Most people celebrate their birthday by receiving. I created CIBS, the Charles Izuoba Birthday Scholarship, to spend mine giving instead, and it turned into a full month of teaching people I had never met before.
The Idea Behind CIBS
I self sponsored a one month program where participants were taught in demand digital skills at no cost to them, including Google Workspace, productivity tools, and content creation. There was no sales pitch hidden inside it and nothing to purchase at the end. It was simply my way of marking another year of my life by investing in other people’s futures.
What A Month Of Teaching Looked Like
I structured the program so participants weren’t just consuming information, they were building real, usable skills. Google Workspace sessions gave people confidence to handle documents, spreadsheets, and collaboration tools many of them had only used on the surface before. Productivity tools sessions helped them organize their time and tasks in a way that stuck beyond the program itself. Content creation sessions gave them the confidence to start showing up online with something to say.
The Moment That Made It Worth It
Partway through the month, I started receiving messages from participants who had used what they learned to apply for jobs, start freelancing, or simply feel more capable using tools they had avoided before. Those messages, not the birthday itself, became the actual highlight of that period for me.
Why I Keep Doing CIBS
I built LAskill and everything I teach around one belief, that skills change lives faster than almost anything else available to people right now. CIBS is my way of proving that belief every year, on the one day that is supposed to be about me, by making it about everyone willing to show up and learn.
