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Shola Japheth

Founder · Volunteer operations SaaS

I ran volunteer teams on WhatsApp and spreadsheets. Then I built the replacement.

A volunteer operations platform I designed, built and run. Tech Revolution Africa uses it, and it was deployed for Womenovate's WITESA summit.

Role
Founder: product, design, engineering
When
2026 — present
Status
Live
  • 2

    major conferences running on it

  • Solo

    designed, built, deployed

  • 0 → 1

    problem to adoption

The problem

Running volunteers for multi-thousand-attendee conferences, I watched coordination scatter across WhatsApp groups and spreadsheets. Registrations sat in one place, team lists in another, and attendance was a matter of trust. The tools weren't built for the job.

What I owned

  • Problem discovery, from running the operations myself
  • Workflow and interface design
  • Architecture, build and deployment
  • Adoption with real organisers

The system

Volunteer lifecycle
  1. Register

  2. Approve

  3. Assign team

  4. Tasks & comms

  5. QR check-in

  6. Verified attendance

  7. Recognition

One system for the whole path from sign-up to thank-you.

Key decisions

  1. 01

    A platform, not an event script

    It is built so any organisation can run its own volunteer operations, not as a one-off tool for a single conference. That is why it was adopted beyond the event it started at.

  2. 02

    Verify attendance instead of trusting it

    QR check-in turns 'I was there' into a record. That makes recognition fair and gives organisers real numbers.

  3. 03

    Automate the admin

    Automation and AI-assisted workflows take repetitive coordination off organisers, who are usually volunteers themselves.

Outcome

  • Live

    production SaaS at igbajo-owo.com

  • TRA

    used by Tech Revolution Africa

  • WITESA

    deployed for Womenovate's summit

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