The saying goes that a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. I believe though, that the first step is merely the outward expression of a journey that starts before the step is taken. I would modify the saying to “a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first dream”.
GROW¡, a mentorship and coaching program for leaders started long before we even had a name for it. It started with the visioning process for CivSource Africa.
As we thought about the kind of organization we wanted to be, the types of services we wanted to offer, and the footprint we wanted to leave, we were clear that we wanted to contribute to building the strength of leaders in Africa.
Being a new organization and suffering our fair share of missteps, our hearts empathized with young leaders (those biologically young, and those leaders stepping into their roles for the first fine). That’s how GROW¡ formed in our hearts and minds.
Fast forward to today, we are glad to present you these stories from the first GROW¡ cohort (class of 2021). We applaud the GROWers for investing in themselves. We applaud them for their desire to grow.
We applaud them for stepping up despite the despair of the COVID-19 pandemic, in spite of the zoom fatigue and even despite the anxiety that meeting physically in these times can bring.
They showed up. And they grew.
Of course their growth journey is not over yet. The GROW¡ program was a pit stop along this journey. We wish them utmost success and flourishing as they go on to become better and stronger leaders.
We appreciate all who journeyed with the inaugural GROW¡ cohort. We thank the International Coaching Federation, Uganda chapter (ICF-U) for partnering with us and offering coaches for the GROWers. We appreciate Imprint Uganda Limited that offered their time and skill and pointed us to the psychometric test that all the GROWers did. They even taught the coaches how to help the GROW¡ participants interpret and work with the test results as part of the growth journey.
We appreciate all who facilitated the GROW¡ modules. They each brought their A Game. Many thanks to Dr. Lydia Mpanga, Dr. Eunice Adubango, Patsy Mugabi, Alfred Agaba, Coach Samuel Bakutana and Ms Belinda Namutebi. Thank you for sharing your time, your knowledge, your skill and your vast experience. We are all the richer for it.
Many thanks to the team behind the scenes - Allen Asiimwe the Associate Support of our Mopane Leadership Program; Treasure Layola the Executive Assistant, Sandra Birungi, th welfare manager and Ednah Namugere our Communication Associate. Many thanks to Penelope Sanyu who contributed to the visioning of GROW¡. All these people worked tirelessly to make GROW¡ happen.
We thank Ms Denise Kekimuri who helped to document the GROW stories. We thank NZE Eve who documented GROW¡ through photography. We thank Stuart Nsingwire for the design work for GROW¡.
Thank you all who were part of GROW¡ 1. It truly takes a village not only to raise a child, but to GROW¡ a leader.
Jacqueline Asiimwe
CEO, CivSource Africa