92 Equity Leadership Program (ELP) scholars admitted to 43 Global universities

92 scholars from the Equity Leadership Program (ELP) have been admitted to 43 Global universities making it the largest single year cohort for the program.

The scholars comprise of Wings to Fly alumni beneficiaries as well as those who topped the 2019 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination in their respective sub counties. The forty three institutions are across five continents in different countries. They include the United States of America (USA), Canada, Germany, Hungary, Turkey, Costa Rica, the United Kingdom (UK), United Arab Emirates (UAE), Ghana, Mauritius, Rwanda and South Africa.

This year’s admission makes it the largest single year cohort and the total number of scholars who have so far gained admission to global universities under the Equity Leaders Program is 633. The global scholars will benefit from undergraduate scholarships valued at over USD 18M (slightly over Ksh. 2 billion). They will also receive a stipend of Ksh. 16 million to facilitate their preparation and travel to their host countries.

Commenting on the admissions when releasing the Ksh. 16 million for air tickets, Equity Group Foundation (EGF) Executive Chairman, Dr. James Mwangi noted that despite the prevailing global pandemic, EGF through its Education and Leadership Development pillar has been able to coach and mentor bright, promising youth, to deliver the highest single year admissions and scholarship for airlift in search for higher education.

“We are proud of our ELP scholars for the hard work that they have put into this. Their dedication, consistency and perseverance has seen them gain admission into some of the best institutions of higher learning in the world including the Ivy League Universities.”

Of the 92, 19 scholars have been admitted to Ivy League Universities in the United States including Yale (2), Harvard (4), University of Pennsylvania (3), Princeton (3), Cornell (1), Dartmouth (2), Columbia (2) and Brown (2).

ELP provides a paid internship to top performing secondary school scholars including Wings to Fly alumni beneficiaries. The program aims to educate and provide mentorship and exposure to Kenyan youth.

Maxwell Ojiambo, a Wings to Fly alumnus and an ELP scholar who is set to join Stanford University to pursue Electrical Engineering said, “My experience in Wings to Fly and ELP has taught me that tough times don’t last forever. Equity took a chance on me and they turned me into a promising young man with big dreams and a great vision for the future. I am truly grateful for the experience.”

Since inception in 1998, ELP has supported 6,713 paid internships by Equity Bank at a cost of approximately Ksh. 3 billion. Of these, 633 have been coached and mentored to secure admission and scholarship to enable their transition to to global universities while the majority study locally in leading universities. 33% of the ELP interns are continuing scholars, while 67% have graduated from various institutions and continued to become productive members in community building. The first ELP scholar, Samuel Kirubi, has since scaled up in his professional career to become the Managing Director of Equity Bank Uganda.

Equity Leadership Program 2020 scholars by country

Equity Leadership Program 2020 scholars