ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM FELLOWSHIP - CLASS OF 2021
United Nations Academic Impact and MCN are proud to partner on the Millennium Fellowship. In 2021, over 25,000 young leaders on 2,000+ campuses across 153 nations applied to join the Class of 2021. 136 campuses worldwide (just 6%) were selected to host the 2,000+ Millennium Fellows. The Class of 2021 is bold, innovative, and inclusive.
UNITED NATIONS ACADEMIC IMPACT AND MCN PROUDLY PRESENT VANNESSA BETSY AKINYI, A MILLENNIUM FELLOW FOR THE CLASS OF 2021.
African Leadership University | Kigali, Rwanda | Advancing SDG 11 & UNAI 1
" Leadership has always been an ever changing concept for me. The people I have encountered while growing up and also taking leadership roles in school have greatly influenced how I define the term leadership. Growing up I have seen my paradigm on leadership evolve as a result of the influence they have had in my life. And to be honest, so many revelations have influenced and shaped the way I approach the idea of being a leader. So according to me, a leader is someone who knows the way, who shows the way and who pulls through the way. As for me, the epitome of me being here is to take part in the meaningful contribution of developing the SDGs. More than ever, my continent needs a leader that is willing to love and serve with a rare blend of courage and humility; courageous enough to secure the bag and humble enough to do it without letting it define you. "
Millennium Fellowship Project: Community Garden
The Community Gardening Club, through the construction of campus community gardens aims to promote the social, environmental, and nutritional benefits of sustainable gardening at The African Leadership University Campus (Rwanda). Community gardens will promote interaction with the natural world and facilitate interdisciplinary pursuits at ALU by providing a unique outdoor learning environment, while also providing a tangible sense of place to a predominantly transient student body, and sponsoring a girl child within the ALU campus to school. Since the community garden will be located on campus, they will act as a link to other clubs by offering a shared area for teaching and learning. The club will engage in tree planting activities across the city of Kigali and its environs.
About the Millennium Fellow
Vannessa Akinyi is a young and focused individual who strives to embody active leadership and continuous self-improvement in order to be an agent of change in her immediate surroundings and the world at large. She is a social entrepreneur with wide experience in youth mentorship. She has always been passionate about looking for solutions to help young vulnerable girls who are being denied access to education with equity or no education at all like in the case of most girls in her community.
