File: Founder of The Discovery Centre, Mfon Ekpo Founder of The Discovery Centre, Mfon Ekpo, has been announced as a member of the 2026 faculty for the Elevate Africa Fellowship, a pan-African leadership programme bringing together mid-career leaders from across the continent.
In a statement on Tuesday, it was stated that the 2026 Fellowship will take place in Kigali, Rwanda, in May and will host 23 selected fellows from 18 African countries for an immersive leadership experience focused on systems change, collaboration, and African-led development.
The Elevate Africa Fellowship was established to address what organisers describe as a critical gap in African development: the need for stronger support, visibility, and connection among mid-career leaders already driving measurable impact across sectors. At the core of the programme is the belief that Africa’s transformation will not be achieved through isolated efforts, but through connected leaders capable of influencing systems, building partnerships, and reshaping Africa’s global narrative through African-led leadership and storytelling.
Over the past two decades, Mfon Ekpo has worked with emerging and established leaders across Africa, Europe, North America, and Central America, supporting individuals and institutions in leadership development, transformation, identity, and execution. This has been delivered largely through her decade-old, award-winning annual leadership and transformation conference, The Blueprint of How.
She was part of the inaugural class of the Mandela Washington Fellowship under President Barack Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) and was later appointed Goodwill Ambassador and Honorary Citizen of the State of Arkansas in the United States. Related News Pan-African initiative targets safer, inclusive AI systems Ebola: US warns citizens against travel to Congo, two others Rwanda school trains African students in leadership, governance Through the Discovery Centre, Ekpo has trained thousands of professionals, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and changemakers in behavioural intelligence, leadership clarity, and sustainable personal transformation.
Her work sits at the intersection of leadership, psychology, narrative, and execution, helping leaders move from aspiration to measurable impact. In 2025, she became the first recipient of the Outstanding Contribution Alumni Award from the University of Southampton, breaking a 163-year precedent at one of the United Kingdom’s oldest academic institutions.
The honour recognised her contributions to female empowerment, organisational leadership, and sustained social impact. Her flagship programme, The Blueprint of How, now in its 10th year, was also shortlisted for the British Council Awards for Social Impact in Nigeria, in recognition of its socio-economic impact in helping individuals across Africa translate ideas into sustainable, impact-driven initiatives and businesses.
This May, Mfon Ekpo joins a tradition of African leadership voices contributing to the Elevate Africa Fellowship’s faculty and learning experience. Past faculty members have included Ogiame Atuwatse III, CFR, His Royal Majesty of Warri Kingdom; Olori Atuwatse III, Her Royal Majesty of Warri Kingdom; Prof.
Yemi Osinbajo, former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; Dr Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, former President of Mauritius; Vusi Thembekwayo; and Veda Sunassee, CEO of the African Leadership University (ALU), among others. Ekpo’s inclusion reflects her growing influence in leadership development, behavioural transformation, human-centred design in leadership, and systems thinking across Africa and globally.
At the core of the programme is the belief that Africa’s transformation will not be achieved through isolated efforts, but through connected leaders capable of influencing systems, building partnerships, and reshaping Africa’s global narrative through African-led leadership and storytelling.