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Year
End
Updates From
African
Leadership
Academy
Season’s
greetings from South Africa! It is
with great pleasure that we reach out once again to our network
of supporters and friends. Things are moving quickly at African
Leadership Academy, and we hope you enjoy
hearing our most recent
news. In this
issue:
Letter
from the Founder and CEO
Dear
Friends,
As
we move closer to our 2008 launch, life at African
Leadership Academy is incredibly
exciting. Our most exciting news today is that we are in the final
stages of selecting the inaugural head of school! After conducting an extensive
search over the past six months, we have an outstanding group
of finalists for the position, and we expect to formally announce
the Head of School by February 2007. We are also building fundraising momentum: in
recent weeks, two highly respected businesspeople in the USA each donated $100,000
of their own funds to support our efforts. In the
coming months, we will begin recruiting our inaugural class of
students and we will continue to build our innovative curriculum.
I
sincerely hope you enjoy this update. I think you will enjoy
watching the short (and very low budget) video in which students
discuss the impact of the first Academy case study on their
perspective as young African leaders. And I hope you will provide
any feedback or new ideas that you have upon reading this update.
Without your ideas, we would not be in the place we are today –
please keep them coming.
The
Academy family wishes you a fantastic holiday season and an
outstanding New Year.
Warm
regards,
Fred Swaniker
Founder & CEO
African Leadership Academy
fswaniker@africanleadershipacademy.org
Head
of School Search Heats up
For the past six months we have searched the world
to find experienced and talented educators w ho could serve as the inaugural Head
of African Leadership Academy. We looked for people who understood
our vision, shared our values, and had demonstrated a track record
of excellence in managing a world-class academic institution. We
have identified several amazing candidates who fit our criteria, and
we are now in the final stages of selecting the inaugural head.
Selecting our school leader will be a major milestone in our
development, and we look forward to announcing our head by February
2007.
ALA
Launches First Case Study in
its
Unique
Curriculum
African
Leadership Academy
is developing a series of case studies on African leaders and
entrepreneurs as a part of its unique curriculum in leadership,
entrepreneurship, and African studies. The case learning program is
designed to inspire and prepare students for a lifetime of
leadership on the continent.
Our
first case is about a young Kenyan woman who launched a premium,
“fair trade” tea brand to increase profits for Kenyan tea farmers
and accelerate the development of her country. Students raved about
the inspirational nature of this case study in our pilot test of the
curriculum. To watch a short (two minute) video with student
comments about the case, click here.
To read the case for yourself, click here.
Fundraising
Momentum
Builds
African
Leadership Academy has continued to build fundraising momentum since
securing the financing to build our campus in early 2006. We are raising three major
funds to launch this institution.
The Academy Establishment Fund
This fund is
most critical to our short-term success, as it finances the
pre-launch costs of curriculum development and student and faculty
recruitment. The target for this fund is $2 million US dollars.
Since we started our establishment campaign in 2005, we have raised approximately
$700,000 (primarily from individuals around the world), and thus
still must raise another
$1.3 million over the next 18 months. We are 35% of the way to
our target, and were helped in November by $100,000 gifts from two
highly respected members of the American business community. Our
‘buy-a-brick’ campaign has raised approximately $50,000 of this
amount, so thank you to all who have contributed to this
campaign.
The Student
Scholarship Fund
In 2007, we will begin raising a scholarship fund to
provide support to young African leaders from underserved
communities. This fund will increase the number of talented students
from disadvantaged backgrounds in the Academy’s student body. Our
initial target for this fund is at least $1 million for the
inaugural Academy class in 2008. We will seek to raise this fund
from individuals and corporations.
The Academy
Endowment
We will also build an
endowment to provide African Leadership Academy with long-term
financial stability. Individuals and corporations
who wish to have their support last in perpetuity may contribute to
this fund.
African
Leadership
Foundation
Receives
501(c)(3)
Status
 African Leadership Foundation, the
US-based Foundation that supports African
Leadership Academy, recently received its
designation as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization from
the Internal Revenue Service. With this designation, US-based donors
may qualify for a tax deduction for donations to the foundation.
Donations to African Leadership Foundation may also be eligible for
matching donations from US corporations that match their employees’
contributions to charitable causes. To learn more or arrange a
donation to African Leadership Foundation, contact Julia Unger at
junger@africanleadershipfoundation.org.
You
Can Make a Difference
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Share your ideas and
contacts! Are there schools, companies, government officials, or
nonprofit organizations that we should be in contact with? Do you
have thoughts on leaders or stories we could highlight in case
studies in our curriculum?
Let us
know!
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Give a unique holiday gift to support
Africa’s future.
Looking
for a gift for someone who has everything? You can name a brick at
African Leadership Academy or give a donation
in honor of someone you love. For more information, visit: http://www.africanleadershipacademy.org/support.asp
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Support
African Leadership Academy
with your holiday shopping! If
you shop online, do so through our new-and-improved Freepledge
portal and ALA will receive up to 15% of
the value of your purchases! Whether you intend to shop on Amazon,
eBay, Target, Expedia, or elsewhere, you can support us by
starting your shopping from http://alf.freepledge.com.
You may even find a valuable coupon or special offer while you are
at it!
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Refer
a candidate.
Know an admissions officer or teacher looking for a unique
challenge? A business school student looking for a rewarding
internship? We’ll be hiring a number of new faces in 2007,
beginning with an admissions team that will recruit the finest
15-18 year old students from across the African continent. We are
always accepting resumes and inquiries at info@africanleadershipacademy.org
To unsubscribe, send an email
to info@africanleadershipacademy.org
ABOUT THE
ACADEMY:
Our
Vision
African Leadership Academy believes that ethical leadership
is the key to a prosperous and sustainable future for Africa. Opening in 2008, African
Leadership Academy will be the first
secondary school of its kind focused on developing and supporting
the next generation of African leaders. With an innovative
curriculum in leadership, entrepreneurship, and African studies,
African Leadership Academy prepares talented youth from
across Africa for a lifetime of
leadership on the continent. In addition, African Leadership Academy is assembling a larger network of
like-minded mentors, partners, and leaders to provide alumni with
the long-term support system needed to lead Africa toward equitable and lasting
development.
Our
Offering
African Leadership Academy offers students aged 16-18 years
old from all 54 African nations and around the world the opportunity
to attend our two-year, coeducational boarding school in
South
Africa. Our rigorous secondary
program emphasizes the following attributes:
- Entry based on academic merit
and leadership potential
- Generous financial aid for
admitted students with financial need
- Integrated curriculum in
Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and African Studies
- International Baccalaureate
academic program
- College counseling, career
placement, and ongoing alumni support
African Leadership Academy offers like-minded
individuals, organizations, and alumni a growing global network of
local Chapters and strategic partnerships committed to fostering our
long-term vision.
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