ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM FELLOWSHIP - CLASS OF 2025
United Nations Academic Impact and MCN are proud to partner on the Millennium Fellowship. This year, 60,000+ young leaders applied to join the Class of 2025 on 7,000+ campuses across 170 nations. 290+ campuses worldwide (less than 5%) were selected to host the 4,500+ Millennium Fellows.
UNITED NATIONS ACADEMIC IMPACT AND MCN PROUDLY PRESENT EMIHLE YEKI, A MILLENNIUM FELLOW FOR THE CLASS OF 2025.
University of Cape Town | Cape Town, South Africa | Advancing SDG 8, SDG 10 & UNAI 3
" I am excited to connect and collaborate with peers who share my vision, learning from their perspectives and stories. The Millennium Fellowship offers a valuable opportunity to grow as a leader, gain exposure, and build meaningful networks. I am driven by the desire to ensure capable individuals are not held back by a lack of exposure, inspiration, or opportunities. I do not want to thrive alone while there are people out there who are suffering that I have the potential to help. "
Millennium Fellowship Project: EmpowerEd Futures
EmpowerEd Futures is a community outreach and mentorship initiative aimed at supporting students from underprivileged schools and backgrounds. The project seeks to empower learners by providing mentorship, career guidance, and exposure to available opportunities and resources, helping them make informed decisions about their academic and professional futures.
A key component of the project is financial literacy education, equipping students with practical skills such as budgeting, saving, and responsible money management. By combining mentorship, educational support, and financial empowerment, EmpowerEd Futures directly contributes to SDG 4: Quality Education and SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities, helping young people realize their potential despite limited resources.
The project will begin by selecting a group of students from local disadvantaged schools to benefit from focused mentorship and skills development. Through this small group, other students in the community can indirectly benefit as knowledge and inspiration are shared.
Measurable Goals (August–December 2025):
>Host 3–4 workshops covering mentorship, career guidance, education pathways, and financial literacy.
>Reach at least 150 students from disadvantaged schools and communities.
>Establish a sustainable mentorship network connecting UCT students with learners.
>Provide accessible learning materials (digital and in-person) to ensure ongoing impact beyond the Fellowship.
About the Millennium Fellow
Emihle Yeki is a Statistics and Data Science student at the University of Cape Town, originally from the small town of Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape. Raised by her grandparents, she is one of the few in her village to reach university. Witnessing talented peers abandon their dreams due to limited resources and exposure fuels her passion for mentorship and creating opportunities. Emihle believes in the power of taking the first step, and that even small acts of kindness can spark change and help others realise their potential.
