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 SISANDA OLWETHU GAMBU, A MILLENNIUM FELLOW AND CAMPUS DIRECTOR FOR THE CLASS OF 2025.
University of Cape Town | Cape Town, South Africa | Advancing SDG 8, SDG 10 & UNAI 3
" I believe change starts with knowledge and that financial literacy is one of the most powerful, yet overlooked, tools to transform lives. I am driven to break cycles of poverty by empowering communities with the education and skills they need to thrive. The Millennium Fellowship is not just an opportunity, it’s a calling to turn my determination into action, to plant seeds of sustainable change, and to ensure that no one is left behind in understanding how to shape their own future. "
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
Sisanda Olwethu Gambu is a 20-year-old second-year BCom student at the University of Cape Town, specializing in Financial Accounting (CA stream). She moves through life with quiet determination, shaped by past leadership roles that taught her the value of vision, resilience, and responsibility. Now, she steps into the United Nations Millennium Fellowship with the same resolve, ready to grow, challenge herself, and leave a mark that reaches beyond the classroom and into the world.
