About the Project
This project is one of the 2019 WISE Awards winners.
The Akilah Institute is an award-winning women’s college that prepares students to solve the world’s most pressing challenges through a lens of opportunity and sustainability. Since 2010, the institute has built a reputation for delivering high-quality, market-relevant education for women at its campus in Rwanda.
Context and Issue
Akilah’s unique model leverages technology, competency-based education, and personalized learning to offer a radically different academic experience that puts graduates on the fast track to success. Over the past ten years, we have implemented a number of critical innovations. We have accredited three diplomas with proprietary curriculum, built a technology platform to match students and graduates with career opportunities, designed a blended model that leverages adaptive learning tools, launched a professional development institute to train faculty in competency-based education and student-centered methodology, and most importantly, created an empowering and nurturing campus culture that celebrates creativity, innovation, and servant leadership.
Solution and Impact
- Over 900 students pursuing diplomas in Hospitality and Tourism Management, Information Systems, and Business and Entrepreneurship.
- Over 500 graduates earning, on average, 12 times the national median income.
- 90% of graduates launch their careers within six months of graduation.
- 80% of these young women are the first in their family to attend higher education, and more than 50% come from rural areas.
Future Developments
Now the institute is scaling its proven model globally by increasing enrollment and opening new campuses across Africa and Asia.
Akilah’s academic pillars (21st-century skills, personalized learning, innovation, ethical leadership, and sustainability) will serve as its guiding light during this phase of rapid expansion.
They define all of the institute’s programs. Akilah is committed to delivering a transformative learning experience that equips students with the knowledge and tools to balance vibrant economies with a healthy environment to create a future of abundance for all.