Applicants for consideration for the Tutu Fellowship Programme may approach you to be a referee for them and to provide a letter of reference. Should you agree to this, thank you for assisting them. Their reference letter is included in their application and is read by the selectors.

Please email your reference letter to the candidate in good time so that they can upload it with their application by the application cut-off deadline, which is a hard deadline. The deadlline for them to have uploaded your reference letter is midnight Johannesburg time on the date in the Key Dates & Deadlines.  Once again, thank you.

Requirements and Notes

• The Referee cannot be the same person as the candidate's Nominator. If you were the candidate's nominator, please decline. Candidates who use their nominator as their referee will be administratively declined for further consideration.
  
• Candidates need only one referee/reference letter.
• The referee letter must be in English.
• The file type of the letter of recommendation must be a web-friendly PDF. Other file types cannot be uploaded.
• Please provide in your email to your candidate, your name, job title and a working email address, along with your attached reference letter. These may be used for technical support in the event the file was corrupted or for technical support of the candidate.
• In your reference letter, please include your name, your job title, and your email address so that should AFLI need to perform any due diligence, it is able to contact you about your reference letter.
• The referee letter should be on an official letterhead for the organisation that the referee represents.
• The letter should preferably be no more than a page. Selectors have hundreds of candidates to review and are instructed that they may stop reading after the first page. Brevity assists the candidate for whom you will be a referee.
• Don't include links to other locations or videos in your letter.  They will not be followed or considered as part of the reference.
• The letter must be signed by you, the referee. Referee letters signed by a third party, secretary, or someone other than the referee will be considered a non-letter.

The referee letter content should ideally include at least some of the following:

• The attributes you as a referee feel makes the candidate such a special or successful leader.
• The opportunity the programme provides for the candidate, noting any aspects of their leadership that would particularly benefit from a programme like this.
• How the candidate will contribute in the future by leading or facilitating positive change on the African continent and improving the lives of its people.
• Whether the candidate is likely to be an engaged, positive and active contributor to the programme, as well as to the alumni network after graduation, or whether the candidate is more passive, individualistic or self-driven.
• Whether there are any factors that may inhibit the candidate from fulfilling the commitments of a rigorous, time-consuming programme of high intensity. Referees can read more about expectations of candidates at About the Programme.