African Leadership Academy

Last updated

African Leadership Academy
Png-transparent-african-leadership-academy-johannesburg-national-secondary-school-school-emblem-label-logo.png
Location
African Leadership Academy
Johannesburg

South Africa
Information
Establishedc. 2004
Founders
  • Fred Swaniker
  • hris Bradford
  • Peter Mombaur
  • Acha Leke
Age range16 to 19
Website https://www.africanleadershipacademy.org

The African Leadership Academy (ALA) is an educational institution located in the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa, for students between the ages of 16 and 19 years old, with current alumni coming from 46 countries.

Contents

Founded in 2004 by Fred Swaniker, Chris Bradford, Peter Mombaur, and Acha Leke, [1] ALA officially opened in September 2008 with an inaugural class of 97 students. [2] ALA seeks to transform Africa by identifying, developing, and connecting the next generation of African leaders. To achieve this goal, ALA teaches a two-year curriculum in African studies, writing and rhetoric and entrepreneurial leadership, as well as the usual academic core subjects.

History

Around 2004, the founders of ALA, launched Global Leadership Adventures, a summer program that would be a precursor to ALA.

In 2006, Swaniker and Bradford were recognized by Echoing Green, who described them as two of the 15 best emerging social entrepreneurs in the world. [3] In 2007 the initial campus was confirmed, and Christopher Khaemba was announced as the inaugural Dean of the School while the current dean is Derik Smith.

ALA campus

The campus is located in Honeydew, on the outskirts of Johannesburg. Students share a dormitory, and there are modern facilities including a sports field, 350 seater auditorium, classrooms and dining hall. In 2014, construction began on new dormitories that will allow ALA to increase new student numbers to 120 in 2016.

Admission process

Campus of the academy ALACampus.jpg
Campus of the academy

The African Leadership Academy receives several thousand applications during the first round, where approximately 400 are selected to attend finalist events held across the continent. The finalists then write entrance exams, participate in group activities and are interviewed. 120 students are selected annually to attend the academy. Admissions status is usually finalized by mid-April.

Selection criteria

The African Leadership Academy uses five criteria for admission: [4]

Curriculum

Two Year Pre-University Program

The academic core combines a two-year pre-university program based on the Cambridge A Levels and ALA's unique curricula in Entrepreneurial Leadership, African Studies and Writing and Rhetoric. A Level. [5]

Entrepreneurial Leadership and African Studies

ALA's primary Entrepreneurial Leadership curriculum is a cornerstone of the student experience that creates opportunities to practice leadership and entrepreneurship skills through simulation and project-based learning. Students are encouraged to work on team building and original thinking. In the interdisciplinary African studies curriculum, students study hunger eradication, health care provision, economic growth, and conflict resolution.

Academic success

Faculty

Dean of African Leadership Academy

Inaugural Dean Christopher Situma Khaemba was previously Principal of Alliance High School on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. Khaemba received his MBA from Kenyatta University in Nairobi.

The current dean is Hatim Eltayeb.

Faculty members

Faculty members go through a process that includes multiple interviews, academic background checks, and verification of personal and professional references. After the first round of interviews, the prospective teacher conducts a mock lesson in the presence of students and two faculty members. This is followed by a final round of interviews.

All faculty members are graduates from universities and have previously taught at leading institutions.

Student life

Sports

Students are encouraged to participate in a fitness activity. However, sport is not a strong part of the academy. Current competitive sports include soccer, basketball, and volleyball.

Student clubs and organizations

Students participate in a variety of clubs, and each student is expected to create or run either a "Student Enterprise," an "Original idea for Development," or a "Community Service Project".

