Acumen West Africa Fellowship for Emerging Leaders

Applications are now open for the Acumen West Africa Fellowship.

The Fellowship is a practical skill that meets moral imagination in this intensive year-long leadership development program designed to equip extraordinary individuals with the tools, mindset, and community to tackle poverty and injustice in their communities.

The West Africa Fellowship will bring together entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, and organization-builders from both the public and private sectors who are modeling this leadership, and who are hungry to do more.

The purpose of the Fellowship is to develop a community of leaders who challenge the status quo, work across lines of difference and inspire their communities to believe in a brighter future.

Year 1

Join a diverse cohort of social change leaders in a rigorous year-long experience Improve your capacity to innovate and drive change with a mix of in-person and online seminars
Part-time — you stay in your job while participating in four 5-day seminars in various locations across West Africa
Beyond Year 1

Be a part of a lifelong fellowship that extends beyond your first year
Join a larger local and global community committed to a world beyond poverty and injustice What makes a Fellow?
Their fellows are extraordinary leaders who dare to embrace the difficult journey of social change. Here’s what they want from you—and what you can expect from your cohort.

Entrepreneurs: Leaders of both for-profit and nonprofit organizations providing critical goods or services to the underserved.

Intrapreneurs: Builders from any sector tackling poverty and injustice from within by shifting the institutional culture—and building new collaborations.

Organizational Builders: Leaders (other than the Founder or CEO) supporting the growth of institutions combating poverty and injustice

What will you learn?

The Fellowship curriculum is centered around the principles of moral leadership:

Adaptive Leadership: Based on Ron Heifetz’s work, Adaptive Leadership is a practical leadership framework that supports Fellows’ ability to catalyze and embrace the gradual and meaningful process of creating change.

Authentic Voice: Grounded in Marshall Ganz’s life’s work, the Authentic Voice curriculum allows the Fellows to develop the capacity to articulate a hopeful vision, speak across lines of difference, and move others into action.

Good Society Readings: Modeled off The Aspen Institute, the Good Society Readings explore the meaning of a just society and the moral and historical foundation of social change through text-based dialogue.

Managing Polarities: Based on Barry Johnson’s work, Polarities aims to cultivate an individual’s ability to lead effectively when opposing but interdependent and equally important values are in tension.

Systems Thinking: Fellows explore the concept of Systems Thinking by working collaboratively on live challenges—enabling them to better understand larger, systemic problems and design more effective interventions.

Eligibility Criteria

The Fellowship is designed for individuals who are currently leading or are an integral part of building an initiative whose mission is to eradicate poverty or injustice.

The Fellows are of all ages, come from diverse cultural, geographic, and socioeconomic backgrounds, and work across multiple sectors.

Apply by 6th August.

https://www.acumenacademy.org/fellowship/wa