Big thanks goes out to Donald Gregory, for once again sharing his amazing photography skills with us. View the full gallery HERE.

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen! You all look smart and very intelligent from where I am standing. I thank God for giving us life this day and allowing us to be partakers of it. Indeed, it is such an honor to be accorded this opportunity to represent the class of 2017 graduates from Hope School of Leadership.

I want to thank my family for being a strong support system, my friends for cheering me on and the Hope school of leadership faculty for always being consistent in following us up, offering guidance and their full support. This has been a journey and you people have made the process worthwhile and our destination closer. 
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Hope School of Leadership is a good place to be and it gave us a golden opportunity. Getting to study a Diploma course for free is unheard of, the very useful resources and content we received through out our course work and the wealth of information that was at our disposal is indeed commendable. 

As I took up this course I was already a leader, but what was my biggest ‘WHY’ to committing to this Diploma course? It was not an easy question to answer. I do not know how many of you here graduating today asked yourself this very same question.The answer to ‘WHY’ has to do with purpose and understanding.

I believe each one of us here got some valuable life lessons as they sought to find an answer in the process of their journey. The course work we went through encourages introspection. The ability to look into one’s self to analyze and recognize both strengths and weaknesses. Self -observation, self - examination and self - reflection. We then understand why leadership cannot be given, it must be earned and it cannot be taken away, you lose it by lack of performance.

We have everything it takes for us to perform. We have built our self confidence, learnt valuable skills, we know what is required of us as servant leaders, and we already have a support network made of all graduates here today. Indeed we have been empowered to succeed and information brings obligation. 

We have a mandate to undertake as leaders. To ourselves, to the people we lead and to God. In the world we live in today the demand for great leadership is at an all-time high. Leaders who will lead in wisdom and who have the spirit of God in them. All across the world, in business, academics and government, people want leaders that can be trusted, relied upon and that have a genuine commitment to help solve the pressing problems.We are the leaders of today and we should acknowledge that we are the solution that the world desperately needs.

We have made it this far and it is my prayer that we shall be salt and light in this earth and that years to come we shall know you with the fruits that you will have bore for the honour and Glory of God . Let us be the example and people of integrity in all we do.

In closing, an unknown author said good leaders are memorable and excellent leaders are unforgettable. Do you want to be good or best? 

Congratulations class of 2017 and thank you very much!!

​It has been a long and well-earned journey that I have proudly shared with you. Many of us mark our journey through life counting our successes while others mark their journey through life by highlighting their failures and recalling the things they did not accomplish. However, we need to share these moments of laughter and tears.

I would like to reminisce about memories of great importance to me throughout my two years journey in Hope School. According to Cicely Tyson quote “Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew.”  There are times when I did not believe in myself, being a student, a wife and a mother was never easy, but God’s Grace remained sufficient and kept me going. I literally challenged myself to be the best that I could all days of my life in Hope School. As the class of 2017 through Hope School of Leadership, we have discovered that our capabilities are far greater than what we thought.

As graduates, it is about the hopes and dreams that we wish to conquer and the goals we wish to accomplish. One thing I learnt and accomplished, was to combine knowledge and wisdom to make an impact. Throughout my years in Hope school of Leadership, not only did I gain
knowledge of the units I studied, but I learnt many other lessons as well that impacted my life. At times I knew some of us questioned the need to attend the online classes, but gaining intelligence was not the only purpose of it. This course has helped me build priceless social skills, as well as, instilled values and strong desire to succeed.

However, what made all my days in Hope School of Leadership endurable, was the Almighty God, my husband, children, family, friends, Darren, Paul, Catherine and not forgetting my classmates in cohort 3, I give my heartfelt thanks.

I would like to conclude my speech with a quote from Robert Frost. “Instead of following the path of past generations and graduating classes, I challenge you all to make your own path. The risks are always present, but the battle always makes the win so much sweeter”.

We are pleased to announce the Salutatorian and Valedictorian honor graduates for the HOPE School Class of 2017. ​We want to congratulate Nataline Olang for being selected as the Class of 2017 Valedictorian and Doricah Okubo for being named the 2017 Salutatorian. These high honors are well deserved and given with great happiness. Please join us in congratulating these two outstanding women. 

