Alumni Network

Innovation Fellowship Alumni Network

Since 2018, 137 young leaders have completed the Innovation Fellowship.

Upon graduation, Fellows automatically become part of the Alumni Network – a community of young leaders and innovators, like themselves, who are committed to driving change. They remain connected through the collegial bonds and friendships that the Fellowship encourages both within and across cohorts.

Launched in May 2022, the Innovation Fellowship Alumni Network aims to:

Grow:

  • Alumni’s leadership skills and practices by connecting them to opportunities

Communicate:

  • their work to a broader audience; and

Harness and align:

  • their efforts towards broader societal goals.

To achieve this, it co-creates communities of practice that promote collaboration and knowledge-sharing, and nurtures a culture of peer mentorship that enables reflection and resilience.

The Alumni Network hosts a range of online and in-person activities including:

Masterclass Series:

  • led by sector experts, thought leaders and Alumni themselves

Curious Conversations:

  • to showcase current projects and brainstorm solutions to wicked problems together; and

Provincial Meetups:

  • for reconnection, community building and dialogue.

Alumni are also invited to engage through exclusive Network spaces, including a LinkedIn Alumni group and cross-cohort and regional WhatsApp groups, where the Fellowship team shares updates, opportunities and resources.

 

Going forward, we envision a network grounded in sustainable, Alumni-led structures. When Fellows stay connected and support each other, it keeps the Fellowship learnings alive and drives solutions to the complex social problems that we face as a country.”

The Alumni WhatsApp Group is a key channel of communication and is used to share invitations for network-related and other events and activities, funding-related and continued learning opportunities, various resources, and calls for Fellowship nominations and programme inputs. While it is an admin-post only group, feedback from Alumni – in the form of WhatsApp “reactions” and direct messages – confirms their support for this.

On completion of the 12 month programme Fellows automatically graduate into the Alumni Network

Keep updated with events and opportunities

Join our exclusive LinkedIn group for the Alumni Network

The IF Alumni LinkedIn group is an exclusive space for Alumni to connect with one another, learn more about former Fellows’ work, and share resources, opportunities, and ideas.
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Today reminded me of why I love the Fellowship culture – the way that strangers can connect so deeply and quickly

Cape Town: Meet up
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It’s spaces like this that remind me of how much there is to learn in listening. I recognise the social capital in the room and appreciate opportunities of knowledge sharing like this.”

Gauteng Meet up
{

It’s special to be able to come together like this, share our challenges and issues but also realise that we all want the same thing – to do the good work

Gauteng Meet up
{

What I love about these kinds of experiences is that it’s not just a space of learning, but also an opportunity to have that echoed resonance with your peers. As much as the non-profit space can be collaborative, it can also be siloed so it’s nice to be able to engage with others and see connections between what you are raising and what others are sharing

Curious Conversations: How can we scale in a sustainable way?
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I appreciated seeing where and how we can strengthen our organisational communications strategy. We can use the insights shared to make the necessary tweaks and changes in communicating and sharing our impact with the outside world.

Masterclass on Communications for Impact

Download our bio books to meet our Alumni

ALUMNI NETWORK UPDATES

Read the latest updates from alumni from masterclasses to gatherings

A reflection piece by Carla Watson

A reflection piece by Carla Watson

When I was selected for the DGMT Innovation Fellowship in late 2024, I thought I knew what I was stepping into. I was wrong - in the best possible way. I had thought the Fellowship would be theoretical with a strong focus on my organisation, but instead the Fellowship...

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Preparing to make an Offer

Preparing to make an Offer

It’s a tense moment as the DGMT Innovation Fellowship’s eighth cohort prepare the final presentation they must make to a gathering of interested parties this Friday before they graduate. Each of the nine organisations that make up Cohort 8 began this journey by...

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Restoring Dignity Through Inclusion

Restoring Dignity Through Inclusion

This year’s World NGO Day 2026 had a theme “Restoring Dignity Through Inclusion,” this was an invitation rather than our normal reflection. It asked us to look closely at who is still left out, and what it would take to bring them meaningfully in. Within the DGMT...

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Cohort 8 Immersion 3 Learnings

Cohort 8 Immersion 3 Learnings

Coming up to the home stretch of the DGMT Innovation Fellowship’s 12-month programme, Cohort 8 were much in need of a moment to pause, to slow down and to reflect on what they are doing and what they have learned so far. Posing a difficult question to an organisation...

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