Freetown Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr was last week recognised by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship as an “Outstanding Public Social Intrapreneur of the Year 2023”, a sister organisation of the World Economic Forum and a leading global platform that promotes social innovation.
As a Schwab Foundation Awardee, Aki-Sawyerr was invited to attend the “Leadership For System Change: Delivering Social Impact At Scale” Executive Programme at the Harvard Kennedy School, along with 25 other Schwab Foundation awardees from all over the world.
The intensive weeklong programme started on Sunday 17th March and ended yesterday, Saturday 23rd March.
Speaking about her experience on the programme, Mayor Aki-Sawyerr said: “I have been back in full-time school; attending classroom lectures and group activities, doing assignments and reading case studies every day! It has been deeply inspiring and informative and a very worthwhile experience.
“I am grateful that the Schwab Foundation gave me the opportunity to nominate a colleague to accompany me on the course. I nominated Chief Administrator Raman Tom Farmar and it has been great to go through the course as a team.
“We have been able to reflect on and evaluate various work challenges and to think creatively about how we can put what we are learning at Harvard into practice at FCC for the benefit of Freetown and Freetonians. I am committed to that implementation as we return home and continue our collective journey to transform Freetown.”
