More Than Design: How Sola Sogebra Is Using Canva to Transform Teaching, Learning and Leadership

For Sola Sogebra, the desire to support children in underserved communities began with a story she could not easily forget.

Her mother once told her about a bright young boy in their hometown in Lagos State whose family struggled to provide the resources he needed for school.

He carried his belongings in nylon bags and was mocked by other children. The boy later died by suicide.

The story stayed with Sola and strengthened her determination to support children whose circumstances could limit their access to education.

Through the Sogebra Foundation, she began providing school uniforms, bags, stationery and other learning materials to children in underserved communities.

However, she soon realised that access to basic school supplies was only part of the challenge.

Some of the children she encountered had never used a laptop or desktop computer and lacked opportunities to develop digital skills.

This inspired her to help establish a digital learning hub in Imota, where young people can access computers and participate in holiday programmes to develop digital skills, including the use of Canva.

Beyond her community work, Sola is an education leader, digital citizenship advocate and social impact entrepreneur.

She is the Chief Operating Officer of Atlantic Hall School and founder of School Builders Lab Africa, an initiative focused on strengthening the capacity of school leaders.

In this interview with Edugist, she discusses her journey in education, the motivation behind her social impact work, how Canva has transformed her approach to creating learning content, and why educators should equip learners to become creators rather than passive consumers of technology.

Can we get to know Sola Sogebra and your work in education?

My name is Sola, and I am an education leader. My journey in education began many years ago in the classroom as a classroom teacher.

I can trace the most significant part of that journey to 2007–2008, when I began building my experience as an educator.

This continued until 2019, when I transitioned into school leadership, joining another school to head the school and lead its operations and educational direction.

Before then, I had progressed from being a classroom teacher to an Arm Head and eventually a Head of School.

Along the way, I earned certification as an Instructional School Leader through the British Council, which further strengthened my capacity for educational leadership.

Today, my work has evolved towards the non-instructional side of school leadership, where I serve as a Chief Operating Officer.

I am also a digital citizenship advocate and social impact entrepreneur, passionate about leveraging technology to transform teaching, learning and school leadership.

I currently serve as the Chief Operating Officer of Atlantic Hall School, where I contribute to strengthening school systems, improving operational efficiency and creating an enabling environment for educational excellence.

You mentioned the Sogebra Foundation; what does the foundation do?

The inspiration behind the Sogebra Foundation came from a story my mother shared about a brilliant young boy in my hometown in Lagos who died by suicide.

His mother struggled to provide for his education, and he often went to school carrying his belongings in nylon bags. His classmates mocked him, and that story deeply affected me.

I had always been passionate about supporting children in underserved communities, so I decided to formalise that passion by establishing the Sogebra Foundation.

We provide school uniforms, bags, stationery and other learning resources, particularly during school resumption in September.

Over time, I realised these children needed more than educational materials; they also needed digital exposure. Some had never physically handled a computer.

Through a project with LabXchange at Harvard University, I invested the proceeds in purchasing desktop computers. With additional support from Edugist, we established a digital learning hub in Imota.

Today, the hub provides children with access to computers and training in digital skills, including Canva, alongside other programmes in public speaking, pastry-making and tie-dye.

For me, the Sogebra Foundation is about creating opportunities, bridging educational gaps and ensuring that children in underserved communities have the exposure, resources and skills to reach their full potential.

You also founded School Builders Lab Africa. What inspired you to establish it?

School Builders Lab Africa is an upcoming institute born out of my personal experience transitioning from instructional to non-instructional school leadership.

When I was promoted to Director of Operations at Caleb Group of Schools, I realised I was stepping into a role I had not been adequately prepared for.

I had been trained as a teacher, but suddenly I was responsible for the operational side of running a school.

I searched for learning opportunities, but most available courses focused on general business operations rather than the realities of managing schools.

That experience opened my eyes to a gap in the education sector. Teachers and other educators are often promoted into leadership positions without the practical skills and support they need to succeed.

We established School Builders Lab Africa to bridge that gap, particularly for non-instructional school leaders.

Our training covers school operations, human resources, financial literacy, educational technology, student experience, strategic leadership, change management, school growth, governance and policy.

We have successfully graduated two cohorts, and our goal for next year is to run three cohorts, expanding our reach and developing more competent school leaders across Africa.

How did you first discover Canva?

I was introduced to Canva around 2018 or 2019, although I cannot remember exactly who first mentioned it. At the time, I was seeing people create beautiful graphic designs, and I became curious about the tool.

I decided to explore it and discovered that Canva was much more than a graphic design platform. It allowed me to bring my ideas to life without having to be a professional designer.

Initially, I struggled with the interface, but the templates made things easier. The more I explored, the more possibilities I discovered.

Today, I use Canva for almost everything, from graphic designs to presentations. I hardly use PowerPoint anymore, and people sometimes mistake me for a professional graphic designer!

What I love most is that I can search for a topic, find a template or resource that aligns with my idea, and customise it to suit my needs. Canva has genuinely transformed the way I create and communicate ideas.

Before discovering Canva, how did you create your materials and presentations?

Before discovering Canva, I had so many creative ideas, but I was not bringing them to life because I did not know how to turn them into designs. I always assumed I would need to pay a professional graphic designer to do that for me.

