Project:

  A South African, Nico de Klerk, decided to do a Long Walk for the Entrepreneurial Mindset in South Africa during 2018, to address poverty, unemployed and inequality, which is one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. For his effort the project got awarded as The Best Global Social Innovative Project for 2018 by The Life Learning Academia, nominated by its ambassador, Edward de Bono. 

A book about the Long Walk called “No Fit: 1700-mile Long Walk Away from Apartheid” will be published early 2022 which tells the stories of this epic journey. He visited 100 townships and spoke with students and educators in 200+ high schools during this 1700-mile (2750km) walk. He met with the unemployed, with local clergy, with small traders selling crafts by the roadside and countless others. He heard the dreams and saw the capacity of community leaders, teenagers, and the unemployed. As he shared basic SEM principles (Social Entrepreneurship Mindset) with all who would listen from Pretoria to Cape Town, the enthusiastic, consistent response was, “We need these skills and ‘bridges’ to free ourselves and our communities from the legacy of apartheid”.  

The 1700mile walk inspired the Be a Nelson Movement as an outcome of social research done before, during and after the walk. The Be a Nelson Movement is a multifaceted intervention to identify and empower the many champions and budding champions in segregated townships established during decades of apartheid.