Do you know any amazing young South Africans? Support them to apply for the Activate! Leadership and Public Innovation programme!

The goal of the Activate! Leadership and Public Innovation programme is to spark public innovation by charging up a network of young leaders so that they can link the poles of South African society. The programme will, over a five-year period, connect at least 1,000 innovative young leaders predominantly from marginalized communities to one another and to points of influence and opportunity across social and economic divides. They will be selected on the basis of their proven commitment to the public good, and their abilities will be developed and directed to some of the toughest social problems faced by their communities.

The premise of this initiative is that new connections to information, opportunity and influence can be a powerful catalyst for innovation in highly polarised societies. If directed to the public good, these connections can strengthen development and democracy by building trust and accountability and making people less tolerant of destructive risk. By creating a public profile for the network of these young leaders, they will be able to participate in and help to substantively shape our national discourse.

We are looking for an initial cohort of 250 young people between 20-29 years old to participate in the Activate! programme in 2012. We’re looking for young people who have vision, who are determined, motivated and passionate to make a positive difference in South Africa and to take up the challenge of driving public innovation.

All the information about the programme and application process is available on the website www.activateleadership.co.za. You can also engage with the programme on its facebook page: www.facebook.com/activateleadership or follow it on twitter at @ActivateZA.