For presentations, I relied on Microsoft PowerPoint, but I was never completely satisfied with the designs. Although PowerPoint had templates and design elements, the options were quite limited compared with what I later discovered on Canva.

With Canva, I could create presentations that were more colourful, engaging and appealing, especially for children and students.

The animations, illustrations, graphics and readily available elements made the process easier and more exciting.

Even before Canva introduced some of its AI features, it already provided many tools that made creativity accessible to someone like me who was not a professional designer.

Do you think there is a gap in the Nigerian education system that Canva and similar tools can help address? What practical steps can encourage more educators to use the platform?

I believe information is power. When I started School Builders Lab Africa and began developing courses, my team asked how we intended to create the learning content. I suggested Canva. The more I used the platform, the more possibilities I discovered.

I eventually registered as an educator using my TRCN certificate and other required documentation.

Today, I use Canva for Education for free. I do not have a paid subscription, yet I have access to many premium features that would otherwise require payment.

Interestingly, many people, including my friends, have asked whether I pay for Canva.

They simply do not know that educators can access Canva for Education by providing proof of their teaching credentials.

I believe there are many opportunities on Canva that people, particularly educators in Nigeria, are yet to discover.

This is why bite-sized learning and information sharing are important. Rather than simply announcing new features, we need practical, easy-to-follow tutorials showing people where to find specific tools, how to use them and how to achieve particular results.

Imagine short lessons explaining how to create engaging presentations, access available educator features or make the most of Canva for Education.

That kind of information can empower thousands of teachers. We need to make these opportunities more accessible to educators across Nigeria.

Can you share a practical example of how you have used Canva to develop learning content for your programmes?

We wanted to create presentations with real faces and voices. The people working with me said we needed to go to a studio. I told them we did not need a studio. We already had the presentation on Canva, and we could record it there.

You can use the “Present and Record” feature. You can have the facilitator’s script in front of you and record the presentation. That was how we created content for the second cohort of the School Builders Lab programme.

We created the presentation on Canva, recorded the voiceover using “Present and Record”, downloaded it and uploaded it to YouTube.

We could also share it directly through a link. People do not know these things are available. Even the people working with me needed me to show them what we could do.

Again, it comes back to information. If you visit my LinkedIn page and click “Visit my site”, it takes you to Canva, where my portfolio is hosted.

Other people have personal websites; mine is on Canva. These are things I think many Nigerians do not know they can use.

Beyond your work, what opportunities do you think Canva and similar digital tools can create for teachers and learners?

I encourage teachers to take time to explore Canva because they will discover ready-made templates that meet their needs. Sometimes, all they need to do is edit the content or make a few adjustments to the slides.

For instance, if you are teaching digital literacy or digital citizenship education, simply search for those topics in Canva’s templates.

You will find resources that can make lesson preparation much easier. You can also use its AI features to turn existing content into presentations, which you can then customise.

However, I believe the opportunity goes beyond introducing Canva to more teachers. We must equip educators with the confidence and pedagogical skills to integrate it meaningfully into teaching and learning.

More importantly, we need to encourage learners to become creators, not just consumers of technology. Students should have opportunities to use Canva to create designs, presentations and other digital content.

While AI is useful, we must be careful not to become completely dependent on it. Not everything should be generated by AI.

If we constantly rely on AI to think and create for us, we risk gradually losing essential skills. Our goal should be to use technology and AI to enhance human creativity, not replace it.

What are the top three things you currently use Canva for?

School Builders Lab Africa currently takes up a significant part of my attention, and Canva has become an essential tool in running it.

I use it to develop learning content, create social media visuals and prepare presentations. I have my brand logo, colours and fonts saved, so I do not have to start from scratch every time.

I have also introduced Canva to my managers and team members at Atlantic Hall. They see how regularly I use it and the kind of work I produce, and that has encouraged them to explore the platform too.

I also use Canva to create and record presentations, making learning content accessible to others.

What challenges have you encountered while using Canva, and what improvements would you like to see?

I must say I have had a very positive experience with Canva. I use it so extensively that I sometimes joke that if I have not opened Canva, I probably have not done my work!

However, one area I find challenging is its AI-generated presentations. I do not always connect with the results because they tend to look generic. I find myself more drawn to the ready-made templates, perhaps because they have a more human and creative touch.

Even when people use tools like Claude alongside Canva, you can sometimes recognise that a presentation was AI-generated. Perhaps better prompting could improve the results, but I would love to see AI-generated presentations that feel more original, personalised and less predictable.

Beyond that, I think Canva is fantastic. I can upload my voice, add voiceovers, record presentations and explore so many creative possibilities. I am still discovering new ways to use it.

Sola Sogebra’s experience illustrates how digital tools can extend the possibilities of education beyond the classroom.

Her work through the Sogebra Foundation highlights the importance of combining access to basic learning resources with digital exposure, while School Builders Lab Africa addresses the need to prepare educators for the operational demands of school leadership.

Her message to teachers and learners is equally important: technology should not simply make work easier; it should expand opportunities for creativity, participation and problem-solving. As Nigerian schools continue to explore digital learning, her experience reinforces the need to equip educators with practical skills and encourage students to become active creators of technology-driven solutions.