I want to thank God for this opportunity to graduate from Hope School of Leadership. I thank God for the directors who work hard and diligently to make sure that Hope School is running and performs to its best. I wish to express sincere appreciation to Mr. Darren Wilson for believing in me and giving me an opportunity to be part of the Hope School family. This is indeed a blessing and an achievement that presents me and all of us, the grandaunts with a platform to go out there and make an impact in the world.
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To the grandaunts, since we have graduated today and all in attendance today, let us understand one profound thing, Hope school is a genuine school of leadership, it provides what it says, holistic leadership training, Hope school does not exist to impress donors for their donation, it provides training that is authentic which is aimed at presenting leaders who have stood the test of time and fire.

We all have a responsibility after this graduation, to ourselves, to those we lead, and to God.

To ourselves, we owe it to us after the hard work and lots of time put in to the training period to keep on working to develop ourselves, this is not the end of study, it is just a day to put a seal to the beginning of what lies ahead of us, the task of leading. As Harry Truman puts it, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” We should keep on working and seeking knowledge to build on what we have learnt in Hope school, as Paul tells Timothy, in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth.” (AMP). Let us keep on seeking knowledge, read sound books and build our own capacity thus developing our leadership skills. The journey has not been easy, the datelines to beat, the pressure we feel when we lag behind in submitting assignments, some of us we expectant along the way, gave birth but still held on and managed to finish strong and that is why we are here, it has not been an easy ride, but worth it, so let us not throw all of it away, let us work hard and build on the foundation that has been laid by Hope School.

We also owe it to those we lead to be the best examples in our leadership mandate. One of the best courses in the training that carries this is the Spiritual Leadership Unit that emphasized on a leader smelling like sheep. Let us understand that our position is not just a pedestal to announce how great a leader we are. For example, a father who keeps on reminding his children that he is the father of the house by yelling “Do you know that I’m your father?” this father has a problem, he is trying to verbally remind them what he is not in terms of the role and responsibility by forcing his title down their throats to compensate on his shortcomings, this is a father by name and not by role. We are leaders, not by name but by duty, we are not like political leaders who give empty promises to get what they want, we are not leaders who are out to sound politically correct, we are leaders to them that we lead, and we must come down to their level and smell like them. Let us remember that we have been called to be the light and salt, so ask yourself, with this leadership crisis in the world, are you just salt or a tasty salt? Are you a bright light that outs of darkness or are you a dim light that dies in darkness? We must lead by example as Paul puts it in 1 Timothy 4:12 “Let no one look down on [you because of] your youth, but be an example and set a pattern for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in [moral] purity.” This is our calling, to be examples in all these as the Bible instructs us, that is our duty to those we lead, smell like them and be an example to them.

We owe it to God by understanding that He has mandated us to be leaders in this world. The world as we see it today suffers a leadership crisis and that is why we exist, the crisis in Aleppo tells us how professional and political leadership is failing, it is time for us, the leaders mandated by God to take on the challenge and bring a change in our world. To us, leadership is not a position, it is a gift given by God, we are not professional leaders, we are leaders who are called and mandated for higher purpose. As Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:14” Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, [that special endowment] which was intentionally bestowed on you [by the Holy Spirit] through prophetic utterance when the elders laid their hands on you [at your ordination].” This graduation day is not just a ceremony, it is a prophetic event where the gift of leadership will be bestowed upon as, this is the gift that we should not neglect, the moment we receive the charge from Darren, that will be a prophetic moment, to bestow unto us the mandate of going out there and being the ambassadors of the Kingdom, that is what separates us from the secular style of professional leadership, we are ambassadors of our Kingdom. Let us follow His instructions written in the Word, because the Word is our guide book in all that we do, and with this I will end with a word of inspiration “The Bible is our guide book, our instruction manual, and failure to follow the instructions therein will make you a successful failure”

God bless you BIG and God bless Hope School of Leadership.

