To an idle man, five years may seem like a long time, but to a resourceful person, five years is fleeting and feels like yesterday. For us at The Gracedlife Leadership Centre (TGLC), it certainly feels like the latter since we had our first official meeting at Orkman Plaza, Ashaley Botwe in 2018. It was at this meeting that we laid the foundation for what was to become an exemplar of leadership training and development in Africa, garnering global attention.
TGLC is a non-profit Christian organisation commissioned to raise leaders, reorient mindsets, inspire change, and develop a culture of selflessness and integrity among young Africans. Owing to Africa’s increasing youth population, which is estimated to grow by 181.4% by 2100, it has become necessary to plan and convert such a resource with enormous potential into real economic opportunities and entrepreneurial ventures. This has been a critical goal of ours at TGLC, which we have been pursuing relentlessly and passionately over the past 5 years.
As of September 2023, our organisation boasts 83 cohort leaders, 52 entrepreneurs impacted through our trainings, and 2,022 students in total. 88% of participants were female, a testament to our commitment to empowering women all across Africa. We are proud of our influence so far and look forward to the future with giddy excitement.
Programme Footprints
Our impact across the continent is a result of the formidable team and structures we have put in place since our inception. Our detailed internal programmes consist of the Leadership Development Training (LDT), Sector Mentorship Programme (SMP), Leadership Experience Programme (LEP), and Skills Share Programme, which our yearly recruits benefit from. These are all part of a rigorous and mandatory three-year programme each young leader completes before becoming an affiliated leader.
As an institution replete with young people who believe in the duty to serve, we have curated external programmes that enable us to reach the masses and deepest scores of societies. One of such programmes is Youth Think Next. As the name suggests, this programme targets the youth with the aim of emboldening them to envision their “NEXT” steps as co-creators of their future and of the continent of Africa as a whole. Since it began three years ago, we have reached many young people at the University of Ghana and Accra Girls Senior High School.
Moving away from the youth, we have trainings that also target entrepreneurs. Our partnership with the University of British Columbia (UBC) Sauder Business School in Canada enables us to carry out a yearly programme called ‘LIFT’ as a means of fueling entrepreneurship in Ghana. So far, two batches of entrepreneurs have received free training and business coaching from UBC and are doing remarkable things in their ventures. Some of the businesses include Merdeo Foods, Akoma Bags, DQ Designs, Jireh Aidoo Enterprise, and Happy Eagle Tourism Management, to mention a few.
Every year, we hold a graduation ceremony for our cohort leaders who have completed the one-year LDT, along with an inauguration ceremony to welcome fresh leaders, dubbed “The Miliarium”. Through this, we are able to reach other young people and pique their interest in our activities.
Beyond these, the centre also organises fun games, painting events, plays, and conferences that external parties can benefit from. More importantly, TGLC provides all-round coaching and mentoring, executive and shared office spaces our leaders can use, media and branding services, a meeting board room, a recording studio, a product room, and trainings to all our leaders enrolled in the three-year programme at no cost at all.
Looking beyond the five years
Though a burgeoning non-profit, we have received incredible support from our partners and donors, including Microsoft, Benevity, UBC Sauder, Google Workspace, Global Spark, and the Mastercard Scholars Program. This support has armed us to take the necessary steps to widen our impact and reach many young people in Africa beyond what has already been accomplished in the past 5 years.
In the years ahead, we hope to provide white-glove treatment to our leaders, training them on leadership virtues while addressing Africa’s most pressing leadership needs. The future looks promising, regardless of the unknowns that may come along the way. But you know what excites us more? Our unbroken resolve to reach the youth in Africa, one person at a time.
By: Sylvester Demuyakor