An agro-based firm that specialises in maize production, Babban Gona, says it has partnered with Harvard University’s Aspire Institute to give Nigerians access to a fully-funded leadership development programme and prestigious educators.
A statement by the company said the partnership aimed to provide selected Nigerian students with access to fully-funded HarvardX courses, a global community of peers, live seminars with world-class faculty, and mentorships from seasoned professionals.
“The Aspire Leaders Programme gets the best talent that has not been noticed from everywhere in the world. The mission of the Aspire Institute is to reach marginalized youths around the world at scale, meaning we want to reach as many youths from low-income backgrounds as possible,” said Tarun Khanna, co-founder, and Harvard Business School professor.
The Aspire Leaders Programme is open to Nigerian undergraduate students and recent graduates (within the last three years) between the ages of 18 and 26. The programme provides resources for students all over the globe that come from backgrounds of social and financial adversity, specifically students who are first-generation in their family to go to college.
Interested students can apply for the programme by visiting aspireleaders.org/apply. Applications for the 2022 Cycle 2 are open from April 18 to June 15, 2022.
The Deputy Managing Director of Babban Gona, Lola Masha, was quoted as saying, “Babban Gona is pleased to partner with Aspire Institute to open up this leadership program opportunity to Nigerians from low-income backgrounds. It is in line with our belief that everyone deserves an opportunity to prosper. This partnership will be a great addition to the impact we have had on over 220,000 smallholder farmers. We believe the program will equip Nigerians with the leadership skills to develop the country.”
Since 2017, the Aspire Leaders Program has grown from a few hundred applications from nine countries to several thousand from more than 100 countries across five continents in each cycle.
The programme, which was founded at Harvard University, was previously called “Crossroads Emerging Leaders Program.” Now, the Aspire Institute runs the Aspire Leaders programme as an independent non-profit organisation, allowing them to reach students from any country in the world and welcoming Nigerian students.
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