The 2021 Acumen Academy West Africa cohort consists of leaders who are tackling issues of poverty and injustice. 

This year’s cohort brings together 23 leaders from across Anglophone West Africa - Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia.  The group, made up of 52% women, includes extraordinary individuals in academia, for-profit, government, and nonprofit institutions – working together across lines of difference. From supporting smallholder oil-palm processors in rural Liberia to harmonizing the standardization of goods produced in Abia state Nigeria, these Fellows are challenging the status quo and rebuilding systems in their communities and sectors.

Over the course of the year, the Fellows will learn with – and from – each other in a series of virtual seminars about how to strengthen their ability to influence people and systems on behalf of the poor and the vulnerable. Here, competence meets character and urgency meets action as Fellows engage with Acumen Academy’s leadership development curriculum grounded in practices that reinforce the collective. 

At the end of the Fellowship’s first year, Fellows will join our global community of 780 social innovators—who have made an impact on more than 8 million lives across the world—to share in a lifelong journey centred on creating a world that assures dignity for all. 

The West Africa Fellows Program is generously supported by Ford Foundation, Global Affairs Canada, Hazon Holdings, and Mitsubishi Corporation.

Read more about the 2021 West Africa Fellows and how they are redefining success through their work.