Diaspora Changemakers

A major independent new leadership project for people of African origin in the UK funded by Comic Relief and Unbound Philanthropy, the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) is seeking to identify and bring together the UK’s most promising individuals of African origin with a desire to support African communities.

The project, called Diaspora ChangeMakers, will encompass a number of activities, among them leadership development courses to build the capacity of participants for making change, and the creation of a new Diaspora ChangeMakers Network to help them share ideas and work together on new projects. The programme will run until early 2015.

On 29th August RAS launched the call for participants to take part in this exciting new project. They are looking for people who are passionate about improving the lives of communities in Africa or in the diaspora, and feel they would benefit from the networking and leadership development activities on offer in the project.

Even for those who aren’t in the core group of 100 Diaspora ChangeMakers undergoing the leadership development training, there are still other ways to get involved, including:

– Joining the ChangeMakers network to share ideas, contacts and to collaborate on new projects with other ChangeMakers at all levels of development

– Serving as a mentor or ambassador and supporting less experienced ChangeMakers

Anyone who wishes to take part, or who wants to nominate someone else, may do so by visiting the Diaspora ChangeMakers webpage http://diasporachangemakers.com. The deadline for the first wave of applications is September 15th.

You can help by:

– Circulating the news of the project through your networks

– Nominating people who you believe are ChangeMakers

– Putting yourself forward as a Diaspora ChangeMaker if you feel you fit the criteria

If you have any questions, feel free to email the RSA team at changemakers@rsa.org.uk

The RSA combines thought leadership with social innovation to further human progress. Building on their 250 year history as a beacon for enlightenment values, they undertake influential and varied research projects and host the UK’s most ambitious free lecture series. Their work is supported by 27,000 Fellows, an international network of influencers and innovators from every field and background.

To find out more, you can visit their website – http://www.theRSA.org