Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders - Leadership Institute

Institute Objectives Northwestern University’s Leadership in Business Institute builds upon a strong foundation of academic excellence and experiential learning at some of the top businesses in the Chicago area, equipping Fellows with the tools, connections, and practical skills to implement their ideas in their home countries and positively impact their communities. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the United States, Northwestern University provides Fellows access to top experts in a variety of disciplines. The Institute is implemented by the Program of African Studies, which has supported academic research and exchanges with Africa since its inception in 1948, and the Kellogg School of Management, which utilizes an executive education approach taught by faculty practitioners to foster innovation at all levels of the business process. Learning Goals: • Our overall goal is to use U.S.-based learning methods and thought processes to help Fellows develop a method of thinking through the challenges they will face as entrepreneurs (or intrapreneurs) such as team leadership, customer segmentation, funding, marketing, partner relationships, and financial sustainability. • Fellows will understand the fundamentals of entrepreneurship through classroom discussion, meeting and talking to real entrepreneurs, and developing/enhancing their own business plans which they will present to external judges. We will ensure that everything that they learn is applicable to their lives when they return home. • Fellows will learn how to build a team of people and a strong organizational culture to grow and sustain their businesses. As a leader, how they engage and interact with customers, vendors, employees, and other stakeholders is essential, and these sessions will provide tools and frameworks for them to apply to their leadership. • Fellows will interact with successful businesspeople and entrepreneurs as well as socially-motivated individuals an