Apply For The Acumen East Africa Fellows Program

 

Hundreds of NGOs exist in East Africa, and millions of dollars in foreign assistance reach the region each year, yet many are still living in poverty. 75% of East Africa’s population lives in rural areas, most of whom are smallholder farmers living on less than $2 per day. In urban areas, 60% of the population live in slums and lack basic services like water, sanitation, and electricity.

 

The next phase of development in East Africa must take a drastically different direction, a direction guided by a new generation of East African leaders who are willing to challenge broken systems, who possess an unwavering moral compass, and who can see opportunity where others see only challenges. Acumen’s East Africa Fellows Program is providing the opportunity for emerging leaders to receive world-class training and collaborate with like-minded individuals so that they can be the change that East Africa needs.

 

During the fellowship year, Fellows remain in their jobs and meet every 6-8 weeks throughout the year for 4 seminars and 2 collaborative projects, each about a week long. In addition to the three core areas of Acumen’s leadership model, Fellows also meet with prominent leaders from across sectors, and create strong relationships with their cohort and Acumen Fellows Alumni around the world.

 

 

Fellows learn about Acumen’s model and leadership philosophy, explore the philosophical roots of a just society through discussions based on the Socratic method, and set leadership goals for the fellowship year.

 

 

The core of this seminar is a multi-day workshop focused on adaptive leadership facilitated by the Cambridge Leadership Associates. Through this training, Fellows evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, clarify their purpose in life, and apply the concept of adaptive leadership to changing the world.

 

 

Fellows learn key financial tools for social impact leaders – including personal finance, basic business economics, and ethics. During this seminar, Income/Outcome leads a business simulation designed to engage individuals at any level of financial skill.

 

 

This seminar features a design thinking workshop facilitated by IDEO in which Fellows apply the human-centered design process to a real-life social problem. Fellows also learn about project management, organizational structure, and best practices in scaling social impact organizations.

 

 

 

The selection process for this program is very rigorous and highly competitive. Here is a general timeline of the process:

 

The online application consists of:

For more guidance on how to answer the application questions, please click here.

 

 

For a list of frequently asked questions and their answers, please click here.

 

 

Via Opportunities For Africans