Nosimo Ndamane goes to One Young World Summit- Colombia

Dear Sir/Madam

RE: Application for One Young World Summit Sponsorship- Colombia (Bogota).

My name is Nosimo Ndamane and I am a concept catalyst and developer in the African Millennium. My intrinsic mandate is to utilize my skill sets in empowering the marginalized and less privileged in our society. I have a keen interest in Entrepreneurship, Social Development and Inclusive Education. Currently a final year student, pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce degree (Triple major) in: Information Systems, Economics and Financial Management at Rhodes University.

I have been selected as a suitable representative of my country (South Africa) for the One Young World Summit 2017, taking place from 4 to 7 October in Bogotá, Colombia.

One Young World is a charity that stages an annual Summit, which gathers together the brightest young people from around the world, empowering them to make lasting connections to create positive change. The 2016 Summit in Ottawa welcomed 1,300 delegates aged between 18 and 30 from 196 countries. Unlike any other event, the Summit gives young people the kind of media platform and forum ordinarily afforded only to the leaders of nations and corporations.

Delegates are selected to attend the upcoming Summit on the basis of their capacity for leadership, concern about global issues, ability to generate and articulate impactful ideas, teamwork and evidenced commitment to volunteering or other extracurricular activities.

At the Summit, the most valuable young talent from global and national companies, NGOs, universities and other forward-thinking organisations are joined by world leaders; the One Young World Counsellors. Previous Counsellors have included President Bill Clinton, Nobel laureate Kofi Annan, Sir Bob Geldof, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Sir Richard Branson, Arianna Huffington, Emma Watson, Justin Trudeau, Jamie Oliver, Fatima Bhutto, Unilever CEO Paul Polman and Mary Robinson.

Delegates debate, formulate and share innovative solutions for the pressing issues the world faces. Following each Summit the attending delegates become One Young World Ambassadors and are charged to work on their own initiatives or lend the power of the One Young World network to those already in existence. Ambassadors have gone on to have an impact on issues ranging from education, global business, health, human rights, sustainable development and transparency.

Nosimo Ndamane: Honours and Awards

In 2014, I was selected by KPMG to work on their summer internship programme.

The intermediate vacation work programme is aimed at students who have been through KPMG’s entry-level programme already. The first two days on this vac work programme are spent in training where students learn the basics of practical auditing and get to know more about KPMG as a firm. Students then work with an Audit team at a client, doing real audit work and gaining some exposure to auditing in the field and the team dynamics in a real working environment.

In 2015, I was a finalist in the Unilever Africa Idea Trophy competition. Unilever Africa Idea Trophy is a student business competition for penultimate year University students across Africa. Designed and created to improve youth employability, it provides students with the opportunity to work on real-life business challenges in a creative and dynamic work environment. As well as access to world-class training from Unilever’s renowned leaders and work on some of Africa’s most beloved brands.

Post the competition, I was selected to be a Unilever brand ambassador for the 2016-2017 tenure. Unilever Campus Brand Ambassadors are appointed by Unilever (SA) and are required to: Work closely with Unilever Employer brand team, Host and organize events to bring awareness to the Unilever brand, Attend Unilever events as a Unilever representative, Help Unilever to better understand your campus culture, Build relationships on campus with faculty and student groups and Spread Unilever goodwill to your fellow students.

In 2016, I was selected by Standard Bank (SA) to be one of the students on their Summer Programme. Performing penultimate students from across South Africa are selected to attend the Standard Bank (SA) Summer Programme. The programme is designed to introduce banking concepts through banking simulation activities.

I also served on the Junior City Council of Port Elizabeth as Head of Youth Development. The Junior City Council of Port Elizabeth is a non-profit organization where young, elected leaders attend regular meetings (more or less twice a month) to discuss the key issues that face the youth and the community of Port Elizabeth. It is a great opportunity for young scholars to develop their leadership skills and their professionalism. The Junior City Council works hard to raise money for those less privileged by organizing and holding charity events. The organization strives to uplift and better the community. The Junior City council forges relationships with various companies and schools to fund the council’s events. It is an independent body, hosted by the Lions Club of Port Elizabeth, and has been in operation since 1957. I was awarded a certificate for exemplary leadership for projects that I implemented under my portfolio.

I currently serve as a volunteer at Ulwazi Outreach (Rhodes University Community Engagement Centre) where we teach children from Fikizolo Primary School basic computer literacy skills. Ulwazi is an initiative that was born out of a need for the Department of Information Systems to engage with the community at large. The aim of Ulwazi is to make a positive impact in the Grahamstown community in conjunction with students who have an active interest in making a difference. A variety of projects that have the community at heart will be undertaken and seen through to completion.

There is no questioning that technology has taken the world by storm. We would like to see an environment that vigorously attempts to keep afloat in the tide of technology. The Ulwazi initiative aims to realise ways in which to assist the community from a technological perspective. Ultimately Ulwazi Outreach would like to yield a new breed of Grahamstown community which is empowered through the transferal of ICT skills. I also serve as a student mentor on the Rhodes University Ncedana Programme.

Rhodes University societies: Enactus Rhodes (Financial Director) and Black Management Forum.

“We want to build a new Afrika. Let me plead with you, lovers of my Afrika, to carry with you into the world the vision of a new Afrika, an Afrika reborn.”- Mangaliso Robert Sobukwe