Young Leaders Programme

Leading in Public Life is the name of the leadership development intervention that is core to the Building Bridges Programme. The goal is to build a strong cohort of innovative and courageous African leaders committed to public service, with vision, ethics and the necessary skills to bring about needed change within their sphere of influence. See programme overview

The fully-funded two week residential programme combines quality inputs from African thought leaders on key issues, the development of core leadership skills, and the practical application of concepts and tools in real-life situations. In addition, each participant will be allocated an executive coach to provide support and guidance, both during and following the course. 

VIEW participant biograghies

Leadership development for young African leaders is one of the core focus areas of the Building Bridges Annual Programme Cycle that includes a number of meetings and events and is this year (2014-2015) focused on African economic integration.

Leading in Public Life focuses on four core leadership capacities: 

1. Capacity to be an effective and courageous ethical agent 
2. Capacity to drive change and innovation 
3. Capacity to leverage networks and alliances for collaborative actions 
4. Fostering African solutions for African and global problems 

Each of the above themes has a number of topic areas and practical tools that will ensure a highly interactive and rewarding experience where the “knowledge in the room” will allow participants to learn from each other and also to be stretched as leaders, prepared to excel even more within their areas of influence in public life. 

The candidate profile for Leading in Public Life is an early to mid-career African male and female professional (aged 25 – 35) with a minimum of 3-5 years’ work experience in the following sectors: public, NGO, research, multi-lateral institution, media, arts, business or social entrepreneurship. Successful participants must demonstrate high leadership potential, personal integrity, a commitment to public service and be passionate about development in Africa. For the inaugural programme they must be citizens working or residing in one of the following target countries: Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia. In addition, participants must be fluent in English and be in a position to attend the full duration of the programme. 

The inaugural programme takes place in March 2015 in Cape Town, South Africa.