Oprah Winfrey to Close South African Leadership Academy for Girls in 2027

After two decades of operation, the media mogul plans to pivot her philanthropic focus toward a new scholarship model to impact a broader number of young women.

After 20 years of providing elite education to underserved students, Oprah Winfrey has announced that the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG) in South Africa will officially close its campus in 2027. Winfrey, who founded the boarding school in 2007 with a mission to cultivate future leaders, stated that the decision marks a strategic evolution in her philanthropic approach. Rather than maintaining a single physical campus, Winfrey intends to transition her focus toward a scholarship-based model. This shift is designed to reach a significantly larger number of young women acr…