This Griot Masterclass series is offered free of charge and sponsored by the WWLA team. However, if you are interested in making a donation or sponsoring this program now or into the future, please contact submissions@wewillleadafrica.com.
We are excited to announce the 2023 We Will Lead Africa (WWLA) Griot Masterclass Series!
At We Will Lead Africa, our purpose is to inspire everyday African leadership through storytelling. We Will Lead Africa ensures our stories are told and valued, and that our voices are heard and documented.
We see the primary identity of all who join the We Will Lead Africa movement as Griots – capturing and preserving our leadership stories to inspire continued action toward building a more prosperous Africa. We take seriously the great proverb popularized by Chinua Achebe — that until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.
We work on this purpose by creating platforms for sharing and inspiring everyday African leadership through storytelling in two ways:
- Curating and sharing the stories of everyday African leaders who are making real impact on the progress of the continent.
- Convening networks of everyday African leaders who gather in their communities to share, learn and inspire each other to continue taking actions for a prosperous Africa.
Our Griot Masterclass Series will accomplish both of these outcomes as we work to:
- Develop a community of WWLA Griots committed to curating and sharing African leadership stories
- Work through the WWLA processes for telling and documenting your leadership story
- Identify, collect and edit 3 – 5 stories of everyday leaders in your networks
- Curate a We Will Lead Africa Volume for the cohort
- Train WWLA Griots with the toolkit to convene their own Masterclass and create a WWLA Griot Volume
We would love to hear from you if you are passionate about sharing and inspiring everyday African leadership through storytelling and if you:
- Are African by lineage, heritage, citizenship, immigration and/or self-identification, living anywhere in the world;
- Have recently done (in the past 3 years) or are currently doing work in any African country or in the African diaspora that is showing outcomes or making a difference as defined by you and/or the group(s) you are working with.
- Are looking for a way to share your story and that of other everyday African leaders.
The 6-month commitment to the series will entail:
- Attending 12 sessions, bi-weekly, starting June – November 2023, led by WWLA Founders and/or alumni, through which Fellows progressively share and write their stories and build curation and editing skills.
- Engaging in the Griot volume publication process (reviewing the curated draft, providing your information for listing in the book etc. All sessions will be 2 hours-long, on Saturdays.
- Sharing and promoting the WWLA Fellows and Griot volume in your network and on social media
- Attending the We Will Lead Africa Annual Gathering on Africa Day 2023
In addition, two Griots will be asked to volunteer to be lead curators and editors for the Griot Volume that will emerge from the Masterclass.
Fill out our application form by April 30, 2023 to express your interest in this program.