Good afternoon ladies and Gentlemen! It’s truly an honor to be afforded this opportunity to speak and represent the class of 2016. We have succeeded in mastering this challenging course of study and have emerged on the other side victorious and so we need to share our laughter and success with others who have supported and inspired us to keep on going. From our parents, our siblings, our friends and even our workmates.

A special thanks to God for bringing us together and guiding us this far. I am not used to speaking in front of a large group as you can tell. I am afraid of all the stares, Afraid of making a mistake when I speak, mostly I am afraid that maybe my words will not inspire people.

Every one of us or at least most of us have had this kind of fear. Some of you might have the same fear that I have. The fear of failing. A true leader learns to conquer that fear and rise up. A true leader tells the world that courage doesn’t mean you don’t get afraid. Courage means you don’t let fear stop you. That is why I am standing here in front of all of you to ask you to conquer your fears.

Be strong! Be courageous! Be a beacon of hope for others who are staring at you. That is one of my prayer for all of you!

Hope school is a very unique school where we develop unique skills. One question that I have asked myself and perhaps would want to pose it you would be, with all of us graduating today does it automatically make us leaders?

I believe that leadership is earned not given and I believe all of us in Hope school came in as leaders or aspired to be one. After all who joins a leadership course if you had no intentions of being a leader somewhere! The leader in you has just been molded, modified to fit the world so that with the knowledge you have gained, you can be better, stronger and equipped in God's wisdom and spirit so that you can be a leader of Hope for others.

The world today believe leaders should be people with all the power, a lot of money, all the connections with other powerful people and who can influence the crowd or the people to do their bidding. A world where people hide their true feelings and hope that one person will speak up for them knowing all about their lives. As Mahatma Ghandi says, “you must be the change you want to see in the world.” You must be the people bold enough to take the first step from the hole of despair. You must have the courage to be a servant leader even when it’s with your last ounce of strength because the world is changed by your example not your opinion.

All in all class of 2016 all Hope school fraternity, stand up tall and know with the diploma you get today, you are making a pledge, a promise to your parents, to your friends, to yourselves that you are going to be a leader, a better leader, a servant leader.

​I will finish with the words of John Quincy Adams, “if your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader!

Thank you and congratulations class of 2016.

We are excited to announce the selections for Valedictorian and Salutatorian of the HOPE School of Leadership graduating Class of 2016. Godian Mabinda has been named Valedictorian and Stella Wangari Nginga has been named Salutatorian. Both Godian and Stella have modeled outstanding academic achievement and integrity while demonstrating remarkable consistency and commitment during the two-year diploma program in 21st Century Christian Leadership.
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Graduation and commencement exercises for the Class of 2016 will take place in December. We congratulate Godian and Stella and all of the 2016 graduates of HOPE School. May God grant you the strength and wisdom to do His good will in all that you say, in everything that you do, and everywhere you go.

Today is a "special edition" of Student of the Week. Special, first, because this is the last week of our term. Its been a good twelve weeks and all students are happy to be finished. Its also special because our Students of the Week are a husband and wife team. Yvonne (Cohort 3) and Godian (Cohort 2) have been two of our top performers this term. They both have done an admirable job with their assignments while also keeping up with work and family obligations. They set a great example for many with their dedication and commitment to their studies. 

We want to offer Yvonne and Godian a special congratulations, and also all of our students who have successfully completed another term. We hope you have a wonderful weekend and an enjoyable break before we start the next term in September. God bless!

With our term quickly coming to an end, we recognize two students who have demonstrated great dedication and commitment to complete their assignments and finish strong. Even though they had fallen behind, they have made considerable progress to get caught up stay current. Congratulations to Raymond Ayimba (Cohort 3) and Byron Mugesiah (Cohort 2) for being selected the Students of the Week. We're always proud of those who work and learn, despite the tough situations that may come and go. Job well done, Raymond and Byron. Keep up the good work. 

For being recognized as Students of the Week, Raymond and Byron will each receive a Safaricom data/voice bundle worth 750KES. Our best weekend wishes to them both and all of our HOPE School family and friends.