Irene Mutumba, an educationalist and community-youth trainer, has urged youth leaders and innovators to adopt and reap the benefits of social entrepreneurship.
She described social entrepreneurship as the smart utilization of money, the natural environment and people, including the uneducated, the retired and elders so as to get co-creation results.
Mutumba, a teacher by profession and an Ashoka fellow renowned for establishing many entrepreneurship classrooms in schools and communities, was the keynote speaker at the JNLC-UNDP Alumni Follow-Up Programme’s Community Innovation Showcase and Alumni Workshop at Fairway hotel Kampala on November 17, 2025.
The two-day event, organized by Julius Nyerere Leadership Centre (JNLC) and supported by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), closed at Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH) auditorium on November 18.
Suzie Nansozi Muwanga, the executive director of JNLC, said that since 2021, JNLC and UNDP have trained over 700 young leaders from different districts aiming at creating a critical mass of ethical community leaders.
She said after four trainings in Kampala, Mbale, Gulu and Mbarara, they formed an alumni follow-up programme to assess who of the alumni were translating the training theory into implementation projects.
“We were much impressed by what we found in our field visits. However, we identified the best 15, but we invited 10 to this pitch and competition , out of which we will give financial reward to the best three,” Muwanga said.
Consequently, a panel of judges considered five issues: clarity of the idea; originality; relevance and impact; feasibility and sustainability; and presentation and delivery, to come up with the best three.
Ten youth leaders with projects falling in five categories – climate justice; community engagement; gender and economic empowerment; innovation – urban farming; and political and civic leadership – were chosen.
The 10 chosen to pitch and compete for awards were: Andrew Obete Obonyo (based in Lira district); Boniface Moro (Gulu); Joan Itungo (Kampala); Allen Khaitsa (Mbale); Olivia Auma (Kampala); Mary Nadongo (Kampala); Simon Peter Ichumar (Mbale); Jude Wetaka (Mbale); Charles Onek (Gulu); and Emma Bwayo (Mbale).
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