African Leadership Academy

Last updated

African Leadership Academy
Location
African Leadership Academy
Roodepoort

South Africa
Information
Establishedc. 2004
Founders
  • Fred Swaniker
  • Chris 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 Roodepoort on 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. The current dean of African Leadership Academy is Derek 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, 450 seater auditorium, classrooms and dining hall. In 2016, ALA renovated its dormitories, allowing the school to increase the number of students in each class by 30%.

Admission process

ALA Campus ALACampus.jpg
ALA Campus

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 four 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.

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.

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 of the Academy is Derek Smith.

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. 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. [5]
  • 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. [6]
  • 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 [7] – 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, [8] 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 solutions to social challenges or started businesses within their communities. 15 finalists from across Africa win a spot in a lifelong fellowship to help accelerate their path to entrepreneurship success. They win a trip to South Africa to be a part of a ten-day long workshop and conference at the African Leadership Academy campus. The grand prize winners, selected from these finalists, will share prizes worth US$100,000. The fellowship continues thereafter, offering winners business consulting services and a support network.[ citation needed ]

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. 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.

<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">UCLA Anderson School of Management</span> Business school at University of California, Los Angeles

The John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management is the graduate business school at the University of California, Los Angeles. The school offers MBA, PGPX, Financial Engineering, Business Analytics, and PhD degrees. It was named after American billionaire John E. Anderson in 1987, after he donated $15 million to the School of Management—the largest gift received from an individual by the University of California at the time.

CIDA City Campus was an accredited university, founded in 2000, located in Lyndhurst, Johannesburg. It offers three year degrees in Bachelor of Business Administration.

Dakota County Technical College (DCTC) is a public, two-year technical college in Rosemount, Minnesota, United States. It is located in Dakota County inside the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area. DCTC belongs to the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System and is one of five stand-alone technical colleges in the state.

The Michael G. Foster School of Business at the University of Washington is the business school of the University of Washington in Seattle. Founded in 1917 as the University of Washington School of Business Administration, the school was the second business school in the western United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center</span> Center at the University of Florida

The Entrepreneurship & Innovation Center is a center created to promote Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Florida. The center is part of the Warrington College of Business and is located in Bryan Hall. Around 2500 students are enrolled in classes over the course of the school year. The center works with six other colleges at the university to deliver introductory and specialized courses for both undergraduate and graduate students. Courses taught through the center include Creativity, Global Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurial Marketing, New Venture Creation, Venture Finance, Entrepreneurial Selling and Social Entrepreneurship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northwestern University in Qatar</span>

Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q), also known as Northwestern Qatar, is Northwestern University’s campus in Education City, Doha, Qatar, founded in partnership with the Qatar Foundation in 2008.

One Hen is a service-learning program, located in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. It was established in January 2009 as an outgrowth of the 2008 children's book One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference.

The University of Dubai (UD) (Arabic: جامعة دبي) is a private university in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Established in 1997, it is licensed nationally by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. It became the first private University in Dubai to hold the AACSB international accreditation in 2009, maintaining for further 5 years till 2019, as well as the first private university in the UAE to hold the ABET-CAC accreditation for its Computing and Information Systems (BS) program in 2006. The curriculum is aligned with international professional certification bodies such as Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM)-UK, which awards BBA HRM and MBA Leadership and HRM graduates with level 5 and 7 certifications. Similarly, the curriculum is aligned with Islamic Economy, Smart City, Innovation and Entrepreneurship initiatives of the government with IBM partnership.

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">Peter B. Gustavson School of Business</span>

The Peter B. Gustavson School of Business is a business school at the University of Victoria located in the municipality of Oak Bay, British Columbia. Originally the school was called the UVic Faculty of Business, but on October 22, 2010, the name was changed when Peter B. Gustavson donated $10 million to the school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leila Janah</span> American businesswoman (1982–2020)

Leila Janah was an American businesswoman. She was the founder and CEO of Sama and LXMI. Sama's 11,000 employees have worked under contracts with companies including Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Walmart, Getty Images, Glassdoor and Vulcan Capital.

<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.

Digital Opportunity Trust (DOT) is a Canadian charitable organization and social enterprise that provides technology, entrepreneurship and leadership training programs for young people in East Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Canada. The organization's headquarters are in Ottawa, Ontario, with local operations around the globe. Since the organization was founded in 2001, DOT has directly affected more than 6,000 young people worldwide, who have gone on to reach over 1 million of their fellow community members. More than 90% of alumni, reportedly secure employment or start their own businesses within six months of completing DOT programming.

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.

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.

References

  1. "Homepage". African Leadership Academy. 2 May 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  2. "africanleadershipacademy". African Leadership Academy. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  3. Marketing, ALA- (14 June 2006). "ALA Co-Founders Chris Bradford and Fred Swaniker Named 2006 Echoing Green Fellows". African Leadership Academy. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  4. "Apply". African Leadership Academy. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  5. "ALAian Life". Archived from the original on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  6. "Bezos Family Foundation | Programs".
  7. GSIE site [ permanent dead link ]
  8. "BusinessLIVE". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 27 May 2024.

Additional sources

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