s cause.
- Show quantitative data of funds donated via this channel from inception.
- Show work done; processes, prototypes, old site vs new site).

2. Led the team responsible for all visual representations of the Organisations Chatbot nationwide, creating awareness and further engaging citizens on their rights and demand for good governance and public accountability from their representatives in all level of government.

With the Chatbot we were able to assist citizens with registration, PVC collection, polling unit (PU) location and debates schedules towards the 2023 elections in Nigeria.

The OOTC Chatbot was selected into the “Chat for Impact Accelerator 2022” - organised by “Turn.io & WhatsApp” where we emerged as top 20 winner out of 920 organisations.

The Chatbot initiative was initially a web and SMS platform, but has transitioned to replace SMS and provide easier access, wider reach and seamless interaction - on the premise that Whatsapp is more commonly used amongst next generation voters (18+ and upwards).

- Show proof of work
- Link to videos
*- Publications, flyers, metrics, *
- Feedback
- Show grant/funding
*- screenshot of the 20 winner out of 920 organisations, *
- social media mentions
- show reference letter from project lead that captures my involvement,

3. Reference letter from the project lead that captures my involvement and impact.

@alexnk here is a revised version based on the feedback.
Thank you once again for your time.

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@alexnk @May @Francisca_Chiedu
I have a revised version based on feedback.

Please help review🙏

I appreciate all the guidance.

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I think your mandatory criteria is not sufficient to prove you are a leader. Aside letters from your employer and enad employment contract, do you have other external evidence to confirm your industry recognition. Any high profile speaking event? Any award? When you search your name in Google do you have media mention of your contribution?

For optional criteria 2 it still doesn’t look like a structured contribution. Did you contribute to an opensource project?
As for the Civictech website it is not clear what product you built and the metrics you are using to assess your significant contribution.

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Thank you @Francisca_Chiedu for the feedback. Highly appreciated.

Aside letters from your employer and enad employment contract, do you have other external evidence to confirm your industry recognition. Any high profile speaking event? Any award? When you search your name in Google do you have media mention of your contribution?

  • I do have a speaking engagement representing company B to train leaders of NGOs, CSOs, and social enterprises from across the country - 36 states of the federation plus the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
    Digital impact - The training birthed the hashtag that was used for the campaign asking the government to reconsider the 5 Gender Bill #ReconsiderThe5GenderBills.

Aside, I had earlier used evidence of Acceptance into a Fellowship of Design Leaders but withdrew it based on earlier feedback.

As for the Civictech website it is not clear what product you built and the metrics you are using to assess your significant contribution.

  • Would redesigning a website to meet an organisational need be counted for something? In this case, it specifically redesigned to create another channel to raise fund as an NGO in the civic-tech.
    The metric include - Data that captures how much donation came through the website from inception till date. Also, show of proof of work through prototypes designed, project roadmap and screenshoots comparing old and new website.

For optional criteria 2 it still doesn’t look like a structured contribution. Did you contribute to an open-source project?
I really do not have any evidence that shows that i contributed to an open-source project.
However, I was hoping I could show impact through strong positive feedback from the design community and the improvement of a digital-tech product as evidence.

Thank you once again.
I await your response.

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I think you have been using the word Civictech loosely. Just updating a fund raising website doesn’t make it a product. What is the product the civil tech, what metric can you use to show your contribution to built the product. Training NGOs and the topic doesn’t show it’s a high profile tech event. You evidence still don’t demonstrate how you meet the criteria. For example https://www.fixmystreet.com/ is a civiltech platform developed my mysociety UK, they have other platforms or product id you like that they have built, with metrics on the problem they are solving using digital technology. It is not clear from your evidence if yours has a product or platform, a website for fundraising just may not cut it.

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This is super helpful; words can’t explain how much insight I get from your feedback.

Thank you @Francisca_Chiedu.

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