Student Enterprise Programmes (SEPs)

The student-run businesses only operate on campus, and include:

  • Affordable Housing for Africa – This enterprise aims to research and develop prototypes for affordable housing for lower-middle-class families.
  • Agrinovation – This is an organic community farm that sells produce to the ALA community and further supports the ecosystem by pursuing innovation around recycling organic refuse on campus.
  • Artribution – This enterprise will work on creating an online connection platform for African artists and their stakeholders.
  • BEAM – This enterprise will be incubated to research and develop eco battery power.
  • Greenlink – This enterprise will focus on creating environment based innovations, projects, campaigns, and/or clubs at ALA.
  • Footprints – merchandising – T-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.
  • Duka Bora – This enterprise runs the ALA for-profit tuck shop which seeks to provide high-quality consumable goods such as snacks, drinks, and airtime to the ALA community at an affordable price.
  • EmoART – This enterprise works with South African girls of 15–17 years old and teaches them skills such as emotional intelligence and time management so that they can make well-informed decisions.
  • EdTech – This is a hub for our tech students who wish to explore this new exciting space in 21st century education. EdTech works with other student enterprises and ALA departments to develop applications and bring education to existing technologies.
  • ALAiansMedia – The enterprise is a high quality media platform for writing, video, and photography that showcases the experiences, thoughts, and talents of ALA students to the rest of the world. [6]
  • Bezosscholars – This enterprise is restricted to students selected for the Bezos Scholars programme in Aspen. They host the annual South African Ideas Festival (SAIF). Its goal is to create spaces where young South Africans can incubate impactful, innovative, and sustainable ideas that will transform our schools and communities. [7]
  • SAFCorp – This enterprise offers consultancy services to the ALA SEP economy. Services include auditing and financial literacy support in order to ensure the sophistication, transparency, and accountability of all student enterprises. In 2015–2016, SAFCorp will handle basic functions such as the issuance of bank statements and registering authorised enterprises on the Cashless System.

Original Ideas for Development

Original Ideas for Development (OIDs), are projects that have a wide scope and run beyond the students' time at ALA. Current OIDs include:

  • GSIE [8] – Global Strategy on Inclusive Education – helping children with disabilities gain access to education
  • HACA – cancer awareness campaign
  • Baobab – capturing oral histories online to preserve and facilitate cross-cultural understanding
  • Greendorm – environmentally friendly living on campus (internal)
  • Almas (formerly Nique) – using a beauty creme to fund the creation and distribution of an anti-malarial creme
  • MathmaHelp – production of educational math DVDs
  • Oyama – A crowd-sourcing platform for young African entrepreneurs
  • African Baccalaureate – Africa's own curriculum design
  • Cyca – A social networking platform to alleviate misleading preconceptions about the African continent
  • Radio Skika- A radio station geared towards sparking intellectual inquiry amongst African youth by exploring some of the continent's most pressing issues
  • A4Ge All For Girls Empowerment – A community service project that seeks to equip young girls with 21st century skills to allow them develop into young, vibrant women.

Supervised trips

Students explore the local community, Africa, and the world, [9] by participating in an excursion program. Outdoors enthusiasts participate in weekend hiking trips in the Drakensberg mountains and longer excursions during holiday periods, while scientists may apply to attend the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in the United States.

Global Scholars Program

Global Scholars Program is a three-week, global leadership summer program for teens aged 13–19. Students from other countries around the world get the chance to come to ALA and they learn more about the continent as well as skills related to leadership and entrepreneurship.

Catalyst Term

A study abroad experience for secondary students from around the world to develop as social innovators. Students can choose to take a trimester or a full year at ALA where they can take the core subjects and engage in deferent activities on campus.

Model African Union

MAU is a four-day conference where participants from secondary schools around the world debate and discuss some of the most complicated issues on the continent. Participants also attend presentations by African Union officials and foreign policy experts.

