Two Tutu Fellows have been selected by MIPAD for its list of the 100 Most Influential People of African Descent under 40 for 2017. Both were in the category Business & Entrepreneurship.  The other categories were Politics & Governance; Media & Culture; and, Religious & Humanitarian. The Fellows who were selected are 2014 Fellow Ntombenhle Khathwane, the Founder of AfroBotanics; and 2013 Fellow Ally Angula, the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Leap Holdings.

The list is global and recognizing the positive contributions made by people of African descent in public and private sectors worldwide as a progressive network of relevant actors, even when they are in diaspora. It was developed in conjunction with the UN's proclaimed Decade for People of African Descent. The UN's vision includes the millions of Africans living outside the continent such as the more than four million Africans shipped to Brazil in slavery, and slave trade to the Americas.