A new kind of leadership is emerging across the world and its incredibly powerful in East Africa – and the world needs to know it, the Director of east Africa of Acumen Fund Ms Jacqueline Novogratz said during the inauguration of a leadership fellow program in partnership with Kenya Commercial Bank.
Ms Novogratz said the the program is out to bring vibrant, entrepreneurial, innovative and moral voices with ability to manage and execute to the table of decision-makers for this region and to help solve global problems.
She explained that “we are starting here in East Africa because of the strong community working on the ground here – and we thank all of you for helping us to ensure that this community flourishes and grows. At the same time, we intend to bring this model of a regional program to every country in which we work.”
The Acumen East African Fellows were selected because they represent what is good and right about this region, Ms Novogratz said, adding that they have refused to accept the status quo, “they are willing to stand up for what you believe in, and they know how to listen. They are committed to change and to service.”
The fellows were selected because the organizations believe that one day they will each do something that will make them proud, that will enable them to say, “More people now have dignity because of the actions and words of that Fellow. More people have access. Systems are different. More people have hope.”
It was not easy to choose them. Largely because of Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB)’s powerful outreach and commitment, we received 538 applications, she said, explaining that “they represent just 19 of those 538 individuals and you should feel proud and honored to have done so.”
The director who began her mission in this region at the age of 25 said the fellows “have shared your frustrations with seeing so many corrupt systems in your region, weak institutions, disappointing leaders. It is in their collective power to change this – and they already know that. In their applications, they promised to stand up for what they believe in and back up their words with actions.”
The Fund will count on them to hold each other accountable. “With their work on energy and free trade, economic inclusion and youth, photography and communications, they have made the first big step. Each of them has vision. The future is truly theirs to create.”
She welcomed them to the Acumen Family and shared their hopes and expectations for the future. “At the same time, we know that the hard work is just beginning. This journey will not be an easy one.” She laid down the Fund is exception for the beneficiaries “to challenge each other, to hold one another to the values we cherish at Acumen Fund – generosity and accountability, humility and audacity, listening and leadership – all grounded in the immutable values of Respect and Integrity.”
They expect the fellows to understand that the problems they need to address are far greater than what one person can ever accomplish on their own.
As Chinua Achebe says, “Leadership is a sacred trust like priesthood in civilized, humane religions. No one gets into it lightly or unadvisedly because it demands qualities of mind and discipline, of body and will, far beyond the need of the ordinary citizens,” she quoted.
She said she had much to share but had little time thus she went a head to share just a few hopes for them to hold as they begun the journey together.
She challenged them to let go of easy ideologies and assumptions. Explaining: “It means listening with your whole body. It means being willing to sit in a place of discomfort as you explore new ideas and come to a deeper understanding of others and yourself.”
“I wish that you dare to fail. I failed often, as you will fail if you push boundaries and continue to walk upon a path of service that can sometimes feel thankless or too difficult. Sometimes you will fail because your innovation needs tweaking. More often, you will fail because you didn’t listen closely enough, or you lacked the humility to admit you didn’t know something,” she said, as she went on to testify: “I have failed in all those ways. My hope is that you pick yourself up after each fall, change quickly, learn from mistakes, and try again. And share those failures and those lessons with one another. Build a community of trust and of learning.”
She admonished them to “focus on living the questions rather than needing
to have the answers. Be insatiably curious. Stay open to learning.”
Thus she said: Rilke wrote in His Letter to a Young Poet of the importance of having the “patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.”
She pointed out that “doing this requires a spiritual grounding in the sense of having the humility to acknowledge that true change can only come from a shared consciousness that we are truly connected to one another. This is perhaps the most difficult part of all.”
In many ways, she went on to articulate that the East Africa Fellows program is the legacy of some of the great leaders on whose shoulders Acumen Fund stands, “leaders for whom this consciousness was part of the very fiber of
their beings.”
She went on to echo: “When I was running the Next Generation Leaders program at the Rockefeller Foundation, one of our fellows, Ingrid Washinawatock, a Native American who worked with indigenous peoples was murdered by the FARC in Colombia. Our fellows happened to be in South Africa at the time. I flew to meet them at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Cape Town where we met with the reverend Bishop Desmond Tutu who held us, consoled us and spoke of the power of forgiveness.”
“As human beings, we yearn to be good,” Bishop Desmond Tutu said.“Believe in that. Move from that place. Find the strength in yourself to forgive so that you can be truly free.”
She further expounded that John Gardner was a Cabinet Secretary for Health Education and Welfare under Lyndon Johnson who was active in the Civil Rights movement. He was a mentor and friend who profoundly influenced Acumen and the legacy that is yours through the East Africa Fellows program.
“Commit to something bigger than yourself,” John Gardner would say, Ms Novograts echoed “and it will set you free.” Gardner believed it was more important to be interested than interesting, and though he would create many of the US’s most important civil society institutions, he maintained a modesty and integrity that made others around him want to do more and be more.
She cited Dr. Venkataswamy, at age 58 with a body crippled from rheumatoid arthritis would build a dream to eradicate blindness starting with an 11-bed hospital. He believed in bringing a sense of the divine into his work, and he moved from a place of deep spirituality and a relentless commitment to excellence. Though he passed five years ago, Aravind Eye Hospital serves a million people a year.
Dr Venkataswamy said, “Intelligence and capability are not enough. There
must be the joy of doing something beautiful.”
“Aravind was Acumen’s first investment and so much of what we do is connected to the aspirations, both outer and inner held by that institution,” she said. “As you move forward on your own journeys, I wish that you find your own mentors and guides to inspire and challenge you. And that you feel a sense of great belonging and also responsibility to the rich community of individuals across the world who comprise Acumen.”
“Twenty-five years ago,” she narrated how she stood in the same room so much younger but with similar aspirations. “Twenty five years later, I stand here knowing what richness lies ahead of you if you have the courage to continue to follow your own dreams, the discipline to gain the skills and understanding you need, the humility to listen and the commitment to community and to each other to enable you to do much more together than you could do alone. I wish you all of this and so much more. And one more thing.”
In conclusion she said: “As East African fellows, you will be seen as role models. Many will expect much of you, not least of all, yourselves. Leadership is a 24 - hour a day, lifelong practice, so give yourself to it and be sure to enjoy the process.”
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