ALU Rwanda Asante Sana 2021 Address

Dear Everyone

I am honored to join you in this moment of Celebration on the eve of the 2021 graduation at African Leadership College. Celebrations are all about Gratitude and at ALC the ritual of Asante Sana recognizes the parents and loved ones who have supported our students throughout their lives and more especially through their ALU experience.

Graduations are always heartfelt and emotional, at least for me. They are the culmination of a lot of hard work by many people that includes not just family, but also other well-wishers, and in this case, not to forget our faculty and staff, our GCU partners and the entire college community. Today, as we look upon the graduates of only the third ALC class, for them and on behalf of them I say Thank You to all who made their achievements possible. You have set in motion a powerful force of the human spirit. This is not the finale of their accomplishments. Rather, it is the end of the beginning of their lives of impact.

Students – I hope you had a memorable journey at ALC – one in which you found yourselves as much as you found others, as you found the world, and as you found your Mission. One of the highlights of my life was being a part of your journey over the last 2 years. I will always treasure our moments together. We talked, shared, dreamed, debated, discussed and sometimes we cried together. Each moment was inspirational. Each moment was special. Not everyone gets to see consequential leaders in the making. I feel fortunate.

You will always be a special generation – You helped pioneer ALC, a place defined not by its perfection but by its ambition. You are the cohort that was disrupted by COVID-19 in a year when the world ran amok, but not diminished by any of it. You learned difficult lessons that Change happens and that it is not always within our control, but how we manage through it is within our choice. One of the lessons I want you to take away from your ALC experience is not just that you must become adept and able to weather through change but that you must forever embrace your role to create change yourself. If there is one thing that the last few years has taught us, it is that the world needs positive change. Africa needs positive change. Your ALC experience has equipped you to be someone who will define new possibilities..

But in my own observations, I have found that to achieve the highest levels of impact and success in life, you need more than a world class education, or the ability to start a company, or to possess astute managerial or professional skills. I have seen far too many people fail even with these qualities. The virtue you need most of all is Courage. I define courage as the ability to do what is right in service of others or an ideal, even if it comes at a personal cost to you. The courage to dream, to act, to be different, to be humble, to be alone, to be the only, to be fair, to be selfless, to be ethical, to speak truth to power, to be yourself, to be authentic – the courage to do all these things and more is what will ultimately pay off what you have started at ALC, and what your family and communities have invested in you.

As individuals you have names like Amara and Kena, Ellen and Zibusiso, Deborah and Njeri - that represent the hope that your parents have in your destiny. To this you now add the badge of college graduate – ALC graduate – that represents wind to your sails of conviction and ambition. Now it is your turn to make claim to the Courage that will allow you to unlock a life of consequence and reach your potential, with the wisdom that you have captured in your personal mission statements.

None of this is easy, but none of this is beyond your capacity either. The same capacity that made you make a choice in ALC and allowed you to thrive through its rigor and persevere over that last 12 months. I will never forget the chatter of your voices in the halls of the campus or your talents often lifted up in song. We will not cease to cheer the march of your footsteps as you realize your dreams and that of the continent. At ALC your family of supporters multiplied

I am humbled by the opportunity to celebrate with you and the ALC community and to have been part of your change journey. I looked forward to the leadership that you will provide Africa in all that do, and the consequence that you will have through the diligent practice of your courage.

Asante Sana