Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls

728 Words2 Pages

It all began during her visit with Nelson Mandela in December of 2000. She promised to build a high profile school for girls. Two years later (2002), Oprah teamed up with Nelson Mandela and (then) Minister of Education, Professor Kader Asmai to “Build a Dream.”
Build a Dream is Oprah’s slogan. She began her stardom through the power of the media, and became the top rated, award-wining host of her own show, “The Oprah Show,” where she made special connections over 25 years with her audience. Her success as a global media leader and philanthropist have established her the most admired and respected pubic figures today.
Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls is a boarding school, and was founded in January 2007, located in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was designed to help females that are “disadvantaged girls from deprived background.” Oprah’s main goal for the academy was to mentor academically these disadvantage females, and to help them unlock hidden talents to make a difference in their lives.
The $40 million Leadership Academy is equipped with a state-of-the-art library that was worth about $75,000! Notably the school has a 28 building complex which includes, computers and science labs, classrooms, dorms, wellness center, a hair salon, and a theater, all built on a 52 acre campus. It will enable unprivileged girls, grades 7 through 12. However, only 152 girls can be seated and were selected, but the school received over three thousand applications. According to New York: Amsterdam News, going through 3,000 applications, Oprah soon realized making a choice was not going to be an easy task. 484 students were asked back for academic and leadership skills testing. Oprah organized over 200 interviews, during which the TV...

... middle of paper ...

...ld give every girl at the Academy financial assistance in her first year of tertiary education. Mainly with this event, Oprah wanted to share the manifestation of her dream: that when you invest in the education of a girl you invest in a nation. In addition, graduating senior, Sadé Pietersen gave an emotional speech about her experience at the Academy and where she see herself in the years to come.
Now in 2013, Oprah Winfrey’s Leadership Academy, has open more opportunities than ever! They visited Michelle Obama in the white house, went to Yale University Spizzwinks, and has been on American tours. Latest rumors is that Oprah wants to co-education school in South Africa too. This is not Oprah only work, definitely not! She has donated millions of dollars to: Peace over Violence, Free the Children, the Clinton Foundation, Worldwide Orphans Foundation, and many more.

Open Document