Leadership & Entrepreneurship Academy

The NLA programme is anchored on leadership development for each student. Students will internalise and practice leadership principles through daily learning opportunities. Each student will also participate in our Leadership Class (LC) where they will get a deep understanding of leadership principles and its manifestations – with focus on Servant Leadership.

During LC, students will explore each of these principles and learn behaviours that will serve as the basis for learning to both lead and follow. These behaviours will serve as a guide for explaining, appreciating, and learning how leaders have a positive influence on others.

The LCs will also focus on the following 5 transformational leadership essentials:

• Character
• Service to all
• Effective communication
• Teamwork
• Building partnerships

Students will have multiple opportunities to demonstrate their leadership development throughout the year. Each student will participate in school-wide projects that are also designed to promote leadership development.

The Leadership Class will also cover issues pertinent to adolescent/teenage girls. Students will critically analyse current events involving women in leadership and devote time to completing quarterly projects. Study units are arranged thematically and in accordance with the needs of each grade level. Girls are expected to fully engage in each class to benefit from the programme.

The Entrepreneurship Programme (EP) will be intertwined with the Leadership Classes (LCs), and each student will be expected to participate in both.

This programme is unique to NLA and is designed to mirror reality.  To this end, NLA will partner with individuals and corporates to offer mentorship and managerial advice. Our students will be required to draw start-up business plans and present them to a board (and/or financiers).

They will also be given real life predicaments through which they will be guided to activate business and social entrepreneurial ideas and opportunities addressing the situation presented. In the spirit of simplicity, it is based on the founding principles of Asset Based Community Development (ABCD); they will primarily employ the use of locally available resources to come up with innovative, practical, appropriate, adaptive, sustainable and affordable win-win solutions.

These customised leadership and entrepreneurship programmes engage students in exercises and experiential activities that allow them to understand, appreciate and nurture various leadership and entrepreneurship essentials. They will generally be centred on (but not limited to) the broad areas of:

• Personal mastery and branding.
• Talent identification and management.
• Reading trends for expanded worldviews and increased global awareness.
• Multiple intelligences – emotional, intellectual, social, cultural.
• Value systems.
• Conflict management.
• Enterprise facilitation.
• Fund/resource raising and management.
• Business planning and project cycle management.
• Marketing (goods, services & social marketing).
• Proof of concept.
• Advocacy/Activism.
• Corporate governance.
• Harnessing technology positively.
• Social responsibility.
• Environmental stewardship.
• Presentation skills – communication and non-fiction literacy proficiency

Beyond internal audiences, NLA will also offer Leadership and Entrepreneurship Courses (LECs) externally – all over East Africa and beyond. These will be to:

1. School prefects and/or students’ leadership.

Customised courses targeting student leaders in:

• Primary Schools.
• Secondary/High schools.
• Universities and other tertiary institutions.

2. Teachers

They exert influence in moulding individuals, therefore teachers play a very significant part in empowering humanity. NLA will have a comprehensive LEC program for both primary school and high school teachers – to open them to appreciate the vital role they play in shaping the future. This will be targeted towards teachers in East Africa.

3. Post-Secondary

One of the biggest challenges afflicting many young people is “what next – after high school”. This can be attributed to weak (or non-existent) career development structures at the high school level.

Based on the NLA foundations of empowering future-ready leaders & entrepreneurs, this programme will be open to ALL post-secondary students and will run for 1-3 months. More details will be uploaded in due course.

4. NLA Corporate

NLA has a consummate Leadership and Entrepreneurship team, with previous experiences and requisite training in human resource development. NLA will therefore partner with corporates and other organizations to develop customised leadership development packages for all cadres of their employees, with a focus on those leading teams (or work in a team).

NLA corporate will be people-centred, highly experiential and will be established based on the NLA values of Simplicity, Inspire, Transform.

Details on NLA Corporate packages will be uploaded soon.