Equity Group Foundation Kicks Off Its 16th Annual Education And Leadership Congress For 18,442 Wings To Fly And Elimu Scholars

Equity Group Foundation (EGF) is hosting its 16th Annual Education and Leadership Congress for 18,442 Wings to Fly and Elimu scholars in 11 regions across the country during the April school holidays, including 2,512 refugee scholars from Dadaab and Kakuma.

Held under the theme “The Innovation Generation: Igniting Ideas, Creating Impact,” the two-day regional congress empowers scholars through mentorship, leadership development, and social transformation. The program is implemented by Equity Group Foundation in partnership with Mastercard Foundation, the Ministry of Education, the World Bank, the German Government (KfW), Equity Bank, and other stakeholders.

Equity Group Foundation and Equity Bank Management and staff will be joined by representatives from the Ministry of Education, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Department of Refugee Services (DRS), Board Selection and Scholarship Committee Members, Captains of Industry, academia, and teacher champions from Kenya and around the world.

3,200 scholars from 7 counties who are currently pursuing their secondary education on full scholarships attended the Nairobi congress, supported by 65 Equity Bank branches.

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The Wings to Fly and Elimu scholarship programs provide comprehensive secondary school scholarships for bright and needy students across the country. To date, Equity Group Foundation, under the Wings to Fly scholarship program and the Elimu Scholarship Program, has 60,009 scholars who have benefited from Equity Group Foundation’s comprehensive secondary school scholarship programs.

The Congress is tailored to empower the scholars in the five key pillars that form the basis of the program. These include academic excellence, value-centered living, transformative leadership, giving back to society, and gender sensitization.

The scholars will engage with top corporate and business captains, government officials, religious leaders, members of academia, teachers, and other scholars in interactive plenary sessions aimed at challenging them to be creative and innovative in driving change within their homes, schools, and communities.

The Congress theme will focus on empowering scholars to develop their future visions while cultivating scholarly excellence, ethical leadership, and essential innovation skills. Through dynamic programming, participants will gain invaluable insights from pioneering industry leaders, master critical thinking and creative problem-solving techniques, build the resilience needed to turn aspirations into action, and develop a maker mindset to become architects of their futures.

Speaking while addressing the scholars, Virginia Gitonga, the Principal of Alliance Girls’ High School, said, “Equity Group Foundation’s mentorship model is transformative; it doesn’t just prepare students for careers but cultivates critical thinking, adaptability, and leadership needed to solve Africa’s most pressing challenges. By pairing academic excellence with real-world problem-solving, EGF is developing a generation of solution-driven leaders who will drive sustainable progress across our communities.”

Speaking during the Congress, Equity Group Foundation Executive Chairman Dr. James Mwangi said, “We are cultivating more than scholars – we are developing a movement of purpose-driven leaders who will redefine Kenya’s future. Our unique model intertwines world-class education, transformative mentorship, and strong ethical values to create true agents of change. This congress represents the power of our holistic approach: where scholarships meet leadership development, where potential meets opportunity, and where today’s students become tomorrow’s innovators.

These young leaders are already beginning to transform their communities, and their impact will only grow as we continue to invest in their potential. Our work here directly contributes to both Kenya’s Vision 2030 ambitions and the global Sustainable Development Goals – because we understand that quality education isn’t just about individual success but about building a better future for all.”

The experience is designed to transform how scholars approach daily decisions, equipping them to generate meaningful change in their academic journeys, personal growth, and community impact.

Under the EGF innovation pillar, the Tech Apprenticeship Program has provided hands-on experience to 415 Wings to Fly alumni and Equity Leaders Program (ELP) scholars, immersing them in cutting-edge fields such as HealthTech, AgTech, InsurTech, and LegalTech. Participants also had the opportunity to be mentored by global tech leaders, including Microsoft, Cisco, and AWS. Additionally, the Equity Leaders Program continues to make a significant impact with 113 ELP scholars this year receiving full scholarships for university education at top global universities. Over 970 global scholars have benefited from the program, attending 233 universities across 37 countries and six continents, with 204 of them studying at Ivy League institutions. The program has recently welcomed a new cohort of 750 scholars into its pre-university internship program, bringing the total number of ELP scholars to 29,515. Cumulatively, the program has facilitated 9,700 paid internships and supported 3,979 TVET scholars, further contributing to the development of human capital in the region.

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