ALI SA celebrates Class II: Kilimanjaro Fellow Roger Dickinson, CEO of the National Spelling Bee, who has helped turn a simple competition into a meaningful platform for literacy, confidence and connecting young learners.
Through A Better Africa Foundation and its partnerships with the Department of Basic Education and civil society, the National Spelling Bee now reaches children across all 12 official languages, including South African Sign Language.
The National Spelling Bee finals took place at Sun City in December 2025, as highlighted in a recent Daily Maverick article, showcased how this Fellow-led venture brings together families, teachers and communities. As South Africa’s new champions prepare to represent the country at the African Spelling Bee competition in Zimbabwe in 2026, we acknowledge Roger’s ongoing contribution whose work to encourage literacy competency and reading for meaning in young people in South Africa and Africa, has had an inspiring and positive impact.
To read the full story of the 2025 National Spelling Bee finals and meet South Africa’s new champions, see Daily Maverick’s article: National Spelling Bee: SA crowns its spelling champions (source: Daily Maverick).
