Facebook announced the Community Leadership Program in February which was the company’s project to empower ‘leaders who are building communities around the world.’ Since then, the company has receive more than 6,000 applications from all over the world.
Out of the 6,000 applicants, Facebook announced that they had selected 115 people for the program which involved a selection committee from Facebook’s own employees as well as community experts from outside the company.
Out of the 14 Africans chosen in the selected 115, 6 were Kenyans and will attend the Community Leadership Program Summit at Facebook’s head office at Menlo Park, California. They will receive training, support and funding to further advance their social impact.
The Kenyan Community Leaders selected who will receive upto $50,000 each for their community initiative include:
- Truposah Monah – Women and Realities of Disability (WARD)
- Felista Wangari – 52 week savings challenge
- Caroline Kihusa – Still A Mum Trust
- Asha Mweru – #WomenWorkKE
- Pamellah Oduor – Let’s Cook Kenyan Meals
Facebook also announced the 5 Community Leaders in Residence who will receive upto $1,000,000 to fund their community initiative. There is one Kenyan in this list, Mr Noah Nasiali who has brought more than 100,000 farmers across Africa through his Facebook group called Africa Farmers Club. The amount received by the community leaders will be determined based on a budget proposal created and submitted by each resident.
Facebook says that the community Leadership has three main elements: Education curriculum designed around leadership, development, strategic community engagement and technical skills; financial support for their offline community building activities and a network of support by Facebook professionals and other local experts.
