The Frederik van Zyl Slabbert Institute (FVZS) was set up by Stellenbosch University to develop responsible leaders willing to use their expertise and skills to best serve the interests of society.  The Just Lead! Course was designed to explore leadership as an agent of social change and The Sophia Foundation sponsorship covered the operational, management and administrative expenses.  The program would consist of six on-line courses run over a period of three years for nine hundred participants, half of whom would come from Stellenbosch University and the other half from other tertiary institutions and NGO’s.  Each course would be followed by a three-day residency period.

One of the core beliefs of The Sophia Foundation is that funders carry accountability with the implementers for the impact of their programs.  For this reason, we like to play an observational, collaborative, and supportive role in the application of the projects we support.  The FVZS falls under the Director of the Centre for Student Leadership and Structures who greatly encouraged the participation of The Sophia Foundation.  This included input on some of the course content to ensure it aligned with the values of The Sophia Foundation and attendance at some of the activities related to the program.  Unfortunately owing to the Covid pandemic, the JustLead! Course was aborted after the successful completion of three modules.