Tag: eLearning

Fellowship opportunity empowers thousands of African students to start/continue scalable businesses

The Mastercard Foundation and the Dunin-Deshpande Queen’s Innovation Centre (DDQIC) have announced a partnership offering free virtual entrepreneurship training, and an opportunity to receive startup funding to more than 1,000 students through the Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship on Entrepreneurship for African Students at Queen’s University.

The program launched in September 2020. It provides students and recent graduates from African universities within the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program with the opportunity to apply to a free virtual entrepreneurship training program delivered by Queen’s University’s DDQIC Program. Through this program, award-winning faculty and some of the best innovators, policymakers, and business strategists collaborate to support students to become Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellows. During the 2020-2021 Academic year, 1,252 students participated, and more than 60 percent of the cohort were women, recognizing the additional barriers women face when starting a business or seeking employment in Africa.

“The launch of the Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship on Entrepreneurship for African Students last year was a proud moment,” said Jim Leech. “Seeing bright African students take advantage of this entrepreneurial training to initiate, strengthen, and bring their business goals to life is exciting and augurs well for Africa’s future. I look forward to seeing the new waves of talent come in with this year’s applicants.”

Prospective fellows receive access to a curated list of online entrepreneurship courses developed at DDQIC and work through the Disciplined Entrepreneurship Framework developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The fellowship is designed to address unemployment among post-secondary graduates by equipping thousands of students and recent graduates with sufficient entrepreneurial training to initiate and continue to grow their businesses.

Titose Chembezi of the University of Cape Town was a $5,000 winner at the DDQIC Summer Pitch Competition and said the pitch experience provided her with a boost of confidence. “It was the first time my team and I got to compete with ventures from Canada and won a prize. It taught me to move past the stigma that startups from the African continent may not be competent enough compared to the West and it also gave me the courage to see the world as my oasis.”

The Mastercard Foundation created these fellowships through an endowed donation to Queen’s University in honour of Jim Leech, former Chair of the Board of Directors of the Mastercard Foundation and Chancellor Emeritus of Queen’s University (14th Chancellor). In 2014, Mr. Leech was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada for his contributions as an innovator in pension management, for his writings about retirement funding, and for his community involvement.

The applications for the upcoming academic year close on December 10, 2021. Learn more about the Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship and complete your application today.

For application inquiries, please contact:

Dunin-Deshpande Queen’s Innovation Centre
Megan Sieroka
Program Coordinator at the Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship on Entrepreneurship for African Students: jimleechfellowship@queensu.ca

www.mastercardfdn.org

Mastercard Foundation and Light For The World Launch online platform for persons with disabilities

Light for the World Uganda, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, launched an online platform, Cap-Able, which will enable higher education institutions, primarily Scholars Program Partner Universities, to become more disability inclusive.

Cap-Able is a digital toolkit designed to equip administrators, lecturers, and management with the information, knowledge, and tools to create more inclusive learning institutions. The toolkit offers best practices for higher education institutions to improve enrollment and learning practices, create inclusive learning environments, and help young people effectively transition to the world of work. It is a one-stop-shop for educational material on disability inclusion in higher education.

“We need to come together and explore every avenue to facilitate access to education for people with disabilities,” said Musa Mwambu, a Disability Inclusion Advisor at Light for the World Uganda. “Through strong partnerships like the one between Light for the World and the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, we can swiftly deploy innovative, scalable solutions for students and educators. The accessibility nature of Cap-Able is a powerful reminder of what we can achieve together as we bridge the education gap for people with disabilities.”

Cap-Able will provide key resources to Scholars Program partners, educators, and students on understanding disability and inclusion, detailed information on different types of disabilities and inclusion needs, practical guidance on disability inclusion throughout the different phases of the university experience, as well as a range of educational materials, quizzes, and games. The platform also provides an opportunity for users to share their experiences and other best practices on disability inclusion.

Creating prosperity across the continent requires leaders of all backgrounds and experiences who will work to ensure that emerging economic and social benefits are available to all. Equity and inclusion are central to the realization of the Mastercard Foundation’s vision and mission. It is reflected in the Foundation’s strategy, Young Africa Works, which has set out to enable 30 million youth, particularly women, to access dignified and fulfilling work by 2030.

“The Scholars Program seeks to inspire an inclusive approach in which all young people, no matter their starting point in life, have an equal opportunity to succeed,” said Andre Okunzuwa, Program Partner, Mastercard Foundation. “By leveraging technology, our hope is that Cap-Able will contribute to ensuring equitable access for all young people, including those underrepresented in higher education by supporting institutions to access the knowledge needed to put disability inclusion into action.”

The Cap-Able website has been designed to ensure a user-friendly experience with robust navigation and functionality features. Created with the user experience in mind, the website includes an accessibility menu that will ensure users are able to customize anything and control everything based on their unique accessibility needs — preferred button types, language and locales, size, position, colour, and more.

