/ 20 September 2016

Social Development — Lebogang Cleopatra George

Lebogang Cleopatra George
Lebogang Cleopatra George

Social Development — Lebogang Cleopatra George

Co-founder, Red Leadership and

Board member, Dream Girls International

twitter.com/leboganggeorge

Lebogang Cleopatra George holds a Bachelor of Law Degree from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has an insatiable passion for youth development and education.

Because of her love for law and for developing young leaders, she joined the Dream Girls International Outreach and Mentoring Programme in 2011. It is an NPO through which underprivileged teen girls are mentored. The programme also encourages them to further their education, by providing them with educational guidance and information the girls need to enrol into institutions of higher learning.

“Dream Girls was founded as a response to the lack, or poor quality, of education that underprivileged teen girls receive in Africa. It aims to facilitate access to education for teenage girls. We provide support and mentoring to assist the girls to plan for their future and we ensure that they are empowered enough to be able to break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy in their community,” says George.

She is also the co-founder of a leadership development and corporate social investment consulting company called Red Leadership. Because of her work in social development, George was selected as one of the 38 women social entrepreneurs who have made a huge impact in Africa. Brightest Young Minds, an organisation that selects the top 100 most innovative future African leaders and catalysts for change, has also named George as one of its top 50 alumni. She is also an Associate Fellow of the Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS), which is a network of individuals and organisations committed to improving the lives and prospects of Commonwealth citizens. In 2015, Lioness of Africa magazine recognised George as one of the continent’s top social entrepreneurs.

“I joined Dream Girls because I wanted to make an impact on the lives of underprivileged girls in Africa,” says George.

Dream Girls plans to launch branches in other countries on the continent and beyond. After hearing of the high rate of teenage pregnancies in Botswana, George started mentoring teen girls in Botswana in her own capacity with the objective of empowering school dropouts to continue with their studies. Apart from mentoring teenage girls in Mochudi, George also took on 30 children from the SOS facility in Tlokweng in 2015 and treated them to a day of pampering at Letaj Hair Salon. The day was such a success that she plans to turn the occasion into an annual event for the orphaned children. — SPIKE GANETSANG