A New Partner in Building Acumen East Africa’s Fellowship Program

Every year, Acumen’s East Africa Fellows Program brings together extraordinary individuals from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Burundi, and South Sudan, and equips them with the knowledge, support system and practical wisdom to drive positive change in society. Since 2012, we have graduated 153 East Africa Fellows.

We are thrilled to bring on board Ashnil Hotels and Somak Luxury Travel to strategically further Acumen’s leadership work by hosting Acumen’s training seminars at their properties. During the four week-long seminars, Fellows receive the tools, training and space to innovate new ideas, accelerate their impact, and build a strong network of social leaders from across their region and around the world.

Acumen Fellow Faith Muigai noted, “The Acumen fellowship made me reality-check why I was in Kenya and what I needed to do. Instead of focusing on the problem, I learned to focus on the solution.”

Kampala-based Acumen Fellows Abubakar Musuuza, Neha Pandya, Waringa Matindi and Jay Patel have used the Fellowship cohort to collaborate, co-founding sustainable energy and workforce development companies Village Energy, Enlight Institute and Flip.

Ashnil Hotels and Somak Luxury Travels join Acumen East Africa anchor partners Safaricom and Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) with this generous commitment. The partnership further supports both company’s missions to elevate their local community and Kenya’s wildlife reserves and parks through sustainable initiatives at each property, and substantively supporting wildlife conservation in Kenya.