Nkulukelo Yeni, affectionately known as ‘Ziggy’, is a graduate of the African Leadership Academy, who now attends Yale University.  His younger years were difficult, with his father passing away before he even began primary school, and his mother dying just a few years later. However, despite becoming an orphan when he was ten years old, Ziggy continued to focus on his studies, and ended up being accepted into the ALA.

It was whilst at this academy that Ziggy became interested in not only furthering his own education, but also in helping other youngsters to understand the value, and the power of knowledge. With the help of a fellow student at the ALA, he co-founded ‘KWIT’ (Kids with Insane Talent), an organisation designed to help children to recognise the importance of education, and to encourage them to pursue their academic and professional goals.

Virtually everyone who is aware of the ALA, including Tunde Folawiyo, understands how beneficial attending this school can be. Ziggy himself has described his experiences at the ALA as ‘transformative’. During his time here, he not only received a comprehensive education, but was also given many opportunities which other people can only dream of; one example would be his being asked to serve as a panellist at a prestigious event known as the Clinton Global Initiative.

Created by the Clinton Foundation, this annual conference gathers together young leaders, as well as the heads of NGOs and foundations, CEOs and Nobel prize laureates, and provides them with the opportunity to discuss the most pressing issues the world is currently facing, and potentially devise solutions to these problems. Additionally, Ziggy had the chance to attend several other important events, including the Enke Youth Forum and the World Economic Forum.

After being accepted into Yale – one of the world’s top universities – Ziggy became even more interested in Pan-Africanism – an ideology which Tunde Folawiyo is probably familiar with – and so chose to become a member of the YASA (Yale African Students Association).

This organisation aims to represent and raise awareness of Africa’s many cultures, and to also offer the students of the university a forum in which they can discuss, and offer solutions to, some of the continent’s most important problems. Ziggy now serves on the Publicity Chair for this group, attending to his duties, as well as working towards his degree in African Studies and Political Science.