Empowering Future Leaders: Our Partnership with Enabling Leadership
1st October 2024
At Bridge, we believe that education goes beyond the classroom. True education isn’t just about academic achievement—it’s about developing well-rounded individuals equipped with the skills, confidence, and character to lead fulfilling and impactful lives.
Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds often lack the resources to pursue activities outside the classroom. This is why we are thrilled to partner with Enabling Leadership, a global non-profit organisation dedicated to nurturing leadership and life skills in children from underserved communities.
Enabling Leadership operates with a powerful mission: to equip young minds with the skills necessary to become empathetic, resilient, and effective leaders. Their innovative programs use creative, play-based approaches, leveraging football, music, and design thinking to foster qualities such as teamwork, problem-solving, discipline, and integrity.
According to studies, 55% of parents believe that sports will benefit their children’s academic performance and future careers. Furthermore, 80% of parents believe that sports help instill essential life skills like discipline and dedication—key attributes for future success.
Our partnership with Enabling Leadership spans several of our community schools, including Bridge Kingston, Bridge Kwa Njenga, Bridge Sinai, and Bridge Kwa Reuben. Their ‘Just for Kicks’ football program is more than just a game—it’s a platform for building character.
Pupils at Bridge Kwa Reuben exercising during the First Enabling Leadership League
Football becomes the medium through which students acquire essential life skills that will serve them in school, relationships, and beyond. ‘The Just for Kicks’ initiative imparts critical values, including:
Teamwork: Students learn the importance of collaboration, trust, and mutual support, recognizing that working together toward a common goal is more powerful than individual effort.
Resilience: The game teaches perseverance in the face of adversity. Students learn that failure is part of growth, and the key to success is how you respond to setbacks.
Discipline: Football demands practice, focus, and dedication—qualities that extend beyond the field and into every aspect of life.
Leadership: On the pitch, students are encouraged to take initiative, make decisions, and lead by example. They discover that leadership is about more than directing others; it’s about inspiring those around you to achieve more.
The Just for Kicks program has opened my eyes to what leadership truly means. It’s not just about being in charge, but about taking responsibility for my actions and helping my team work together. These are skills I know I will carry with me throughout my life, says Brian Kiio, a Grade 4 student at Bridge Kwa Reuben.
According to an Ernst & Young survey on women executives, 94% of senior female executives had participated in sports, and 85% believed that sports accelerated their career development.
Lanyas Vitalis, Academy Manager at Bridge Kwa Reuben, shares,
What I see in our students through the ‘Just for Kicks’ program is a newfound sense of self-confidence. They’re learning to see themselves as leaders, not just on the football field, but in the classroom and beyond. This program gives them the tools to understand that leadership isn’t just about power—it’s about making a difference for others.
Lanyas Vitalis, Academy Manager at Bridge Kwa Reuben cheering on his team
At Bridge, we are committed to fostering well-rounded students who are equipped to navigate the challenges of the future. Our partnership with Enabling Leadership reflects this commitment, as it offers students opportunities to grow in ways that transcend traditional academic education.
By integrating leadership training into everyday activities like sports, we are helping students see themselves as capable change-makers in their communities and the world.
At Enabling Leadership, we believe in the power of early intervention. By working with children at a young age, we aim to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty. We do this by instilling leadership and life skills that help children take charge of their own lives, set goals, and work toward achieving them, says Paramita Mukherjee, Country Head of Enabling Leadership in Kenya.
Paramita Mukherjee, Country Head of Enabling Leadership in Kenya- At the center
Sports and play are important aspects of childhood, and regardless of the socio-economic status, we believe children deserve access to safe spaces and organised activities, there is no emphasis on winning or losing our main focus is to emphasis on the importance of participation, building resilience and emotional wellness, says Griffin Asigo, MD Bridge International Academies Foundation, Kenya and Uganda.
Together, we are ensuring that every student not only succeeds academically but also grows into a well-rounded individual, prepared to take on future challenges with confidence, resilience, and purpose.
