December 2025 Stakeholder Update

Dear Stakeholder

As 2025 draws to a close, we once again celebrate a year of growth, impact, and connection across the Mandela Rhodes community. From the selection of the Class of 2026 to amplifying African voices through thought leadership, to alumni initiatives and global platforms, this update reflects our continued shared commitment to nurturing ethical, values-driven leaders for Africa’s future, embodying Nelson Mandela’s legacy.

Programme news

Meet the Class of 2026

The Mandela Rhodes Foundation is proud to announce the Class of 2026! This year, 45 outstanding young leaders join our community, representing 16 African countries - including for the very first time Benin. Their postgraduate studies will span universities across South Africa, reflecting the rich academic diversity that continues to define the programme.

To date, The Mandela Rhodes Foundation has supported nearly 780 exceptional young Africans from 38 countries across the continent - all committed to using their gifts in service of Africa’s future.

Click here for more on the Mandela Rhodes Scholars Class of 2026.

The class of 2026

Stakeholder relations

The MRF is proud to have recently hosted a fellowships forum in Cape Town. CEOs, staff and alumni from several prestigious fellowships from around the world gathered under the compelling, critical and timeous theme “Leading in a polarised world”.

At a moment when the world is grappling with widening disparities, growing inequities, and deepening mistrust, this theme could not be more urgent. Drawing on Nelson Mandela’s legacy of dialogue, inclusivity, and the search for the “third way,” delegates explored what it means to lead with compassion, adaptability, and moral clarity in an increasingly fragmented world. The African philosophy of Ubuntu - the understanding that our humanity is bound together - offered both an anchor and a guiding light throughout the conversations.

A standout moment was the powerful contribution from global humanitarian icon Mrs Graça Machel. Her input brought the forum’s theme to life, illuminating the courage and empathy required to hold complexity without losing sight of our shared humanity. Mrs Machel’s presence underscored just how essential it is for leaders to model humility, curiosity, and a commitment to justice, especially in times of extreme polarisation.

Mrs Graça Machel and MRF CEO Judy Sikuza in conversation.

The Mandela Rhodes Foundation is proud to announce that CEO Judy Sikuza has been invited to attend the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos in January 2026.

Judy serves as Co-Chair of the WEF’s Global Future Council on Leadership for the 2025–2026 term. The Council on Leadership is one of 37 thematic think tanks that make up the WEF’s Global Future Councils network, convening more than 700 experts from academia, business, government, and civil society. As Co-Chair, Judy has been helping to guide the Council’s work alongside Professor Thomas Roulet of Cambridge University, including the development of a white paper for strengthening global leadership, set to debut at Davos.

Judy’s invitation to Davos is a recognition of her leadership within the Council and her ability to bring an African, values-driven perspective into global discourse. For The Mandela Rhodes Foundation, this creates a significant opportunity to open pathways for greater collaboration and influence in shaping the future of leadership worldwide.

The WEF Global Future Council on Leadership task team. From left to right: Marie Sophie Müller, Manager of the Global Future Council on Leadership; Thomas Roulet, Professor of Organisational Sociology, University of Cambridge (Co-Chair); Judy Sikuza (Co-Chair) and Ida Jeng Christensen, Head of the Forum of Young Global Leaders, World Economic Forum.

Alumni relations

Online alumni coaching pilot

Following alumni requests for continued coaching around mental health, wellbeing, and career development, the Foundation piloted its first online alumni group coaching session in October. With attendance from cohorts spanning 2012 – 2024, the session focused on wellbeing and resilience in leadership, using the Window of Tolerance framework to explore self-regulation, energy management, and healthy boundaries.

This platform offers an opportunity to strengthen professional networks, foster intergenerational community, and provide additional opportunity for alumni to remain connected to the MRF. Quarterly coaching sessions are planned for 2026 as the pilot is refined for long-term sustainability.

Thought leadership

The Mandela Rhodes Foundation Podcast continues to bring powerful conversations with African leaders who are redefining what leadership means today. Each episode dives into stories of resilience, innovation, and purpose - offering insights on how values-driven leadership can spark transformation across communities and industries.

The October episode featured South African-born Dr Shehnaaz Suliman, tracing her journey from an anti-apartheid activist to a biotech leader in Silicon Valley. Guided by Madiba’s call to serve, Shehnaaz reflects on courage, equitable HIV access, and leading with empathy - showing how adversity can be a superpower and African leadership can redefine global health. Listen to podcast episode 6 here.

The seventh episode broadcast in late November featured Ghanaian entrepreneur, investor, author and CEO of CarePoint Dr Sangu Delle. This episode blends big-picture thinking with some intimate truths. Sangu makes a compelling case for African economic liberation while also confronting old cultural expectations on men's mental health. Listen to podcast episode 7 here.

You can listen to all Mandela Rhodes Foundation Podcast episodes on our website, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or Spotify.

MRF podcast episodes 6 and 7.

In October the MRF was invited to contribute to The BRICS & The Global South Magazine: Special G20 Edition 2025 - a prestigious, policy-driven publication curated by the BRICS+ Consulting Group catering to professionals, academics, and policymakers involved in international relations, economics, and development from the perspective of emerging economies.

In the opinion editorial, the MRF outlines how Africa’s future depends on nurturing a new generation of leaders who embody integrity, innovation, resilience, and a global outlook. Drawing on Nelson Mandela’s legacy, the article argues that leadership must transcend national, linguistic, and generational divides to build bridges in an increasingly multipolar world.

Central to the piece is the Foundation’s model - combining postgraduate education with intensive leadership development, equipping Scholars to grow not just academically but as empathetic, ethical changemakers, to become the kind of leaders Madiba envisaged for Africa.

Read the full article here (page 70) as featured in The Global South Magazine: Special G20 Edition 2025.

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Staff

Welcome to Andrea Slater

After a rigorous external recruitment process, we are delighted to announce that in January 2026, Andrea Slater will join the Foundation as the External Relations Manager. In this role, Andrea will assist in delivering on the Foundation’s brand, communications, Pan-African outreach, thought leadership and alumni relations objectives.

Andrea is an experienced communications and marketing professional who brings clarity, creativity, and heart to every brand that she is part of. With over 15 years in PR, marketing and stakeholder engagement, she is passionate about people, building trusted relationships, sharing impactful stories and creating meaningful change.

Andrea Slater.

Wishing you and your loved ones a happy, safe and blessed festive season. See you in 2026!

The Mandela Rhodes Foundation