The Akili Dada Fellowship

Application Deadline: November 26th 2014

The Akili Dada Fellowship is an opportunity for young African women to design and implement solutions to the challenges faced by their communities. These one-year fellowships are awarded to young women leaders between the ages of 18-35 who are driving transformative change in their communities and are looking to grow their projects to scale and sustainability.

Fellows are selected on the basis of the strength of their social change project, previous leadership initiative, willingness to learn from peers and more experienced mentors and the ability to share their skills with peers and intended project beneficiaries.

All fellows need to have deep roots in the communities they seek to transform and be from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. In order to reach out to young women who may not have had access to formal education, selection is not based on past academic performance or qualifications.

Applications from young women engaged in social entrepreneurship in East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi) are encouraged.

Eligibility Requirements

1. Be a woman between the ages of 18-35
2. Be from an economically disadvantaged background.
3. Demonstrate previous leadership initiative and experience.
4. Have been working on your project for at least one year preferably on a full time basis
5. Be able to commit one year to the fellowship program (January 2015-December 2015)
6. Be able to attend trainings every other month for one week in Nairobi

Young women from marginalized communities (women living with disabilities, pastoralists, Arid and Semi-Arid Land areas) are encouraged to apply

How to Apply:

• download the 2015 Fellowship Application Form here.
• Submit two letters of recommendation from persons who are well acquainted with you, your commitment to social change work, demonstrated leadership initiative and experience, and your connection to the community where you intend to implement your fellowship project.