Admissions Cycle 2026 / 2027 · Inaugural Cohort (Limited Allocation)

IVYLEAD
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About Empowering African students for global excellence

About IVYLEAD

IVYLEAD (Africa) is a community-driven initiative designed to empower African students to access world-class education and thrive in global opportunities.

We mentor aspiring students who want to pursue higher education at top-tier institutions, including Ivy League schools abroad. Through our Review Committee—comprising alumni who have successfully gained admission and scholarships with our guidance—we provide personalized feedback on statements of purpose (SoPs), applications, and scholarship essays.

IVYLEAD goes beyond admissions: we create pathways for equitable internships, fellowships, and job opportunities for members, ensuring that talent meets opportunity.

Simon Charwey at work, Yale School of Art
Simon Charwey Founder & Alumni Review Director, IVYLEAD MFA, Yale School of Art · Fellow, Stanford SILICON / UNESCO Chair
The founder

Uncompromised Practice Over Staged Presentation

“My higher self is in silence and reflection... The strategy here is never about forcing artificial narratives into an application. It is about giving applicants from low-resource communities a genuine chance to build a foundation that matches the intensity of their Ivy League journey.”

Education & Affiliations: Alumnus, MFA Graphic Design, Yale School of Art · Senator, Yale Graduate & Professional Students Senate (GPSS) · Advisory Board, UNESCO Chair in Digital Futures/SILICON at Stanford.

Selected Awards: Yale Postgraduate Scholarship Award · AIGA Worldstudio Scholarship · Jacques Louis Vidal Scholarship · University of Glasgow International Leadership Award · Africa Postgraduate Excellence Award.

B Strategies & tidbits

Make the work visible.
Document everything.

  • Profiling Strategy: Making your practice visible.

    You must represent yourself well on social media in a way that advocates for you without you being there to defend your application. Whether it is design, art, cultural advocacy, or technical research, your practice must be visible through your website, your Instagram page, and LinkedIn timeline.

    Focus heavily on future projections: what will your portfolio look like in graduate school, and how will your practice evolve? This must come through clearly in your Statement of Purpose (SoP) / Statement of Intent (SoI).

  • Documentation Strategy (Always remember, document everything)

    The admissions committee wants to see you in photos in your studio and in live engagements—interacting with the work, the process, and the community. This is not a staged photo shoot; it is authentic documentation reflecting your HOW (methodology). Documenting can be the work in itself.

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C Datasets

Two directories, one diagnostic away.

XLSX · 2026/2027

Global Institutions Admissions Directory

Official admission portals, deadlines, requirements, portfolio expectations and the funding landscape for each institution.

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XLSX · 2026/2027

Funding, Hall & Hostel Directory

Grants, scholarships and student housing leads, delivered to applicants on the funding and aid track.

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The Operational Standard

Become before you get in.

Submit your preliminary credentials and we will evaluate your background, milestone readiness and institutional fit on a Discovery Call.

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