AL for Education

Jihad Hajjouji

Kalliope Kruesmann

We are on a mission to develop a generation of leaders who will transform education in Africa. We believe in a continent where all children can maximize their potential and live a self-determined, mission-driven life.

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AL for Education will develop a new generation of leaders who will work together to drive transformation in Africa’s education sector. We will catalyse connections between key players in education that will accelerate the career pathways of our young leaders into the education space. The Anzisha Education Accelerator will cultivate and support aspiring education entrepreneurs and will enable them to share resources, information, best practice and opportunities with each other in order to magnify their impact.

How will we achieve this?

Accelerate

Through our professional development offerings, we build a pipeline of talent for some of the most impactful organisations in the sector. Our careers platform features over one hundred jobs and internships from over fifty different education partner organisations in our network. Each job or internship enables us to accelerate the career pathways of our future leaders in the sector. In addition to this, we provide structured coaching to assist our university graduates with career-readiness and to prepare them to tackle some of the biggest challenges and opportunities in education.

Ignite

To ignite entrepreneurial pathways and opportunities for collaboration, ALforEducation runs multiple programs to support entrepreneurs in the sector at various stages. Through our Anzisha Education Accelerator, we support the leaders of mission-driven schools across Africa build transformative learning institutions for children by providing guidance, capacity-building and access to the lifelong network through a three-year fellowship. Through our Edupreneur Growth Lab, we provide entrepreneurs across the education sector with support in scaling and developing their organisations. Finally, through the Apprenticeship program, we support young aspiring education leaders and entrepreneurs in learning more about the sector through our flagship education courses and the chance to work on a Innovation Project in our network.

Weave

With our network over 1000 people strong, ALforEducation has a number of avenues to weave and connect people for opportunities to learn and collaborate in the sector. Our ALforEducation Network Platform is the central hub for our community, and there are countless groups, forums and opportunities to connect with people on the network there. Additionally, our annual network gatherings bring together alumni, education practitioners, investors, innovators and policymakers to connect on some of the most daunting challenges and exciting opportunities in the sector. Likewise, our monthly newsletters to the community feature op-eds on education, updates from the network, opportunities and related news to help keep people informed and connected.

Career Tracks

Education is one of the most important, rapidly growing and innovative social institutions in Africa. A career in Education can be built through a number of different career tracks through work in a variety of different organisations, as well as through entrepreneurship and government. Organisation types include primary, secondary and tertiary education, for-impact organisations, education consultancies, Ed-Tech firms and much more. Below you’ll find examples of key fields of work in this sector.

Curriculum, Instruction and Pedagogy

Careers in this field are dedicated specifically to the improvement of student learning and success. Jobs can include curriculum design, teaching, learning design, teacher development, school administration and leadership. Jobs here are predominately concentrated in institutions of learning and teacher development organisations, but also in organisations that provide consulting to schools and universities, or national departments of education.

Education Consulting

Organisations, schools and governments all frequently consult education consultancies as well as major consulting firms with education-specific projects. Consulting jobs include research, data science, analysis – but depending on the firm can also include major project management and implementation.

Entrepreneurship In Education

Entrepreneurship is a career path in education that has brought a great deal of creativity and innovation to the sector. Pathways for entrepreneurship have commonly sought for the development of new schools, Ed-tech ventures, education products and services and much more.

Education Eco-System Building and Incubation

Eco-System building has to do with the systemic improvement of education. There are a wide range of career opportunities in this space, ranging from network building, program development, consulting, fundraising and more. Careers in incubation and eco-system building work with primarily early stage entrepreneurs to support the development of their organisational strategy and connect them with relevant resources.

Education Finance and Operations

Finance and Operations are crucial for the day-to-day running as well as the long-term success of any school or education organisation. Jobs in Education Finance can tackle key questions of making organisations and schools financially sustainable, or making quality education accessible to all students. Jobs range from financial strategy to accounting. Operations include human resources and administration jobs, all of which are foundational to the development and running of organisations.

Education Impact Evaluation

Impact Evaluation is a key field of work in the education sector, across a multitude of organisations. This work is focused on assessing and evaluating the true impact of the work done in education in order to better improve organisations and systems. Careers here require research and data science skills.

Education Management

Careers in Education Management can be developed out of most career tracks listed here. Experience and expertise in education is required. Jobs here strive for the improvement of educational services and the holistic oversight of key work in the sector.

Education Policy

Policy is one of the major pillars shaping the state of education. Careers in this field of education can range from advocacy, to research, to governmental jobs. While many careers in Education Policy work directly with government, policy and education think-tanks as well as organisations that partner with governments are impactful spaces to shape education policy on the continent.

Technology and Innovation

Education Technology has been a major positive disruption in education on the continent. Organisations in this space include organisations that tackle key challenges in education including, but not limited to, access to education, quality of learning, skills building and school improvements. Careers in this space range from software engineering, to research and design, to impact strategy and much more.

Stories of impact

Watch our art come to life through the stories of our alumni

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Reekworth Schools Harare

Belinda Munemo

ALA alumna from 2008, and co-founder and Executive Director of Reekworth in Harare, Zimbabwe. Since its founding in 2010, the school stood out from other schools in the country thanks to its focus on entrepreneurship training from early childhood, and its philosophy of developing the whole child from academics and sports, to art and travel.

What's happening in AL for Education?

Find out more about what’s happening in education on the continent

Chris Bradford on 6 Principles to Guide Our Network’s Response to covid-19

Across Africa, school leaders have spent the past month considering how to best respond to the evolving challenges of the COVID pandemic.

Dzingai Mutumbuka and Marla Spivack on Charting a New Course for Education Systems

We know that time away from school due to COVID-19 has undermined learning.

Kigutu International Academy in Burundi has officially launched!

KIA has welcomed an inaugural class of 32 students to campus last month