The Tutu Fellowship Programme requires each participant to write an essay on leadership in Africa. The quality of submissions is very high as demonstrated by this challenging and thought provoking piece by 2016 Fellow Jon Kornik, where he posits that we are decades too late for leading by looking in the rear view mirror when faced with a dynamic and disrupted future. New values, new mindsets and approaches are needed in leaders for positive outcomes for the people of Africa.
Twenty three dynamic young leaders were awarded their Tutu Leadership Fellowship certificates last month at a farewell dinner hosted by Lord Hacking at his home in London, having completed the six-month, part-time programme with an intensive but richly rewarding ten-day workshop in Oxford and London. This immensely rich and varied programme has made a deep impression on the graduating Fellows. A couple of comments illustrate the impact:
The first workshop of the 2016 Tutu Leadership Fellowship Programme was held at Mont Fleur Conference Centre from 23 to 30 April. The 23 Fellowship candidates, selected from over 250 top quality applicants, came from 11 different African countries as far afield as South Sudan, Chad and Somaliland. However, after 8 days of intensive leadership learning activities at this beautiful retreat in the Stellenbosch mountains, they left as a cohesive and enthusiastic body ready to tackle and make a difference in the challenges of leadership in Africa. Further work awaits them before the second workshop in Oxford and London in early September, but the Mont Fleur experience was a very memorable one, as it has been for the 10 previous Fellowship classes. The candidates were not only encouraged to reflect on the leadership challenges of Africa by renowned African business and civil society leaders, and by political leaders such as Trevor Manuel and Jay Naidoo, but they were also enticed to reflect on their own leadership through carefully structured experiential learning exercises, which teased out some thought provoking self-reflection. The attached photos capture some of spirit of the week at Mont Fleur.
The 2016 Tutu Leadership Fellowship Programme will be taking place near Cape Town soon. The 2016 candidates make up a strong cohort that bodes well for the future leadership of Africa. The biographies of the 2016 group follows.
The African Leadership Institute (AFLI) is unique among leadership initiatives in that it focuses on building the capacity and capability of visionary and strategic leadership across the continent. Developing exceptional leaders representing all spheres of society, the Institute’s flagship programme is the prestigious Archbishop Tutu Leadership Fellowship. Offering a multifaceted learning experience and run in partnership with Oxford University, it is awarded annually to 20-25 carefully chosen candidates, nominated from across Africa. Alumni of the African Leadership Institute form a dynamic network of Fellows passionately committed to the continent’s transformation, bridging the divide between nations and ensuring that Africa is set centre-stage in global affairs.