The Nolbed Program is dedicated to uplifting underprivileged communities by bridging the gap between their exceptionally-talented students and a quality education abroad. Our goal is to give candidates the opportunity to attend top-tier colleges in the world on full scholarship through our pre-college training program. Above all, our vision is to develop and groom ethical leaders with the knowledg
e and skills needed to positively reconstruct their lives and that of their communities. Target and Selection Process:
The program identifies underprivileged communities and targets their “High-Achieving-Low-Income” high school seniors and recent graduates. Our plan is to spend 2-3 years in each community to help develop a team of 20-30 students who will go through a carefully choreographed program that includes lectures, seminars, leadership training, and most importantly mentorship, with the ultimate goal of developing them into ethical leaders who would not only transform their lives but that of the communities they came from. To maintain quality and attract the right pool of candidates, a strict selection criterion, Nolbed’s Four-Phased process, helps ensure that the selected candidates meet our high standards. The process includes: Application & Essay review, test (similar to SAT), Series of Interviews, and Presentation on “Why you deserve to be selected.”
The Nolbed pre-college program is highly selective - we received 306 complete applications in 2016 and after implementing our Four-Phased process, only nine candidates were selected to the program. That’s less than 3% acceptance rate. Program Design:
At Nolbed we understand that learning by rote—a predominant pedagogical method of learning used in educational systems in most of Africa—is deficient in various ways. More importantly, it robs students of their ability to think critically and adapt to dynamic situations. Our program is committed to helping students learn quickly, adapt to a rigorously, fast-paced system and unleash their leadership potentials. We promote high expectations for success, forward thinking, and an attitude of “give-back” to their communities. The pre-college program lasts for a year and it is designed with a focus on the following four rigorous curriculums:
1. SAT Preparation: Begins June and lasts for 10 weeks. Candidates sit for the October SAT.
2. Leadership Development course: Beyond general intelligence and technical knowledge, individual and social skills separate the effective leader from the average manager. The ability to make sound decisions and manage teams effectively is crucial to leadership. This course helps students identify these critical skills in themselves, and provides ideas and tools for improving them. A central theme to this course is self-awareness: the goal is to help students think about their leadership behaviors—and other people’s perceptions of it — and then leverage this awareness to improve in areas that matter to them. Readings include “What Makes a Leader,” by Daniel Goleman; Lovallo and Kahneman’s “Delusions of success: How optimism undermines executive’ decisions,” Robert Cialdini’s “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion,” and Bernanke’s “Economics of Happiness,” among others. Duration: begins on the first Monday of July and ends in April.
3. Nolbed Community Development Project (CDP): Every year, the class is tasked with solving a challenging community problem. This year's project focuses on increasing utilization of a newly built 300-person capacity library that is yet to record 20 visitors since it was opened in March 2016. Their goal is to increase patronage to at least 50%, from 6.7%, by May 2017. Their proposal is currently under review and the implementation phase begins January 1st, 2017, after the application deadline.
4. Experiential Learning: We require at least 500 volunteer-hours per candidate from June to May. Through our partnerships with public and private entities, candidates have the opportunity to select, at least one activity to volunteer. Activity Involvement usually peaks after January 1st when college applications are sent. Finally, in line with our overarching vision, the Nolbed program extends beyond pre-college training. We continue to nurture these future leaders throughout their college and career lives, to ensure smooth transitions as they move along. Other program benefits include mentor-mentee pair-up, foster parent connection during college years, and help with finding internship and career opportunities. Beneficiaries of the program are formally introduced into networks of next-generation leaders dedicated to changing the socioeconomic progress across the African continent.
