Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls – OWLAG

The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls – South Africa (OWLAG) is a boarding school for girls, grades 8-12, in Henley on Klip, Gauteng Province, South Africa. The school is a project begun by the American entrepreneur and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey in 2002, born out of a discussion she had with South African president Nelson Mandela in 2000. OWLAG opened in 2007 and its inaugural class of 72 girls graduated in 2011.

Inspired by her own disadvantaged childhood, Winfrey stated that she founded the Leadership Academy to provide educational and leadership opportunities for academically gifted girls from impoverished backgrounds in South Africa who exhibited leadership qualities for making a difference in the world.She wanted to help girls who grew up like her, “economically disadvantaged, but not poor in mind or spirit”.

The school teaches the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) curriculum writes the South African National Senior Certificate.