WIA Young Leaders Programme

Application Deadline: April 15th, 2022

Women in Africa is launching the second edition of the WIA Young Leaders Programme, developed in partnership with Christian Dior Couture, Lazard Frères Investment bank and the global digital leader Huawei. After a successful first edition, WIA and its partners renew the commitment to support and highlight young African women leaders who will play a major role in the African revolution.

A jury made up of internationally renowned personalities will select 8 remarkable young women in their field of activity or expertise. An initiative that is part of WIA’s desire to promote equal opportunities and to allow young leaders to be supported each year to go further.

The WIA Young Leaders will benefit from a tailor-made training path whose themes will be related to women’s leadership and the skills needed for the future. Then, in autumn 2022, the laureates will benefit from a “business trip” in a world economic capital to:

connect with high-level personalities and mentors such as CEOs, ministers, journalists,
business or public figures, and accomplished entrepreneurs
be trained on boards of directors, media training, career coaching and other customized
training
benefit from high media visibility

A personalized follow-up will be set up by WIA, to identify the individual needs of the Young Leaders and to respond with precision to the progression of their skills.

Requirements

Women between 25 and 40 years old (flexibility possible depending on experience level)
Born in an African country or having parents born in an African country
Involvement in the development of the continent and social commitment
Leadership skills (humility, empathy and resilience)
Special consideration will be given to candidates with “self-made” backgrounds
Vision of what Africa should be in the future.
Willingness to reconcile business conduct, social impact and public/private dialogue.
Ability to take on responsibilities at the highest level.
Strong convincing skills combined with a taste for teamwork.
Francophone, Anglophone, ideally bilingual.

Application Procedure:

The call for applications will be open from March 17, 2022 to April 15, 2022 at midnight (French time).

The selection process will be conducted in two phases:

Selection based on file
Interview with the jury

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the Women in Africa (WIA) Young Leaders Programme 2022

Application Deadline: 15th of April 2021 at midnight (Central European Time).

In 2021, WIA is launching the first edition of the WIA Young Leaders Programme, developed in collaboration with its partners Dior and Lazard. Through this programme, WIA and its partners want to support and promote young African women leaders. In 2021, five selected Young Leaders will benefit from an international support program. The goal is to roll out this program every year, with the vision of opening it up to more than 400 young women by 2030.

Requirements

Candidates should be African nationals and must show a strong interest in the development of the continent. The winners will be selected by a prestigious international jury for their career and their exemplary leadership capacities. The jury welcomes candidates from underprivileged backgrounds.

Each application will be reviewed according to specific criteria such as:
·  Interest in Africa’s development and a vision for the continent;
·  The ability to reconcile business conduct and social impact;
·  Awareness of the need for and importance of public-private dialogue;
·  The ability to become decision-makers at the highest level;
·  The strength of conviction combined with a sense for teamwork;
·  Social ascension: self-made paths will be a priority;
·  Strong bonds to Africa: the candidate – or her parents – must be born in an African country or be linked to an activity or cause in Africa;
·   Humility, empathy and resilience.

Programme
The five winners will benefit from a two-part programme: they will first take a digital training course covering women’s leadership and skills needed for the future, taking place in the second quarter of 2021. Then, they will attend the in-person-session part of the programme, during the month of September, which will take place in Paris.

Personalized monitoring will be implemented by WIA. It will enable to identify the individual needs of Young Leaders and to respond precisely to the rise in skills of each of them.

The face-to-face part of the program will take place in Paris. During their stay in Paris, the Young Leaders will have the opportunity to visit Paris and make many meetings essential to the development of their network. They will also have, for example, the exclusive opportunity to visit the Maison Dior archives, as well as to be welcomed into the Lazard offices. A virtual event will finally be organized on the return from this trip, to allow the very first WIA Young Leaders promotion to share their experience.

Thanks to this program, five Young Leaders will have the opportunity to develop their skills, but also to network, to discover new organizations, to meet leading personalities from the worlds of business, politics and media.

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the WIA Young Leaders Programme 2021

Women in Africa (WIA) Young Leaders Programme 2022 for young African Women Leaders.

Women in Africa (WIA) Young Leaders Programme 2021 for young African Women Leaders.