Impact
LEAD Africa empowers Africa's future leaders through quality education and sports.
Signables will always be committed to making a positive social impact. With us believing in young student-athletes, their education and the dreams they might have of making a change in the world, there’s no better way for us to give back than teaming up with and supporting LEAD Africa, an organization which features progressive leadership academies that empower future leaders through education and sport.
Each year, Signables provides a full scholarship for a student-athlete at one of the three LEAD academies. While there, the young boy or girl will be provided with a top education, professional sport training, great nutrition, healthcare and much more.
Problem
Africa’s greatest need is skilled, empathetic, and entrepreneurial leaders. Between now and 2050, more than half of the world’s population growth will occur on the African continent. To accommodate this unprecedented growth, African countries require leaders who will innovate, empower communities, and unlock the continent’s vast potential. Over the past ten years, there has been a proliferation of African leadership initiatives, but almost all have focused on post-secondary school ages. To develop Africa’s next Nkrumahs, Maathais, Mandelas, and Gbowees, we must start earlier. We must transform the way Africa’s brightest and most talented children develop
as leaders.
Solution
LEAD Africa (LEAD) is a growing network of progressive leadership academies that empower Africa’s future leaders through quality education and sport. Each academy is founded by a local champion, providing underprivileged boys and girls at the primary and secondary school levels with high-quality academic classes, elite sport training, good nutrition, healthcare, life skills, and pastoral care.
All future academies will be modeled after LEAD’s flagship institution, LEAD Monrovia Football Academy in Liberia (est. 2015). As the first school of its kind in Liberia, LEAD MFA has been recognized by former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as “a unique approach to academic and leadership training that must be watched.” Indeed, LEAD MFA’s evidence-based impact has captured the attention of several philanthropists, prompting the replication of its leadership development model across Africa.
LEAD launched its second academy, LEAD Morocco, in September 2019. LEAD’s third academy will be a basketball academy in East Africa. By 2050, LEAD aims to have 50 academies and to be empowering 25,000 young leaders across the continent every year.
Financial Model
To ensure financial sustainability, LEAD has developed a uniquely African and globally appealing brand. The brand engages with globally renowned brand ambassadors and establishes revenue-sharing agreements with major corporations – especially those which appeal to youth and are active on the African continent. 100 percent of the proceeds from these unique partnerships are donated to LEAD’s network of academies. In January 2018, Mr. Larry Fink, CEO of the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, wrote to Fortune 500 companies threatening to divest BlackRock’s assets if they do not prioritize social impact. Major companies must heed Mr. Fink’s advice. The world’s biggest consumer market, the United States, will soon undergo the largest transfer of wealth in its history, from Baby Boomers to Millennials. Seventy-four percent of Millennials prefer to
buy from brands with a clear and powerful social mission. Companies must meet consumer demand, and increasingly that demand is social impact. LEAD represents a unique opportunity for companies across the world. With a LEAD product line, companies will gain access to unmatched content that will drive deeper consumer engagement and increase sales. Together, LEAD and its corporate partners will change the way business works, deploying innovative partnerships that sustain the academies empowering Africa’s future leaders.
In its inaugural year, Signables is providing a full scholarship for one LEAD student-athlete. Signables believes in the profound power of sport to capture the imagination of our youth and create positive change in the world.