Anzisha Prize

The Anzisha Prize seeks to award young entrepreneurs who have developed and implemented innovative solutions to social challenges or started successful businesses within their communities. 15 finalists from across Africa win a spot in a lifelong fellowship what will help to accelerate their path to entrepreneurship success. The first step in this journey is that they win an all-expenses paid trip to South Africa to be a part of a ten day long entrepreneurship workshop and conference at the African Leadership Academy campus on the outskirts of Johannesburg. The grand prize winners, selected from these finalists, will share prizes worth US$100,000. The fellowship continues thereafter, offering them business consulting services to unlock growth potential in their venture, connecting them to a global network of leaders, providing access to global speaking opportunities, and supporting their professional development.

In addition to the $100 000 competition, the Anzisha Prize seeks to fundamentally and significantly increase the number of job generative entrepreneurs in Africa. They believe that a key to doing so is to test, implement and then share models for identifying, training and connecting high potential, very young entrepreneurs (15 to 22 year olds) so that many more organisations have better collective success in creating a pipeline entrepreneurs with the capabilities for scale.

The Anzisha strategy has three pillars:

Africa Careers Network

Africa Careers Network (ACN) is a platform that connects young African talents from ALA and the MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program to high-impact internship and job opportunities across the African continent.

Global Advisory Council

As well as the board of trustees, the academy's Global Advisory Council is composed of African and global luminaries in business, leadership development, secondary education, and social entrepreneurship. The Global Advisory Council provides strategic input and guidance to the ALA management team.

African Leadership Foundation

The African Leadership Foundation is a USA 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation that supports the African Leadership Academy and the next generation of African leaders.

Related Research Articles

AIESEC is an international "youth-run" and led, non-governmental and not-for-profit organization that provides young people with business development internships, and cheap travel experience. The organization focuses on empowering young people to make a progressive social impact. The AIESEC network includes approximately 40,000 members in 120+ countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B. Joseph White</span> American academic administrator (born 1947)

Bernard Joseph White is president emeritus of the University of Illinois and professor emeritus of business at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. He is dean emeritus of the Stephen M. Ross School of Business and professor emeritus of business administration at the University of Michigan, where he also served as interim president, and Wilbur K. Pierpont Collegiate Professor of Leadership in Management Education. He is the author of The Nature of Leadership and Boards That Excel: Candid Insights and Practical Advice for Directors. Boards That Excel was named Governance Book of the Year for 2014 by Directors and Boards.

The MIT Entrepreneurship Center is one of the largest research and teaching centers at the MIT Sloan School of Management, the business and management school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was founded in the early 1990s and charged with the mission to develop MIT's entrepreneurial activities and interests in education and research, alliances, and the community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship</span> American nonprofit organization

The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, also referred to as NFTE, is an international nonprofit organization providing entrepreneurship training and educational programs to middle and high school students, college students, and adults. Much of NFTE's work focuses specifically on young people in underserved communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legatum</span> Private investment firm headquartered in Dubai

Legatum Limited, also known as Legatum, is a private investment firm, headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Legatum is a partnership that uses its own funds to invest globally. The firm also invests in activities to promote entrepreneurship and free enterprise as well as anti-slavery, health and education initiatives.

Global Leadership Adventures (GLA) offers high school study abroad programs where students engage in service-learning in Belize, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Fiji, France (Guadeloupe), Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Indonesia (Bali), Morocco, Peru, South Africa, Tanzania, and Thailand. In 2019, the company also launched Europe Discovery programs in the UK, France, Greece, Spain, and other countries throughout the European continent.

Christopher Situma Khaemba is a Kenyan educator, and the former Dean of the African Leadership Academy (ALA) in South Africa. Khaemba became the first Dean of the ALA in September 2008, moving from his role as principal of Alliance High School in Kenya to take up the position. Before that he had served as Principal of Friends School Kamusinga for three years and Alliance for 10 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Periquet</span>

Anna Marie Periquet is a Filipino-born entrepreneur advocate, businesswoman, socio civic leader, talk show host, 5-dance Latin dancesport athlete and champion, public servant, and a former member of the House of Representatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Kingma</span> American economist

Bruce Kingma is an American economist and academic entrepreneur, who since 1988 has taught and worked in the United States, Canada, and New Zealand. Kingma is a pioneer in experiential entrepreneurship education and community engagement and his work cover topics ranging from academic entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship and religion, information economics, online education, community engagement, library science, and nonprofit management.

