At the height of Oprah Winfrey’s fame and power over two decades ago, she decided to found a girls’ school in South Africa. Oprah showcased the journey towards building the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy of Girls on her syndicated talk show. You could see her learning as she went along, balancing her own accountability alongside trying to manage a project that quickly grew unwieldy. It was clear that, after the first decade, she became sort of jaded about the process of operating a school and perhaps she wondered if she was actually making a tangible difference. I believe her heart was in the right place, but I also think that she decided to start the school without really understanding what a huge undertaking it would really be. Well, I give Oprah credit for sticking with it for 20 years, but this journey will come to an end next year.
The South Africa school that Oprah Winfrey opened nearly two decades ago will be closing and transitioning its operations back to local officials while Winfrey focuses on an “expanded” scholarship program for girls there, she announced this week.
“The dream was never simply to build a school. It was to invest in the limitless potential of young women,” Winfrey, 72, said in a statement on Wednesday, July 29, announcing that the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy of Girls will end operations in its current form at the end of 2027. From there, the provincial government will take over and continue operating the facility as a school, a rep for Winfrey tells PEOPLE.
The academy will graduate two more classes of girls and the remaining students “will go to other top-tier schools with their tuition paid for in total by Ms. Winfrey through their graduation,” the rep says.
In her statement, Winfrey said that her mission “doesn’t end with one campus. It continues in every girl whose future can be transformed through education.”
“I’m excited that this next chapter will allow us to reach even more young women across South Africa and continue the promise that began more than 20 years ago,” she continued.
The scholarship program will begin after the academy’s students have graduated, according to Winfrey’s rep, who says that “overall, there will be double the amount of girls who will have access to education through this model.”
“That is the core of the decision to shift to this new model after seeing the success of the students the past 20 years,” the rep says.
More than 1,000 girls have graduated from Winfrey’s academy since it opened in 2007.
Of all the ways to end this project, I would argue that this is the best way. It will remain a functioning school, it just won’t be operated by Oprah and her team. And she’s committed to giving scholarships and truly investing in young women and helping them find more opportunities. As I said, it’s remarkable that Oprah stuck with it for twenty years. I remember there was a section in her docuseries with Prince Harry, The Me You Can’t See, where she focused on mental health within the student body. I might have to rewatch some of that.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Oprah Winfrey attends the The Cannes LionHeart Seminar, a conversation with Phil Thomas, CannesLions chairman, during the 2026 Cannes Lions, in Cannes.,Image: 1111991331, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no , Credit line: Olivier Huitel/Avalon
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- Oprah Winfrey attends the The Cannes LionHeart Seminar, a conversation with Phil Thomas, CannesLions chairman, during the 2026 Cannes Lions, in Cannes.,Image: 1111991717, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no , Credit line: Olivier Huitel/Avalon
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- Oprah Winfrey attends the The Cannes LionHeart Seminar, a conversation with Phil Thomas, CannesLions chairman, during the 2026 Cannes Lions, in Cannes.,Image: 1111991728, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no , Credit line: Olivier Huitel/Avalon
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- Oprah Winfrey attends the The Cannes LionHeart Seminar, a conversation with Phil Thomas, CannesLions chairman, during the 2026 Cannes Lions, in Cannes.,Image: 1111991738, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no , Credit line: Olivier Huitel/Avalon
When she opened the school, the understanding was that she would hand it over to the South African government after 20 years. It’s officially 20 years now.
I didn’t think it was ever going to be a permanent thing.
Oprah is a low key terrible person. She is responsible for helping to usher in the ” I have a mic, so I’m an expert” era and basic foolery. She is the one who gave quacks like Drs. Oz and Phil a platform. That Marianne Anderson woman ( last name could be wrong), she palls around with Bezos and other terrible people. Oprah has been playing in our faces all this time.
Oprah is not responsible for what Dr Oz became after leaving her show. She did not endorse his polticial ambitions nor support any of his ultra-conservative views. Dr Phil used his fame to become the next Maury Povich. I know Oprah has her detractors but calling her a terrible person is an extreme reaction, especially in light of the sh*t show circus we’re all living in.
She didn’t endorse Oz’s political views but she absolutely endorsed his snake oil salesman quackery. Same with Dr. Phil, a man who exploits vulnerable people using techniques that are widely frowned upon among mental health experts; a fake therapist who skirts ethical guidelines for the sake of entertainment. Whether you think she’s a “terrible” person or not, she absolutely bears responsibility for platforming and showcasing two completely terrible men. There is no way they would have had the careers they’ve had if Oprah hadn’t put all her weight and power behind them.
Agreed. Why on earth is every celebrity nitpicked to death these days. Oprah has been a celeb for 45 years. Seems like so many younger people are delighted to be able to refer to every celebrity who doesn’t meet their exacting standards as problematic or terrible or whatever. When the 20 year olds grow up they will understand that everyone makes mistakes over a long career, and they don’t necessarily make a person cancel worthy.
Oprah has done a lot of good over the years.
Harriet, I want you to remember your words when someone you don’t like makes a mistake. They too should not be held accountable for “past mistakes” either.
Williams, I think.
Agree about Oprah.
@MEL this is an extreme reaction especially under an article about Oprah changing the lives of over 1,000 girls. These were girls from poor backgrounds that had they not gotten into school (free starting in middle school with free college education ANYWHERE in the world…) their lives would’ve been completely different. She changed soooo many girls- women’s lives through this. And she never shoved them into the spotlight. We don’t know who they are.
As an immigrant myself, the country I came from, if someone doesn’t put you through school, you’re F&@:ED!
Dr. Oz and Phil were respected professionals in their fields when she platformed them. She’s not responsible for their turn toward megalomania and power. They are.
@MEE. Thank you for reminding everyone that when Oz and Phil were on her show, they weren’t quacks. Oprah was open to all sorts of therapy, both spiritual and medical, and platformed people from all disciplines. It bothers me when someone like Oprah (who spent 25 years encouraging her audience to be their best selves) gets taken down because of the actions of others. It’s very telling that some find the idea of two white men bringing down a black women a reason to rejoice.
No one is all good or bad despite our modern attachment to binary thinking. I think she absolutely does deserve criticism for platforming these guys. Phil was a jury consultant who was criticized by the psychiatric community for providing ineffective (at best) to harmful(at worst) advice and who hasn’t renewed his psychology license since 2006. Oz was on there not as a respected cardiologist but a health guru who spouted a bunch of pseudoscience. He’d already been controversial with his peers over his views and research methodology. This had nothing to do with their politics.
But Oprah also is a hugely admirable figure in so many ways. Chief amongst them is her own rise. She’s a perfect example of making it on your own. She was born to a teenage mom, her father left, she was raised dirt poor and sexually abused as a child. Through her own brains and ability she rose, as a WOC, through the ranks of a field dominated by white men. She created a gigantic media empire.
Both things can be true.
Oprah is 72?! She looks great (with help I’m sure!) but I had no idea. Time sure does fly, seems like yesterday I was watching her every afternoon.
Mel, unfair criticism, IMO. What other talk show host/TV personality EVER started a school in another country? She is to be commended and I still believe and quote advice of hers over the years.
I would be okay with a 🌏 without Oprah…and I’m from Chicago & thought THAT in the 80s😠
Lala11-7, I hope you’re okay with me saying that your comment was practically blasphemous. Can you honestly say you trust the president, FBI, CIA or the Supreme Court MORE than you trust Oprah? I don’t eat past 6 p.m. each night because Oprah said not to. I’d rather she have the nuclear codes than Donald. I’m not saying she’s a saint, but yes she is.