Welcome to Part 2 of our conversation with Julia Oduol, the Strategy Custodian of the Amahoro Fellowship Program. Last week we got to discuss what the Amahoro Coalition Fellowship is and what the fellows actually go through in their twelve months of the program. This week we take a keen look at what the Fellowship team has been up to throughout the year.
Well Julia, what are some of the activities that the fellowship team has been upto?
Julia: Well, it has been a busy year for the fellowship team and with the number of fellows growing every single year, it takes a lot to train them and grow them. This year, we have seen a lot of activity on that side and some of the major things we managed to do this year were on the fellows specifically include:
Cohort One Graduation: As part of this year’s major achievements among FDP leaders, we had our first cohort of fellows graduating during the African Forum on Displacement held in Nairobi Kenya.
Between October 2023 and November 2024, our first cohort of the fellowship program underwent a series of experiential learning and financial investments into their respective investment.
Well, I do not have to bore you with the details of everything they do, but you can read more about their amazing 12-months of growth here.
Cohort Two West Africa Intensive: After the first Cohort graduated, fellows from West Africa gathered in Abuja for a regional intensive where they worked together to learn more on brand building, collaboration on leadership.
Over the three days, the enterprise leaders engaged in peer learning, dialogues that would shape partnerships and help bring progress in their different enterprises.
Cohort Three Recruitment and Onboarding: The recruitment process for Cohort 3 began in April with the call for applications going out all across Africa. After a rigorous selection process that we talked about earlier, 41 fellows were selected and the announcement came on World Refugee Day. Seeing 41 new fellows selected to join this fellowship was a very exciting time because we have seen the fellowship program grow from 17 fellows in cohort 1 to the largest cohort we have had so far.
Later on in the year we had the fellows in Naivasha, Kenya for the onboarding intensive where the fellows had six days of intense learning and setting the foundation. In the intensive, the main focus was on setting the foundation for what would happen throughout the twelve months that the fellows are with us through the training. The intensive is a great opportunity for the fellows to learn about the foundational information on building an enterprise that will help them in becoming the great leaders they already are working towards becoming.
Alumni Program Launch
Well, with Cohort one graduation happening early on in the year and cohort two set to graduate next year, the main question was what happens next after graduation? After the graduation of cohort one, an Alumni Program was designed to provide ongoing support to entrepreneurs with lived experience of displacement after they graduate from the Amahoro Fellowship. This program is designed to offer continuous learning and development and prioritizes alumni well-being, providing mental health support, and wellness initiatives to address the unique challenges they face. The alumni program was launched this past month and a leadership team elected by the fellows allowing them to manage the affairs in line with the established pillars; quarterly engagement, opportunities and funding access, visibility, and strong governance.
Well, that is what we had this year from the fellowship team. I would like to say it has been a year of great progress, we have had three cohort transitions, with cohort one graduating and cohort three being onboarded and cohort two is now done with their twelve month program awaiting graduation.
I am eagerly awaiting what 2026 has in store for us.
