Who are we?

About Us

The Ubuntu Global Network (UGN) is an informal network of Ubuntu Leaders Academy (ULA) participants, with the aim of developing the values of servant leadership, ethics of care and bridge-building.

Gets its inspiration from world renowned persons of reference namely, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Gandhi and Malala.

UBUNTU LEADERS ACADEMY

Our Story

2010

First edition of the ULA
The first edition of the Ubuntu Leaders Academy was developed with the support of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation for 50 youths from Lisbon’s most vulnerable migrant communities.

2017

Ubuntu Social Incubator supports dozens of social entrepreneurship projects
ISU supports dozens of social entrepreneurship projects in Porto and Lisbon.

2018

Internationalization in Africa, Asia and Latin America
Process of internationalization and replication of the Ubuntu methodology, by training trainers and organizations.

2018

Organization of the Centenary Celebrations of the Birth of Nelson Mandela

2021

220 young people from 50 countries at ULA Africa and the Middle East
The ULA for Africa and the Middle- East received more than 900 applications for the first online edition in English.

2021

Capacity building project for 1 million Ubuntu leaders kicks off in South Africa
In partnership with MIET Africa, the implementation of a training program for 1 million young people in South African schools has started.

2021

600 participants from 190 countries at Ubuntu United Nations
After more than 4 000 applications, the Ubuntu United Nations project achieves the ambitious goal of bringing together youth leaders from 190 countries for an innovative platform to build peace dialogues.

2022

Ubuntu reaches 391 Schools
Across the country, the Ubuntu Schools project reaches a total of 391 schools.

kNOW MORE ABOUT US

What we do

Ubuntu Leaders Academy (ULA) is a non-formal education program aimed at developing social-emotional skills as well as helping give meaning and purpose to life. Inspired by a concept of education for interdependence – Ubuntu, “I can only be a person through other people.” The program strongly encourages participants to be the change they want to see in the world.

The Ubuntu Leaders Academy aims to develop the values of servant leadership, ethics of care and bridge-building in young people with high leadership potential from vulnerable contexts and who seek the common good of their communities.

ULA invites the participants on an inner journey that challenges the way they see themselves and relate to others, becoming able, as Gandhi said, “to fight for the change they want to see in the world, through the Ubuntu Method.

WORKING TOWARDS

Our Goals

With the goal of promoting reconciliation, building bridges and promoting human dignity, the project has the following objectives:

Promote dialogue between and within communities for the promotion of peace and construction of Justice, contributing to the development of more inclusive and resilient societies;

Empower young people as agents of transformation at the service of communities, promoting the integrated development of skills, with a focus on capacities for servant leadership;

Develop an ethics of care, focused on empathy, attention and responsibility, considering three dimensions: myself, me and the other, me and the world.