African Leadership Academy
There comes a time in every continent when there is an urgent need to breed leaders for the next generation. For this reason, the world-class African Leadership Academy was established.The African Leadership Academy (ALA) is a residential, secondary institution located in the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa for 15–18 year-olds, from all 54 African nations and around the world.
Founded in 2004 by Fred Swaniker, Chris Bradford, Peter Mombaur, and Acha Leke, ALA officially opened in September 2008 with an inaugural class of 97 students. To achieve this goal, ALA teaches a two-year curriculum in African Studies and Entrepreneurial Leadership, as well as the usual academic core subjects.
In 2006, Swaniker and Bradford were recognized, by Echoing Green, who described them as two of the 15 best emerging social entrepreneurs in the world. In 2007 the initial campus was confirmed, and Christopher Khaemba was announced as the inaugural Dean of the School.
The African Leadership Academy uses certain criteria for admission. To find out if you have what it takes to get into this first-class academy, the following must be in the affirmative:
LEADRERSHIP POTENTIALS
Take leadership roles in family, school, or community.
Assist peers or family members when they need help.
Is your advice sought when others make important decisions?
ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT
Do the you often think about how you can improve the world around you?
Do you act when you see a need in your community?
Do you enjoy thinking about new ideas and creating new products?
PASSION FOR AFRICA
Do you have an African dream?
Are you excited about spending two years in a community of individuals from a wide range of cultural, ethnic, socioeconomic, and religious backgrounds from across the continent?
Are you excited about playing a role in making Africa a peaceful and prosperous continent?
COMMITMENT TO SERVICE
Are you passionate about uplifting your community?
Do you dream of a world in which all people are able to realize their dreams?
Have you demonstrated this passion at school or in your community?
ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
Applicants are expected to be in the top 10% of their class academically.
Information of academic prowess will be gotten from National Examinations, marks and comments made on applicants’ school reports.
Finalists are expected to write an entrance examination.
Students are encouraged to participate in a fitness activity.However sport is not a strong part of the Academy, neither is it done competitively nor invested in as other aspects of ALA.
Student clubs and organizations
Students participate in a variety of clubs, and each student is expected to create or run either a “Student-run Business”, an “Original idea for Development”, or a “Community Service Project”.
Student run businesses (SRBs)
The student run businesses only operate on campus, and include:
◾Rub-a-Dub-Dub – laundry service
◾AgroExperts – Supplies chickens and eggs to the dining hall
◾Chani’s Café – gourmet snacks
◾Midas Touch – Men’s grooming
◾GigaVault – student-run bank
◾Footprints – merchandising – t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.
◾Duka Bora – tuck shop
◾Papa Mustafa’s – a pizzeria
◾iALA – ALA’s own student-run tech support group (internal)
◾ALAMedia – ALA’s media network (external)
◾Ten50 – student-run on-campus barbershop and hair salon
Community service projects
ALA students are involved in local schools and communities through Community Service Projects (CSPs). Projects include tutoring programs on campus and community clean-up campaigns. CSPs tend to be multi-year projects that get managed by successive students.
Current CSPs include:
◾Farm enlargement and roadside market outlet design
◾Biodiesel production for sustainable electricity
◾Library redesign and management for a poor school
◾Recycable art – art from trash project
◾Creche education program – reading and colours
◾Youth gardening project – building vertical gardens so that schools can feed their students
◾After school soccer league for at-risk youth
◾Day care redesign and development
◾Youth empowerment Finding the Good in Us
Original Ideas for Development
Original Ideas for Development (OIDs), are projects that have a wide scope and run beyond the students’ time at ALA. Current OIDs include:
◾GSIE – Global Strategy on Inclusive Education – helping children with disabilities gain access to education
◾HACA – cancer awareness campaign
◾Baobab – capturing oral histories online to preserve and facilitate cross-cultural understanding
◾Greendorm – environmentally friendly living on campus (internal)
◾Almas (formerly Nique) – using a beauty creme to fund the creation and distribution of an anti-malarial creme
◾MathmaHelp – production of educational math DVDs
◾Oyama – A crowd-sourcing platform for young African entrepreneurs
◾African Baccalaureate – Africa’s own curriculum design
◾Cyca – A social networking platform to alleviate misleading preconceptions about the African continent
◾Radio Skika- A radio station geared towards sparking intellectual inquiry amongst African youth by exploring some of the continent’s most pressing issues
Supervised trips
Students explore the local community, Africa, and the world, by participating in an excursion program. Outdoors enthusiasts participate in weekend hiking trips in the Drakensberg mountains and longer excursions during holiday periods, while scientists may apply to attend the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in the United States.
Summer Program
The Academy offers high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors, from across the world, the opportunity to apply to spend three weeks of their summer as Global Scholars.
As well as the Board of Governors, the Academy’s Board of Advisors is composed of African and global luminaries in business, leadership development, secondary education, and social entrepreneurship. The Advisory Board provides strategic input and guidance to the ALA management team.
Get more information about the African Leadership Academy @ http://www.africanleadershipacademy.org/site
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