The African Leadership Academy has proven over the last 10 years that educating the continent of Africa is a high priority, and this is why a program like the Anzisha Education Accelerator has come to be.
“At the African Leadership Academy we believe that the critical lever for transformation on the African continent is the quality of its leadership and building connections between ethical and entrepreneurial leaders. It is a critical part of our ALA2023 strategy which we seek to unleash the network and build connections amongst young people who are leading change in communities all over this continent, such that they can create the continent that they want to live and work in,” says Chris Bradford, the CEO of African Leadership Academy.
Being the youngest continent in the world, Africa has a huge opportunity to build a better future for the current and future generation though the education sector. To some this may seem like a big challenge, but to ALA this challenge is possible through creating opportunities for this generation to transition out into productive roles in society.
“The only way to begin to tackle this challenge, we would need to invest in entrepreneurial solutions that are beyond traditional and this is where the Anzisha Education Accelerator comes in,” says Jihad Hajjouji, the Anzisha Education Accelerator Program Lead, and ALA alumni (Class of 2008).
The Anzisha Education Accelerator, which officially started in August 2018, aims to identify high potential educational entrepreneurs across the continent and invest deeply in them while helping them fulfil their vision. Through a partnership with the Mastercard Foundation Scholarship Program and funding from the Robertson Foundation, the Anzisha Education Accelerator will be working closely with the educational entrepreneurs to help them develop themselves as education leaders in the continent. This will be done by connecting them with advisers, all sorts of capital and helping them get closer to fulfilling their visions for their schools and the continent.
At the heart of the Anzisha Education Accelerator is the leadership development program, which gathers the entrepreneurial cohort each quarter to tackle a key area of development alongside a bi-weekly virtual community of practice convening. These two core activities are supplemented with personalized support and coaching on key challenges, and an annual conference that gathers an extended network of education leaders from across the continent.
The Anzisha Education Accelerator curriculum is focused around quarterly themes for both the school’s development and the leaders. It is attached to a repetitive series of activities: quarterly Intensives and community of practice calls that seek to build school and self-development in parallel. The hope is that the educational entrepreneurs are able to take the skills learnt in this curriculum and impart them on their own schools.
If you are a young education entrepreneur who are running high-potential schools across Africa and interested in being a part of the next Anzisha Education Accelerator program, contact Jihad Hajjouji on jhajjouji@africanleadershipacademy.org
