Monday, March 27, 2023

The Anzisha Story

What does Africa look like if entrepreneurship is seen as a more viable career path? How can transitions to entrepreneurship at an early age be better supported? These are the fundamental questions that drive our work with Anzisha, which aims to fundamentally and significantly increase the number of job-generative entrepreneurs on the continent.

Now in its 12th year, the Anzisha Prize has found, supported and championed the stories over 150 very young entrepreneurs between the ages of 15 to 22 across 32 African countries. These stories have inspired countless others to follow in their footsteps, supported by a growing movement of parents and teachers who are actively improving the viability of early-age entrepreneurship. We seek to use our various prizes, programs, resources, and the theory of change to catalyze not only the belief in very young entrepreneurs but the creation of an ecosystem (parents, educators, policymakers, and investors) that supports entrepreneurship as a viable career choice.

What is Anzisha.org?

Anzisha.org is a digital library of all of our curriculum development, tools and publications – for free! “The long-term vision is to provide a collection of objectively excellent resources that anyone can use to enrich their own entrepreneurship education programs,” says Josh Adler, Chief Programs Officer at African Leadership Academy. The library is a source of the best in very young entrepreneur education and acceleration. Parents, investors and educators around the world will get our books, magazines and newsletters with rigorous insights and best practices on a regular basis.

#TheMovement

Developing successful entrepreneurial businesses run by young people that employ other young people requires time and involvement of many stakeholders across the entrepreneurial ecosystem; achieving the vision requires a movement that grows over time. Key Stakeholders include young people, parents, educators, investors and policymakers.

Our Impact

Theory of Change

The VYE Scenario

#ItStartsWithYou

Meet our dedicated

Showcase Team

Dave Tait

Acting Director, Anzisha

Dave lead the Entrepreneurial Leadership (EL) Department at African Leadership Academy (ALA) which promotes ethical entrepreneurship as a potential trajectory, by developing skills through deliberate learning experiences. Before joining ALA, Dave worked as a creative director at one of South Africa’s leading design consultancy and has over a decade of design experience across the entire value chain of product and service development.

Ramah Aleryan

Communities and Research Associate

Ramah aims to expand the stakeholder communities of parents and educators around the Anzisha Prize. She completed her double degree in Sociology and Feminist and Gender Studies at Colorado College. She is driven by making social change and telling compelling stories about social issues.

Lynn Brown

Special Projects Editor

Lynn is a content marketer that focuses on brand storytelling through digital platforms.
Skilled in a background of web development, search engine optimization and content production, Lynn is excited to utilize over 10 years’ experience in digital marketing to help grow the ecosystems that support Africa’s very young entrepreneurs to ensure their success.

Suzan Kibirige

Growth and Campaigns Manager

Suzan is a digital marketer, and a social media and community manager. She is both excited and committed to sharing the powerful stories and businesses of the Very Young Entrepreneurs and showing the world why Africa is the best continent. She has 10 years of experience in the broadcast television industry as a producer and writer.

Mastercard Foundation and ALA Partnership

Anzisha Prize is an initiative between Mastercard Foundation and African Leadership Academy.

About Mastercard Foundation

The Mastercard Foundation seeks a world where everyone has the opportunity to learn and prosper. The Foundation’s work is guided by its mission to advance learning and promote financial inclusion for people living in poverty. One of the largest foundations in the world, it works almost exclusively in Africa. It was created in 2006 by Mastercard International and operates independently under the governance of its own Board of Directors. The Foundation is based in Toronto, Canada.

For more information and to sign up for the Foundation’s newsletter, please visit www.mastercardfdn.org. Follow the Foundation at @MastercardFdn on Twitter.

About African Leadership Academy

African Leadership Academy (ALA) seeks to transform Africa by developing a powerful network of entrepreneurial leaders who will work together to achieve extraordinary social impact. Each year, ALA brings together the most promising young leaders from all 54 African nations for a pre-university program in South Africa with a focus on leadership, entrepreneurship and African studies. ALA continues to cultivate these leaders throughout their lives, in university and beyond, by providing on-going leadership and entrepreneurial training and connecting them to high-impact networks of people and capital that can catalyse large-scale change.

For more information, visit africanleadershipacademy.org