ALU School of Wildlife Conservation — Building Leaders in Conservation

The School of Wildlife Conservation was founded in 2016 on the belief that to truly improve wildlife conservation in Africa:

It must be owned and driven by Africans;

We believe that unless African communities feel ownership of wildlife and the natural environment, they will have little incentive to conserve it.

We must focus on benefiting people,

not just nature: conservation cannot simply be a luxury ‘for nature’s sake’. We need to redefine nature as a great pillar of economic growth for Africa.

Leadership & management skills, more essential than ever

Conservation issues today are less about conservation biology & ecology and more about politics, power, and economics – requiring dynamic, ethical and effective leaders.

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Our Objectives

Enhance emerging leaders

By equipping current leaders in the conservation sector with business, leadership, and management skills to have immediate impact in their organisations and communities.

Develop next generation of conservation leaders

We’re raising a generation of ethical entrepreneurial leaders across sectors with a passion for conservation.

Influence decision and policy makers

Engaging leaders across sectors to break down silos, foster meaningful connections, and develop unique partnerships towards sustainable conservation that benefits nature, people, and the economy.

Our Programmes

MBA

Enhancing the management and leadership skills of rising conservation leaders

The MBA for Conservation Leaders combines world-class business education with cutting-edge training in leadership and conservation management. It prepares mid-career conservation leaders for the next stage of their careers.

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Middle Manager Training

Turning conservation managers into high impact leaders

Run by our sister organisation, ALX, the Xcelerator programme develops key mindsets and behaviors which form the four foundations of impactful leadership in outstanding managers.

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Undergraduate Degree

Developing the next generation of conservation leaders

We attract Africa’s most talented future leaders and equip them with the tools and real-world experience to shape Africa’s wildlife destiny in the coming decades.

We offer an individually tailored undergraduate program, a BA in Global Challenges with a specialization in conservation, to empower students to drive innovative solutions to Africa’s conservation challenges.

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The Business of Conservation Conference

Breaking down the silos in conservation

We convene a wide array of stakeholders to promote best practices, strengthen networks, and collectively tackle the challenges of conservation. The first of these was the 2018 Business of Conservation Conference which hosted 300 leaders from conservation, ecotourism, politics, conservation philanthropy and investors. See highlights from BCC2018. Register your interest in BCC2019 by sending an email to businessofconservation@alueducation.com.

View last year’s agenda

View last year’s impact report

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Our Impact

Next generation leaders for conservation:

71

Emerging Conservation leaders:

70

Countries:

21

Decision and policy makers at BCC2018 and BCC2019

624

Scholarships money:

$ 1,582,000

Testimonials

Who we are

Our Advisors

A diverse group of distinguished professionals serve as our advisors.

Helen Gichohi

Former President of African Wildlife Foundation and past board member of Kenya Wildlife Service

Peter Fearnhead

CEO of African Parks

David Macdonald (Prof.)

Founder & Director of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) at Oxford University

Kaddu Sebunya

President of the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF)

Mark Read

Former Board Chair of WWF SA

Mark B. Childress

Former United States Ambassador to Tanzania

Richard Vigne

CEO of Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya

Phillip Ihenacho

Board member of Tusk International and the Nature Conservancy (Africa council)

Jon Cummings

Board member of African Parks

Our Experts

Prominent executive level professionals, researchers, and practitioners serve as guest faculty, speakers, and subject matter experts.

Benedicta Selassie Amenyo

Stakeholder and Communications Project Manager

Nehemie Yesashimwe

Academic Operations Associate

Diane Skinner

Environmental and Wildlife Consultant

Elaine (Lan Yin) Hsiao

Interdisciplinary Legal Scholar

Francis Vorhies (Dr)

Academic Director

David MacDonald (Prof.)

Professor of Wildlife Conservation and Director of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit

Rachel Kiwanuka

Musician, Dancer, Radio producer,Tv Presenter

Elizabeth Gitari

Part-time Faculty

Antony Frost

CEO of Sirocco Strategy Management

Ravi Nunkoo

Multi-cultural & influential Environmentalist with Interdisciplinary experience in Nature Conservation

Moreangels Mbizah

Wildlife Conservationist and Ecological Consultant

Maria Ivanova

Associate Professor of Global Governance, Director Center for Governance and Sustainability

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African Leadership University

ALUSB Students ALU is reimagining university education at a scale and quality that has never been done before. By leveraging unconventional learning methods, technology, and a nurturing a bias towards problem-solving among its students, ALU is developing purpose-driven leaders who will utilize their talents, networks, and skills to address some of Africa’s—and indeed the world’s—toughest challenges.

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Seed Donor

The late Jennifer Oppenheimer

Jennifer Ward Oppenheimer

A seed funder for African Leadership University, the late Jennifer (Fern) W. Oppenheimer was instrumental in the establishment of the pan-African university in 2013. Three years later–in mid 2016–Jennifer approached the University’s founder, Fred Swaniker, with an idea to create a new generation of African leaders who would lead efforts to safeguard Africa’s natural resources and wildlife. Her vision, shared by ALU, was to ensure that Africa’s wildlife becomes a truly valuable ‘asset’ that is enjoyed by Africans and the world, and that contributes to the sustainable development of Africa. Jennifer subsequently provided seed funding to enable the establishment of the ALU School of Wildlife Conservation.