Apply for the West Africa Acumen Fellowship for Emerging Leaders 2025

The West Africa Acumen Fellowship is a transformative program that brings together a cohort of extraordinary individuals with an entrepreneurial mindset and a commitment to solve problems of poverty. The Fellows are building solutions that redefine Education, Workforce Development, Agriculture, Energy Healthcare, and more. Solutions that cultivate dignity and present the greatest hope for the future of our society and our planet.

• Table of Content
• About Online News Association (ONA)
• West Africa Acumen Fellowship
• Requirements for West Africa Acumen Fellowship Qualification
• Interview date, Process and Venue for West Africa Acumen Fellowship
• Application Deadline
• How to Apply

About Online News Association (ONA)

The Online News Association (ONA), founded in 1999, is a non-profit organization located in Washington D.C., United States.It is the world's largest association of digital journalists,with more than 2,000 members. The majority of ONA members are professional online journalists. The association defines "professional members" as those "whose principal livelihood involves gathering or producing news for digital presentation." These include news writers, producers, programmers, bloggers, designers, editors, photographers and others who produce ne... continue reading

West Africa Acumen Fellowship

Requirements for West Africa Acumen Fellowship Qualification

Fellows Profile

• You want to get yourself and your work to the next level. You’re looking for people to support you on your journey. You have a bold vision for yourself and your work. You want to develop yourself as a credible and inspiring leader in pursuit of the lifelong practice of moral leadership and gain a nuanced understanding of how you can be of the greatest service to yourself, your work, and the world.
• You believe the opposite of poverty isn’t wealth, it’s dignity. Your organization gives people living in poverty the dignity of choice – in jobs, education, products, and services. You are using the tools of business to build scalable, market-based solutions to solve problems of poverty and you are improving lives.
• You have a sense of urgency to make a contribution to the world. You’ve grown impatient with the status quo – both within yourself and in the world. You have a burning ambition to scale your proven solution, and are searching for the tools and community to build impact.
• You are ready to join a global community of peers who are passionate about solving problems of poverty and will walk alongside you. You want to connect with others who have been where you are and join a community to give and receive and where it’s okay to define success differently, and put people and the planet at the center. 

Interview date, Process and Venue for West Africa Acumen Fellowship

Fellows remain in their jobs and participate in a 6-month hybrid program consisting of virtual sessions, in-person immersives, and self-paced learning.

This is a high-level program overview:

• One 3-day virtual Orientation
• Two 5-day full-time in-person immersives (8 hours of assignments for each immersive consisting of self-paced learning and group calls)
• Four Learning Labs  (4 hours each along with assignments)  

Application Deadline

How to Apply

Prepare for your application: Please read the Application Toolkit to prepare your application.

November 25, 2024: The application has been designed to understand more about you, your work and impact, as well as your program readiness. Acumen encourage you to start the application early.

Participate in the Selection Conference

February 21-22, 2025

Shortlisted applicants are invited to participate in a 2-day virtual Selection Conference (on Zoom). This will be the second and last stage of the selection process for the fellowship program.

Start your Fellowship Journey

April 2025: The team will notify selected applicants, and support them as they start their Fellowship journey.

For more details, visit Acumen Academy website.