A pair of Guilford College students and six Guilford County Schools educators and administrators are in South Africa as part of a Guilford College-led program developing an entrepreneurship curriculum for youth that will bring global insights to local classrooms.

The project is funded by a $150,000 Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad grant through the Department of Education.

Exploring South African Culture through an Entrepreneurial Lens is an exchange that spans four South African provinces and aims to strengthen GCS K–12 programs with a focus on South African culture, education, economic development and the role younger South African students can play in that growth.

Participants — including David Holland ’26 and J Wilson ’26 — are spending four weeks engaged in cultural immersion, local service projects and language learning. The students and educators will also teach an entrepreneurship program in Mamelodi in the Gauteng Province and Thohoyandou in the Limpopo Province, offer tutoring in reading, math, and economics, and study Venda, one of South Africa’s 11 official languages.

They’ll also collect materials and insights to help shape new curriculum modules tailored for U.S. classrooms. After returning, the group will meet on Guilford’s campus to develop and share their curricular materials with other educators.

Meredeth Summers, Chief of Staff at the College, planned the trip itinerary as Project Director and is leading the cohort. She was a member of the team securing the grant and has taken the lead in carrying it out and combining it with efforts of the United States-South Africa Virtual Incubator, an entrepreneurship development program started in 2022.

This exchange builds on Guilford’s growing ties with South African institutions. Since 2022, the College has hosted three education-focused delegations from South Africa. In 2023, Guilford signed formal partnership agreements with the University of Pretoria–Mamelodi and the University of Venda. Longer-term goals include expanding Guilford’s African Studies curriculum, launching a permanent study abroad program in South Africa and recruiting South African students to study in Greensboro. By fostering global understanding through education and enterprise, Guilford is equipping teachers to bring the world into their classrooms — and preparing students to thrive in it.

The continent of Africa is the second-fastest growing region globally after Asia and is considered a future economic growth engine.