Acumen West Africa Fellowship 2020 for Entrepreneurs and Organization-builders

Deadline: August 6, 2020

Applications are open for the Acumen West Africa Fellowship 2020. The West Africa Fellowship will bring together entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs and organization-builders from both the public and private sectors who are modeling leadership, and who are hungry to do more.

Practical skills meet 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 next West Africa Fellowship runs from January 2021 to December 2021.

Fellowship Curriculum

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 catalyse 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

The fellowship is open to:

• 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

Application

The application process consists of these steps:

• Apply online by August 6
• Complete Stage 2 application between September 7 and September 24
• Attend an in-person Selection Conference in mid-November
• Fellows are announced in January 2021

Click here to apply

For more information, visit Acumen West Africa Fellowship.