In 2010, a member of the ExJAM community faced a serious medical emergency and could not meet the cost alone. The case was brought to the attention of alumni — and the community responded.
Kola Rasheed, based in Calgary, coordinated the response. Fellow alumni across Nigeria and the diaspora came together, raised what was needed, and ensured the member received care. The details of that case remain confidential, as they always will.
What the community had just demonstrated — that collective action could meet individual crisis — was too important to leave to chance a second time. There was no structure. No fund. No process. Just people who showed up.
The Foundation was formally established in 2010 so that showing up would never again depend on who happened to hear in time. Every ExJAM now knows exactly where to turn.
