Celebrating Our Access Heroes at Open Dreams (1/20) - Toulack Kingsley | August 16, 2026

While academic excellence can open many doors, the courage to pursue opportunities relentlessly often matters just as much.

At Open Dreams, we often remind ourselves: “Spare no opportunity. It pays to apply.”

Few people embody this philosophy better than Mr. Toulack Kingsley, our Team Lead for Grassroots Mentorship.

Mr. Toulack has devoted himself to mentoring students who are often overlooked because they do not meet the academic thresholds for our mainstream programs.

Rather than looking only at grades, he looks for something deeper: the hunger for opportunity, the willingness to put in the work, and the grit to keep going.

Today, we celebrate one remarkable story among many.

One of his former students, a young woman from a financially challenged single-parent household, scored seven points below our threshold at the GCE Advanced Level. Based on her academic results, she did not come any close to qualifying for Open Dreams’ mainstream mentorship pathway.

But Mr. Toulack encouraged her to keep trying.

Through consistent follow-up, personalized guidance, and the simple but powerful reminder that she should not count herself out, she continued applying while others looked elsewhere.

She clicked “submit” when others postponed their dreams until tomorrow.

Today, she is heading to one of the best universities in Africa.

What a testimony!

And this is far from an isolated success.

Opportunities often reward those who are willing to keep trying. As a MasterCard Foundation Scholar on the campus of this new university, an entirely new world of possibilities opens up to her.

For years, Open Dreams has maintained parallel mentorship WhatsApp communities known as Orientation Groups. These groups are open to students who may not have the grades for our flagship top-notch mentorship programs but possess the drive to dream bigger and take a shot at every opportunity.

Sometimes, all it takes is someone who believes in a young person, follows up consistently, celebrates every small victory, and encourages them to keep moving forward.

Today, we celebrate Mr. Toulack Kingsley for being that person to so many young people.

And he is certainly not alone. Many mentors—Open Dreams Program Facilitators, Scholars, and teachers—quietly support these students. They follow their mentees’ stories, celebrate their small breakthroughs, and find joy in every step of the journey. Each moment, however small, adds another patch to a beautiful story, much like Dolly Parton’s “Coat of Many Colors.”

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Mr. Toulack’s own journey reflects the excellence he inspires in others. He is a 2023 International ACAC Scholar, a 2024 Chevening Scholar, and currently serves as a Regional Pedagogic Inspector for Biology for the Centre Region of Cameroon.

Despite these accomplishments and the high demands of his schedule, he continues to invest tirelessly in transforming lives through highly personalized mentorship.

He is also a powerful and inspirational voice at the Open Dreams Graduate Summits, helping to shape and guide these important gatherings.

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As we count our blessings, we are grateful not only for scholarships won and universities gained, but also for the mentors and team members whose quiet, faithful work changes the trajectories of countless young lives.

Counting our blessings.