Acumen Academy is the world's school for social change. We inspire the world to build solutions to poverty and equip determined individuals using the knowledge and tools of business grounded in community and the practices of moral leadership.
The West Africa Acumen Fellowship is a rigorous leadership program that brings together a cohort of extraordinary individuals working on problems of poverty and equips them with the knowledge, skills, and community to strengthen their leadership and scale their ventures to create meaningful change in West Africa.
After Fellow Candidates complete the program they join The Foundry, a community of like-minded peers who are working across sectors and geographies to build a world based on dignity. As part of this diverse community committed to sharing ideas and experiences, they gain access to capital, coaching, and continuous learning as part of lifelong accompaniment on their journey to creating social change.
About Acumen Academy
Acumen Academy serves a community of social innovators and builders who are willing to embrace the challenge of solving the world's toughest problems and provides the practical tools, practices and resources needed to create new solutions for an interdependent world.
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Acumen Acumen West Africa Fellowship
Aim and Benefits of Acumen Acumen West Africa Fellowship
Fellows come from all walks of life - they work in all sectors, industries, and issue areas, and share the determination and vision to build a world based on dignity. The Fellows Program supports the Fellows' impact across three levels:
- Individual: Fellows are challenged to reflect on their values and behavior, and to change the way they think of and engage with larger systems to create a world based on dignity
- Organizational: The program offers a space to practice new leadership methods that create different outcomes in their teams and organizations
- Societal: The program enables a deeper understanding of how to extend the influence directly or through the organizational work across their broader communities and ecosystems
At its core, the Fellowship is focused on translating this impact into three interconnect outcomes:
- The Foundry: Fellows belong to our global community, The Foundry, that accompanies them over a lifetime, creating opportunities for support, collaboration and collective impact.
- Moral Leadership: Fellows help catalyze the practices of Moral Leadership within society, building a growing movement that strives to role model a world based on dignity.
- Reimagining success: Fellows help shape the actions of their organizations and initiatives to build solutions that reimagine the goals, structures, and rules of existing systems in order to engage with systemic problems of poverty.
Requirements for Acumen Acumen West Africa Fellowship Qualification
- The Fellowship looks for “builders” who are working to solve problems of poverty. Builders include founders, CEOs, and senior leaders (COO, MD, etc.) at for-profit, nonprofit, or hybrid social enterprises as well as corporate or government sector intrapreneurs. While these titles offer a glimpse of the types of roles Fellows play, what matters most is what you're building and the track record of your impact.
- Applicants must have a minimum of 5 years of professional experience and should be able to demonstrate their commitment to solving issues of poverty.
- Applicants should demonstrate their ability and willingness to give (contributing their knowledge, experiences, networks, and/or ideas) and receive support from the Foundry.
- Applicants must have a reliable internet connection, be fully available to participate throughout the entirety of the program, and be able to participate in English.
- Applicants must reside in West Africa and the impact of their work should be focused on West Africa particularly our focus countries which are: Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Gambia
Interview date, Process and Venue for Acumen Acumen West Africa Fellowship
Application Process
- December 10, 2023: Our application has been designed to understand more about you, your work and impact, as well as your program readiness. We encourage you to start the application early.
- February 9-10, 2024: Shortlisted applicants are invited to participate in the Selection Conference, either in person or virtually.
- February 26, 2024: Our team will notify selected applicants, and support them as they start their Fellowship journey.
Application Deadline
December 10, 2023
How to Apply
Interested and qualified? Go to
Acumen Academy on login.acumenacademy.org to apply
For more details, visit Acumen website
