Community Spotlights
Dr. Chukwuma “Chuks” Ekwelum ’00
Alumnus Founds NGO in Rwanda to Promote Educational Access
Each year since 1990, elementary students have joined Steppingstone with dreams of going to college. Alumnus Chukwuma “Chuks” Ekwelum ’00 well surpassed this goal: first earning his B.A. at Trinity College (Hartford, CT)...then his M.Ed. at Boston College...then his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Having attained his own terminal degree, Chuks is now committed to helping students of the next generation access such educational opportunities through his NGO: the Legacy of Excellence Foundation (LEF), based in the Eastern/Central African country of Rwanda.
Education as a Family Value, a Community Achievement
Growing up in a Nigerian household, education was always made a top priority for Chuks and his siblings.
“You learn very quickly that educational attainment is what you need to be successful in life—that, next to having strong faith in God. That tone was set very early in my life, and it really stayed with me. It became a part of who I am and is still a part of who I am, to this day.”
When Chuks was in the fifth grade, his family enrolled him in Steppingstone to prepare academically for a strong school that would lead to college. “Steppingstone put me in a mindset that shifted my sense of self-worth,” Chuks reflects, thinking about the spaces where he attended the program, such as the Winsor School, Milton Academy, and MassArt. “By exposing us to those environments, it made me, a Roxbury kid, feel like—wow, I can actually attend school at a place like this. I deserve to be in a place like this.”
After completing Steppingstone’s Academy program, Chuks attended the Belmont Hill School, where he studied hard, played football, and prepared to thrive at Trinity College. He later completed an administrative internship at Belmont Hill, “which really got me excited about education, working with young people and their families.”
Chuks recalls a phone conversation with certain relatives after he learned that he was accepted into Boston College to earn a master’s in education, funded by a series of scholarships he had earned. Some of the elders in his life at that time were less than thrilled with his choice to teach, as opposed to pursuing a more lucrative profession.
“To traditional Nigerian elders, if you're not planning on becoming a lawyer, engineer, or medical doctor…forget about it! Don't come to them with anything else,” Chuks cautions with a laugh. “It's really a hard sell. But I think that conversation in particular, while it didn't feel great, actually made me want to go into education even more. I said to myself, ‘You know what? I may not become a millionaire or a billionaire, but I'm going to chase my passion, follow my heart, and do what I love. I’ll have internal, eternal wealth that way.’”
So, Chuks earned his master’s in education. The social justice courses that he took and the seminars that he attended at Boston College helped “add fuel to the fire” within him, deepening a desire to dedicate his life to disrupting cycles of inequity in schools, first as a classroom teacher. Eventually, Chuks developed an itch to lead beyond the classroom, compelling him to enroll in the 2015 Wisconsin Idea Executive Ph.D. Cohort at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This pursuit, to his surprise, would have a ripple effect far beyond himself.
“Not only did I see the impact that it had on my then girlfriend and now wife, Vanessa, how excited she was—but also, I saw the impact that it had on my mom and on my siblings. And then I saw that my students at Codman Academy were excited, as well as my colleagues. It went from being a personal self-achievement, to ‘this is for Vanessa, my family, and for my community.’ During those four years at UW, I proudly carried a lot of people with me on my back.”
Chuks knew that a Ph.D. could mean increased earning potential and new access to decision-making spaces. He also wanted to set the bar high for his and Vanessa’s future children someday, ”and give them something to strive for. ‘If Daddy could do it, I can do it, and I can even do more than that.’”
An International Impact
In his years of study, as a disciple of late Brazilian philosopher and educator, Paulo Freire, Chuks developed a vision to offer a liberating education with high standards. Being part of several educational systems, he had seen gaps in resources and in the quality of education provided by schools. Alongside this professional reality was the reality he faced personally as a dark-complexioned man of African descent. On a regular basis in various settings, he encountered overt and covert racism, several of those instances causing him to fear for his safety. The tipping point for him was when George Floyd was murdered in 2020, a tragedy that Chuks describes as one that “rocked me to the core.”
That same year, seeking a change for his mental health and opportunities to expand educational access, Chuks and Vanessa embraced an opportunity to relocate their family to Rwanda. With a strong impression of how much the country has healed in the decades since the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi, Chuks believed this was the right environment for his own healing journey. Furthermore, he was eager to contribute something meaningful to their new community.
“What we've seen since being here is that a lot of young people feel very unmotivated. They don't see themselves going much farther than what is around them in the immediate environment right now. And so similar to what Steppingstone did for me, we want to open their eyes to a new world where they can see themselves thriving, in spite of environmental challenges.”
Currently under LEF are two ground-breaking projects that are in the ready-to-pilot phase: the Legacy of Excellence Academy (LEA) and the Gaining Adequate Preparation Program (GAPP). Both are urgently needed, given the trends and realities around secondary-aged youth in Rwanda.
LEA is designed to be an innovative secondary school (grades 7 to 12) with a strong commitment to equity and accessibility by charging families well-below the market tuition rate for private schools in Rwanda, offering income-driven financial aid packages to those in need, and offering live instruction to students through a hybrid model (in-person and remote). GAPP is designed to be an intervention program for local adolescents (between the ages of 17 and 19) who have technically graduated from secondary school but have to remain “in limbo” as they wait to receive their final exam scores and transcripts. When correlated with skyrocketing substance abuse rates among local adolescent youth, Chuks notes, “this issue poses a major threat to the country’s future.”
“When young people are idle, not doing anything productive, they're more likely to turn to destructive behaviors,” Chuks explains. On a weekly basis at GAPP, participating youth will be mentored by him and his team in five key priority areas: self-expression and confidence, self-sufficiency and care, financial literacy, digital literacy, and career readiness and employability. This program is not structured to feel like school for participating youth. Instead, it is meant to be a program where they are supported as budding adults with real-life skill building and tools.
“Our aim is to make sure that they get holistic support, and that they become well-rounded individuals that are well-equipped to go out into the world and drive change in the communities that they inhabit.”
Poised for Growth
Chuks, Vanessa (LEF’s Guardian), and their Board of Directors have big plans in place for their foundation and its supported projects. Over the years, they have sponsored free online and in-person events for local youth. Right now, however, they need adequate funding to bring their full vision to life. Their most urgent need is a physical plant where they can begin in-person operations. They are hoping to officially launch GAPP in July of 2025 and LEA in September of 2025.
“As you can imagine, it's no easy task starting a full-fledged school from scratch. There are a lot of different moving parts required to get that going. In comparison to LEA, GAPP is a lighter lift, but a lift, nonetheless. We’re hoping that GAPP will help de-populate local youth rehab centers that are growing to capacity and render them less necessary. But once our projects are off the ground, we're confident that they’re going to make a real difference here because there are many children that need to be served in these ways. We regularly get email inquiries from parents and guardians, as well as unsolicited resumes and cover letters from job seekers. Families are eagerly asking, ‘Where's the school? When is it going to open? How can I apply?’ The community’s appetite is there. We just need help from philanthropists who believe in our mission and also have big hearts for young people in Africa.”
He adds, “Most parents and guardians have a goal for their children to be successful in life and to be the ones that sort of elevate the trajectory of their families. That vision was true when I lived and worked in the United States, and that vision is true for families here in Rwanda…simply put, I just want to create something that will outlive me, and will bless families for generations to come.”
The Legacy for Excellence Foundation is seeking support through donations (tax-deductible for U.S.-based donors), partnerships, and volunteering. You can learn more at www.legacyrw.org and by emailing Chuks, directly: cekwelum@legacyrw.org.
