Growing up, I found freedom, joy and hope in a simple act of play. A swing became a spaceship. A seesaw, a stage. These everyday structures shaped how I saw the world, and how I believed I could shape it.

Much of this spirit comes from my mother, whose simple, generous acts taught me that true community care is about access and dignity for all, a lesson I carry with me to this day.

The Yinka Ilori Foundation is my way of giving that same opportunity to communities around the world. By creating vibrant, inclusive spaces designed with communities, not for them, we’re not only sparking imagination and joy. We’re also democratising art, empowering local voices, and building pathways for skill sharing and opportunity.

We’re starting in Nigeria.
But this is just the beginning

our vision

To create playful, inclusive, and sustainable community spaces that foster creativity, opportunity, and self-sufficiency, especially for children and youth, through locally embedded play objects, arts, workshops, and economic strategies.

We believe in democratising art, removing barriers to creative expression and making space for everyone’s voice, story, and skill.

our mission

To challenge the traditional aid model by centering community agency, co-creation, and joy.

We use design and play to empower communities, democratise art, and foster accessibility and skill sharing through joyful, co-created spaces that reflect local identity and aspiration.

WHY NOW?

Across the globe, communities are facing social, economic, and environmental challenges that demand new models of care and creativity. But top-down aid and extractive philanthropy are no longer acceptable, or effective.

The Yinka Ilori Foundation is built on a different approach: one rooted in dignity, agency, and joy.Our mission is rooted in empowering communities, placing agency, authorship, and joy back in their hands.

As public space becomes increasingly privatised, and as children’s access to imaginative, free spaces is limited, our work becomes not just timely, but essential.

We are launching in Nigeria, Yinka’s ancestral home, with a pilot designed to prove a new model: permanent playscapes that spark creativity and economic opportunity through co-creation and long-term engagement.

WHAT WE DO?

The Yinka Ilori Foundation supports community-led transformation through joyful, design-driven interventions.

Our model blends physical play spaces with cultural programming, skills development, and economic opportunity, always co-created with the communities we serve.

PLAY OBJECTS

At the heart of each site is a set of modular play structures: swings, seesaws, slides, or courts, designed not just for fun, but for imagination, storytelling, and gathering.

These are more than play areas. They are seeds of future cities, built to reflect local identity and encourage free-form expression.

Community
programming

Our playscapes are only the beginning. Every site is accompanied by a year of integrated programming, developed with Foundation advisors and delivered through local partnerships.

These include:
- Music & Belonging: DJing, gospel, and percussion workshops rooted in local soundscapes
- Design & Storytelling: Exploring architectural identity, local craft, and visual language
- Business & Entrepreneurship: Training and mentorship to turn creativity into livelihood
- Craft & Fabrication: Practical skills in making, tailoring, and design
- Leadership & Cultural Tourism: Encouraging ownership and building sustainable visibility

Every program is designed with accessibility in mind, from free workshops to inclusive design, and centers skill-sharing as a tool for empowerment, not charity.

MEntorship &
Advisory

We are lucky to count with talents who not only inspire us, but care deeply about community.

Through the Foundation, this creative family brings their skills to each project: leading workshops, mentoring young people, and helping shape spaces that feel joyful, relevant, and rooted in local cultureworkshops to inclusive design, and centers skill-sharing as a tool for empowerment, not charity.

HOW WE WORK
We don’t deliver aid. We build with, not for, communities.

COMMUNITY-FIRST, ALWAYS.
We begin with immersion, not assumptions. We spend time listening, observing how people live, what brings joy, and what spaces are needed.
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CO-CREATION OVER CONSULTATION
Designs are born from dialogue, not imposed blueprints. Our process invites community members, especially youth, to shape the project, from sketches to fabrication
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JOY IS RESISTANCE
Play is political. It creates safety, confidence, and possibility. Our work centres joy, agency, and imagination in places where they are too often denied.

LONG TERM STEWARDSHIP
We build permanent infrastructure, not pop-ups. Each project includes maintenance training, local hiring, and a plan for sustainability, socially and structurally.

OUR ROOTS AND
INSPIRATION

The Yinka Ilori Foundation stands on a belief that playful design can unlock hope, dignity, and opportunity, which is deeply rooted in Yinka’s own life and inspirations.

Growing up in North London and going to his mother’s hometown in Nigeria, Yinka witnessed his mother open their family home to neighbours in need of clean water, an early lesson in accessibility and community care that continues to shape his work today.

From his earliest projects to the Foundation’s global ambition, this ethos is enriched by kindred spirits and pioneering examples that prove how play, design, and community ownership can transform everyday spaces.

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