Four young Kenyans have been selected to join the prestigious Future Leaders Connect programme, and will join 46 other winners from around the world.
The four are; Sharon Adhiambo- a Public Sector Economist, Alphaxard Gitau Ndungu- a Young Farmer and a master’s student at the University of Nairobi , Nafula Wafula- an advocate for gender equality and human rights and Dr Phyllis Maina- a Medical Officer of Health in Laikipia North.
Future Leaders Connect is an initiative run by the British Council, the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. The programme aims to develop the next generation of globally connected leaders who will create positive change through effective policy making.
A total of fifty winners, selected from more than 15,000 applications around the world, will travel to the UK in October to undergo advanced leadership training at the Møller Institute, University of Cambridge. They will meet with British MPs at the Houses of Parliament and other international leaders to discuss their policy ideas.
In 2017 and 2018, young applicants globally chose access to education as their most important policy area. Other top issues highlighted were sustainability, climate change and the environment, and youth opportunities.
In previous years, Future Leaders Connect participants have debated peace and education with former UN Secretaries-General Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon, and presented their policy ideas at 10 Downing Street, the British Prime Minister’s residence.
Eight young competitors took the podium at a TED-X event at the University of Nairobi auditorium and had six-minute each to explain their policy idea, what impact it could have and why they are the right person to lead the change they envisage. More than 1300 young people from Kenya applied to join the global network of emerging policy leaders.
Twelve countries are participating in Future Leaders Connect: Canada, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Tunisia, USA, plus the four nations of the UK: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.