Acumen, a pioneering nonprofit global venture firm addressing poverty across Africa and South Asia, launched the recruitment of the next group of leaders for the Program late last week. These leaders are driving innovative social change models to fight poverty across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Sudan.
Current Fellows from the program include William Lochi, a former child soldier who is now working within the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs in South Sudan advising on the strengthening of institutional structures and strategies for change.
Josephine Kulea, founded the Samburu Girls Foundation in Northern Kenya to rescue young girls from harmful cultural practices like forced marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM). The Foundation has rescued 1,000 girls and placed them into primary and secondary schools.
Each year, the East Africa Fellows Program selects 20 East Africans who are actively driving social change initiatives in their communities. The program is comprised of four multi-day seminars and two collaborative projects. In the last two years the program has developed nearly 40 individuals.
"The program strives to develop a cohort of moral leaders who are setting a different example for a new kind of leadership in East Africa. These individuals have the moral fiber and courage to challenge broken systems so real progress can take place," said Duncan Onyango, Acumen East Africa director.
In East Africa, Acumen is said to have invested $30.8m in breakthrough innovations, impacted 81.7m lives with dignity not dependence and created and supported 44,000 jobs that have improved livelihoods and economies.
To apply, go to www.acumen.org.
