Westminster Student Addresses MasterCard Foundation Scholars

Westminster College is proud to count eight exceptional MasterCard Foundation Scholars among our student body. At the special invitation of The MasterCard Foundation, Paul Kut Kelei, ’16, one of the Foundation’s scholars from the Republic of South Sudan, spoke at the Foundation’s event Global Partner Convening held in Washington, D.C. on June 25-27, 2013.  Fifty representatives from the 15 Scholar Program partner college institutions involved in the program met to discuss key elements of the Program and ensure all partners understand how the Program’s impact will be measured.

Kelei addressed the group along with some Washington D.C. based leadership in development and education and some other Foundation partners on his personal and educational journey at Westminster and how he is working toward change in his home country.

Then at a luncheon the next day, he gave his thoughts to the Foundation partners on what has helped him develop as a leader, what advice he has for other partners regarding the development of leaders, and what he believes is meant by “go back and give back.”

Read more about Kelei and his cause on his Huffington Post blog.

Westminster has seven other MasterCard Foundation Scholars on campus:

Ali Guuleed, ’17, from Somalialand

Mustafe Elmi, ’17, from Somalialand

Abdul Kamara, ’17, from Sierra Leone

Mahoro Ndimbanzi, ’17, from the Democratic Republic of Congo

Gloria Faraja William, ’17 , from Tanzania

Steven Sakayroun, ’16, from the Republic of Central Africa & Senegal

Joseph Munyambanza, ’15, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Joseph was awarded the Global Citizen Award at the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting in the fall of 2013. Read more about this prestigious award here and check out this video to hear Joseph share his story.

The MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program is a $500 million, 10-year initiative to educate and prepare young people-particularly from African-to lead change and make a positive social impact in their communities.  The Program provides young people from socially disadvantaged communities who have demonstrated academic talent and leadership potential with access to quality and relevant education.  The mission of The MasterCard Foundation is to develop a cohort of next-generation leaders who are committed to giving back to their communities.