The Acumen West Africa Fellowship 2021

The next West Africa Fellowship runs from January 2021 to December 2021.

What is the Acumen Fellowship?

The purpose of the Acumen Fellowship is to develop a community of leaders who challenge the status quo, work across lines of difference and inspire their communities to believe in a brighter future.

The Fellowship is the start of a journey towards mastering the skills, attributes, and values of moral leadership: a combination of empathy, immersion, understanding, and action. What binds our Fellows is shared values, a common commitment to a world beyond poverty and injustice, a pledge to accompany one another, to help and celebrate one another, and to hold each other to account.

Who are Acumen Fellows?

The Fellowship is designed for individuals who are currently leading or are an integral part of building an initiative whose mission is to eradicate poverty or injustice. Our Fellows are of all ages, come from diverse cultural, geographic and socioeconomic backgrounds and work across multiple sectors.

Acumen Fellows understand that poverty extends beyond income levels, and that the opposite of poverty is not income: it is dignity. Dignity is freedom. It is having control over decisions that affect our lives.

For more context on how we understand poverty and injustice at Acumen, please refer to the two articles linked below: - Lessons Learned – 15 years of tackling poverty - The Opposite of Poverty

What makes a fellow?

Our fellows are extraordinary leaders who dare to embrace the difficult journey of social change. Here’s what we want from you—and what you can expect from your cohort.

• Entrepreneurs: Leaders of both for-profit and nonprofit organizations providing critical goods or services to the underserved.
• Intrapreneurs: Builders from any sector tackling poverty and injustice from within by shifting the institutional culture—and building new collaborations.
• Organizational Builders: Leaders (other than the Founder or CEO) supporting the growth of institutions combating poverty and injustice

What will you learn?

The Fellowship curriculum is centered around the principles of moral leadership:

• Adaptive Leadership: Based on Ron Heifetz’s work, Adaptive Leadership is a practical leadership framework that supports Fellows’ ability to catalyse and embrace the gradual and meaningful process of creating change.
• Authentic Voice: Grounded in Marshall Ganz’s life's work, the Authentic Voice curriculum allows the Fellows to develop the capacity to articulate a hopeful vision, speak across lines of difference, and move others into action.
• Good Society Readings: Modeled off The Aspen Institute, the Good Society Readings explore the meaning of a just society, and the moral and historical foundation of social change through text based dialogue
• Managing Polarities: Based on Barry Johnson’s work, Polarities aims to cultivate an individual’s ability to lead effectively when opposing but interdependent and equally important values are in tension.
• Systems Thinking: Fellows explore the concept of Systems Thinking by working collaboratively on live challenges—enabling them to better understand larger, systemic problems and design more effective interventions.

How to Apply

Our application process consists of these steps.

1. 1

   Step 1: Leave us your information here and be the first to know when applications open

2. 2

   Step 2: Apply online - Applications open 1 July and closes 6 August

3. 3

   Step 3: Complete Stage 2 application between 7 Sept and 24 Sept

4. 4

   Step 4: Attend an in-person Selection Conference in mid-November

5. 5

   Step 5: Fellows are announced in January 2021

When will you find out?

1. 1

   Step 1: Our Fellows are selected in early December

2. 2

   Step 2: Fellows are announced in January 2021

West Africa Application Timelines

Upon application submission, our selection team will carefully review submissions and participation at each stage of the process, and select candidates who will advance to the next stage. At each stage of the application process, all candidates will receive communication from our team about the progress of their application.

What are the technology requirements for accessing and completing the application?

For Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the application process, applicants will need a stable internet connection. All application documents and components must be submitted through an online portal. We highly recommend using Google Chrome or Firefox as your browser. Late submissions (both Stage 1 and Stage 2) due to internet or technology issues will not be accepted. Please plan to submit your application well in advance before the deadline.

If you experience issues submitting any element of your application, please try submitting your application from a different browser, computer or a different location with stronger internet connectivity. If you continue experiencing issues, please contact the Acumen team via fellowsinfo@acumen.org

Will I get notified after my application has been submitted?

Yes. Our system automatically sends a confirmation email once your initial application has been submitted. If you do not receive one immediately after submitting your application, please check your email settings to make sure that our emails are not caught in your spam filter. We will send emails through the following domains: @sendgrid.me, and @acumen.org
### Are recommendation letters required? No. However, during the later stages of the selection process, we will ask you to provide the contact information of two professional references that we can contact if you make it to the third and final stage of the selection process. Your references should be people with whom you have worked closely. They should not be family, friends or spouses.

Can I edit my application after it’s been submitted?

No, this is not possible.

However, it is possible to save your application before submitting it, to return to later for editing. Make sure you double check all elements of your application before it is submitted. We cannot accept edits or changes after the fact, either through the platform or by email.

The Complete Details can be Found Here  https://www.acumenacademy.org/fellowship/wa

Register Here

Staff Writer

This article was written and edited by a staff writer.