Harvard Innovation Labs (i-Lab) is an institution which aims to promote team-based and entrepreneurial activities among Harvard students, faculty, entrepreneurs, and members of the Allston and Greater Boston communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hult Prize</span> International prize for social enterprise

The Hult Prize is an annual competition for ideas solving pressing social issues, such as food security, water access, energy, and education. Named for Bertil Hult, the prize is awarded to college students, and has referred to as the "Nobel Prize for students".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Bombay</span>

The Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Bombay, also known as E-Cell, IIT Bombay, is the primary entrepreneurship promoting body of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, managed and run completely by the students of the institute. It organizes initiatives like the annual business plan competition Eureka! and the flagship event, The Entrepreneurship Summit (E-Summit) in January each year, which receives a footfall of over 30,000 people who include students, investors, corporates, mentors, celebrities and the most important; Entrepreneurs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji</span> Nigerian social entrepreneur

Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji is a Nigerian social entrepreneur and human development expert whose work cuts across entrepreneurship, education, youth development and public leadership. She is the founder and chief executive officer of Rise Networks, a Nigeria-based private and public sector funded Youth Interest social enterprise.

Jumpstart Academy Africa is a for impact social venture which utilizes entrepreneurial leadership and mentoring to solve Africa’ human capital problem which starts at the secondary school level. The founding mission of the Academy is to create a wave of entrepreneurial leaders by pioneering a world class Leadership and Entrepreneurship curriculum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uganda National Entrepreneurship Development Institute</span>

The Uganda National Entrepreneurship Development Institute (UNEDI) is a privately owned national resource development institution in Uganda whose focus area is entrepreneurship education, training and research. The institute provides training techniques, faculty support, consultancy, research as well as teaching and development of entrepreneurship training materials.

Aaron Kirunda is a Ugandan social entrepreneur and public figure. He is a co-founder and Chief Executive at enjuba where he dedicates his work to empowering people to reach their full potential through education. enjuba runs the National Spelling Bee in Uganda, a catalytic program that reaches millions of pupils in primary schools, helping them improve their literacy, develop 21st century skills. enjuba also publishes children's books and conducts teacher training programs.

The Social Enterprise Academy Nigeria is an educational and capacity development institution, which awards internationally recognized certificates and qualifications in the field of social enterprise to professionals and entrepreneurs in Nigeria. The Social Enterprise Academy Nigeria is licensed by Social Enterprise Europe, and recognized by the Federal Ministry of Education in Nigeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adenike Akinsemolu</span> Social entrepreneur and Environmental educator

Adenike Adebukola Akinsemolu is a Nigerian sustainability advocate, educator, author, and a social entrepreneur. She is a lecturer at Obafemi Awolowo University. She is known as one of the country's leading experts on environmental sustainability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicola Galombik</span>

Nicola Galombik is a South African social entrepreneur and businesswoman, known for founding Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, an award-winning South African nonprofit. She currently serves as the executive director of Yellowwoods, an investment holding company based in South Africa. Her career has included developing policy for the government of Nelson Mandela, and creating the education strategy for South African Broadcasting Corporation.

References

  1. Official Site Archived 6 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Mission Statement Archived 25 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Echoing Green Archived 19 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Admission Requirements Archived 30 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  5. CIE website
  6. "ALAian Life". Archived from the original on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  7. "Bezos Family Foundation | Programs".
  8. GSIE site [ permanent dead link ]
  9. Financial Mail Archived 25 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine

Additional sources

26°04′31″S27°54′58″E / 26.075376°S 27.916067°E / -26.075376; 27.916067