Apply Now: GHC Africa Leadership Accelerator

Deadline Date: August 14, 2024

Donor Name: Global Health Corps (GHC)

Grant Size: Not Available

Global Health Corps Africa Leadership Accelerator is a 9-month, hybrid program designed to strengthen the leadership and management skills of early to mid-career health professionals working across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Across nine months, fellows will engage in virtual leadership academy workshops, in-person retreats, executive coaching, professional mentorship, and more all while continuing to work at their current organization.

Program Benefits

• For young African professionals working in health: 
  • Traditional universities and on-the-job training fall short in providing skill-building, coaching, and mentorship for developing critical leadership and management skills for young professionals in the health sector. In the wake of COVID-19, burnout among health workers is at an all-time high in Sub-Saharan Africa. At GHC, they’ve seen that coaching, mentorship, a supportive network of peers and advisors, and opportunities to reflect and process are proven to bolster the resilience of young public health leaders. This new hybrid program is an opportunity for those seeking professional development to gain the support they need to thrive in their careers long-term.
• For organizations:
  • Sharpening leadership and management capacity – including critical thinking and problem-solving – can strengthen efficiency and quality at the individual, team, and organizational levels, in turn significantly improving program outcomes. Bolstering the capacities of early- to mid-career professionals — who will rise into roles of greater responsibility over teams, budgets, and initiatives — can generate serious return on investment for years to come. The Africa Leadership Accelerator provides an opportunity for organizational leaders to nominate exceptional high-potential team members to benefit from extensive leadership and professional development. Throughout the program, fellows will work in tandem with their supervisors and GHC staff to design projects that will benefit their work streams within the organization.
• For communities: 
  • Focused investment in talent is a key lever for amplifying the impact of health organizations in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, these critical 21st-century leadership and management skills such as adaptability, flexibility, effective collaboration, trust building, decision making, and navigating change must be intentionally honed early and often throughout young professionals’ careers. Emerging professionals from underrepresented backgrounds—including those from lower and middle-income countries and women, who hold just 5-25% of global health leadership roles depending on where they’re from—are often hindered from advancing their careers by bias, micro-aggressions, and lack of support. With more inclusive, proximate, and effective leadership at the helm, they can accelerate progress towards health equity. 

Program Components

• The Africa Leadership Accelerator is designed with a hybrid learning approach including virtual and in-person learning opportunities. The program is completely free to fellows—all virtual programming, travel to retreat locations, lodging costs, and meals for the in-person retreats will be covered by GHC. Fellows should expect to dedicate 6-8 hours per month to the program to get the most out of it. 
• Once a fellow, always a fellow. After completing the leadership accelerator, fellows join GHC’s lifelong global network of 1,200+ alumni and continue to grow as leaders through GHC’s robust alumni program
• The 9-month fellowship runs from September to May. Participation in all components of the fellowship is mandatory unless otherwise noted.
• All fellows will participate in:
  • Leadership Academy Workshops (~3 hours/month, built into the workday)
  • Individual stretch & coalition projects
  • Global and country-based in-person retreats
  • Executive Leadership Coaching sessions
  • Quarterly supervisor check-ins
  • Learning circles with fellow cohort members
  • Final project presentations
  • Alumni mentorship
  • GHC staff support and check-ins
• Learning Topics:
  • Understanding Personal Values & Beliefs
  • Leading with Integrity & Transparency
  • Human-Centered Design
  • Design Thinking
  • Generative AI as a Tool for Development
  • People Management
  • The Science & Art of Receiving Feedback Well
  • Roles in Social Change
  • Managing Up
  • Advocacy & Coalition Building
  • Applying Systems Thinking to Problem-Solving & Decision-Making
  • Project Management Fundamentals
  • Conflict Resolution & Negotiation Skills
  • Strategic Planning & Goal Setting
  • & so much more

Cost Covered 

• Travel to retreat locations, lodging costs, and most meals for in-person retreats will be covered by GHC.

Eligibility Criteria

• To be eligible for the Africa Leadership Accelerator Fellowship, you must:
  • Be age 21-35 by September 1st, 2024
  • Be a citizen of Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, or Zambia.
  • Be currently employed full-time in a non-clinical public health role for at least six months at the time of application. 
  • Be currently employed by a public health organization operating in Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, or Zambia and has expressed written support for your participation in the program.
  • There are no specific education or training requirements to be eligible for participation.

For more information, visit GHC.