The American Leaders Class (ALC)

Brief History

The American Leaders Class (ALC), is an initiative that began in 2021. The academy came into existence at a time when the world was going through the global pandemic of COVID. The educational system was worldwide impacted and even more so not prepared for such magnitude of adversity. Most developed countries had been known to prepare for natural disasters and all other know global disasters but this one was different as it shook the core of every known system. At the same time, it was an era that the global world experiences an increased use of technology to jump-start and start moving their economies and avert complete collapse.

Globally, in the less developed countries, the educational system was completely paralyzed. These less developed countries which were ill-prepared for such or any and like this enormous disaster had no alternative but to come to a complete stop. In Uganda, as an example, the educational systems were closed for two years and during this time there was an increase of teenage pregnancies and all criminal abuses due to idleness. So, it’s at this time that the founders of the American Leaders Class conceived an idea of finding away to provide education globally especially to the less developed countries using the technology available at the time, zoom. At the same time, the founders had to identify the particular area of focus which was Leadership.

Impacting the knowledge in leadership was and is the foundational focus for this ALC initiative and is pivotal in bridging that gap that most less developing counties have in addition to having no and limited access to resources. At the same time, being a conduit to exchange knowledge and experiences by interaction and exposure of the students and faculty in the United States and globally and African students and faculty.

The intended goal or the end result is using the knowledge and experience attained to develop and replicate themselves by training others and using those skills in their domain of leadership. With the main focus and objective established, next was how to implement the program with the vision and mission in mind and led to reaching out and collaborations to make this work as envisioned.

ALC works in collaboration with different universities and colleges which include but not limited to Utah Valley University, California State University, Northridge and Ndejje University, Uganda. The assistance which includes faculty/students volunteering their time to teach or assist in lectures, using zoom, computers and accessories, t-shirts etc. In addition, we have guest lecturers also volunteering their time to teach.

The program offers practical leadership course through sessions that encourage the most desired skills of nurturing leadership. The students complete a series of abridged activities that include virtual classes, practical projects, teamwork and cumulative weekly assignments. The lectures are delivered by ALC faculty from the different collaborating universities and guest speakers and assisted by volunteering students from California State University, Northridge.