Cap-Able, while designed to support partners of the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, can also be useful to other institutions, staff, and students who are interested in taking on a more active role in creating an enabling environment for people with disabilities. 

www.mastercardfdn.org

Nokia makes scholarships pledge of underrepresented communities in technology

Nokia announced the launch of a scholarship program aimed at providing greater opportunities for underrepresented communities in the technology industry. Working together with online learning and talent transformation platform Udacity and Blacks In Technology (BIT) Foundation, Nokia will offer over 300 scholarships, with a focus on empowering students and career changers from underrepresented communities.

The fully funded scholarships cover a range of core tech competencies, from cloud computing and programming to artificial intelligence and data science, and are available from introductory to advanced levels. The successful candidates will be able to select courses on topics such as AI Programming with Python, Java Programming, Data Structures and Algorithms, Intermediate Python, and Cloud DevOps Engineering.

The courses will be provided by Udacity, whose Nanodegree® programs are fully online and designed to be completed alongside further studies or full-time work, making them accessible to anyone regardless of their position or profession. Scholarships are open to applicants based anywhere in the world, to both students and industry professionals who wish to further develop their technology skills.

Scholarship recipients will also have access to support and networking provided by the BIT Foundation, including mentorship, tutoring, and post-completion career support resources. Nokia will also work closely with its African-American employee resource group ABLE (Advancing Black Leadership and Excellence) to further promote the initiative.

“We are committed to creating technology that helps the world act together, but to do so, the technology industry must reflect the world around us,” said Karoliina Loikkanen, Global Head of Sustainability at Nokia. “This initiative further expands our activities to drive greater inclusion and diversity through concrete actions that provide opportunities to underrepresented communities and individuals, irrespective of background or ethnicity. Education forms a key part of this. Diverse businesses are shown to perform better, and we intend to encourage students who successfully complete one of the programs to apply for positions within Nokia.”

“Education is one of the most important ways for us to help remove the barriers to diversity in tech. By providing access to resources that are designed to nurture and develop people’s skills, we can help get more Black talent into the technology space,” said Dennis Schultz, Executive Director at the BIT Foundation. “We are pleased to see major industry players like Nokia stepping up to the plate with Udacity and addressing the issue head-on in order to drive forward digital transformation and improve much-needed Black representation in tech.”

“We have joined forces with Nokia and Blacks In Technology Foundation because we believe that it is vital to continue to create opportunities for underrepresented groups to build careers in the field of technology,” said Gabe Dalporto, CEO at Udacity. “Democratizing access to digital skills training will create life-changing opportunities for people, and these scholarships will ensure we continue to take measurable steps to increase the participation of Black people in the technology sector.”

Applications are now open. For more information about the scholarship program and how to enter, visit: https://www.nokia.com/about-us/sustainability/improving-lives/tech-and-underrepresented-communities/

www.nokia.com

eLearning Africa returns to Kigali with the theme of ‘A New Purpose for Education’

The Convention Centre in Kigali will be the setting for the next edition of Africa’s leading conference and exhibition on technology-assisted learning, bringing political leaders, investors and some of the world’s leading experts on education and technology to the Rwandan capital for three days of talks, workshops and a ministerial roundtable.

eLearning Africa’s founder and CEO, Rebecca Stromeyer, said that she hoped the conference would help to establish “a new purpose for education” by facilitating in-depth discussions on “what the world will be like after Covid.”

“The pandemic has brought about many changes, some of which will be permanent,” she said. “Now we need a real focus on adaptability, resilience and sustainability in education. And we need an African agenda – not just for Africa itself, but because Africa has so much to teach the world.

“African experience and traditions, such as ‘ubuntu’, will enjoy a new relevance. Equally, African ideas of community and partnership with nature could soon mean that Africa is increasingly recognised as a resource of knowledge, experience and education for the whole world.”

The conference, which will have ‘A New Purpose for Education’ as its main theme will consider issues including:

  • the challenges facing African countries in the aftermath of the pandemic
  • the suitability of global models in the African context
  • how to redirect education to meet African countries’ future needs
  • using technology to enable African countries to respond to specific needs in context
  • the single African market and the opportunities and requirements of employers
  • Africa’s contribution to global learning and problem solving

Featuring plenary sessions, seminars, workshops, debates and discussions, eLearning Africa will be accompanied by a major exhibition, showcasing some of the latest EdTech technologies and solutions. The conference will take place from 11 – 13 May, 2022 at the Kigali Convention Centre in Rwanda.

“I am delighted that eLearning Africa is back on the road and returning to the splendid, state-of-the-art conference centre in Kigali,” said Ms Stromeyer. “It has been a long wait but I hope this conference will show it has been well worth it. It will be wonderful to see the eLearning Africa family – our amazing network of experts, solutions providers, managers and investors – back together again for what will be the most important programme of discussions in our history.”

Founded in 2005, eLearning Africa is the leading pan-African conference and exhibition on ICT for Education, Training & Skills Development. The three day event offers participants the opportunity to develop multinational and cross-industry contacts and partnerships, as well as to enhance their knowledge and skills.

Over 14 consecutive years, eLearning Africa has hosted more than 18,000 participants from 100+ different countries around the world, with over 80% coming from the African continent. More than 3,830 speakers have addressed the conference about every aspect of technology supported learning, training and skills development.

The eLearning Africa 2022 Call for Papers is now open until October 01, 2021! Submit your proposal HERE.

www.elearning-africa.com