The University of Georgia has been selected as an institute partner for the 2022 Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders. Beginning in mid-June, UGA will host 25 of Africa’s bright, emerging civic engagement leaders for a six-week Leadership Institute, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.
The Mandela Washington Fellowship, the flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), empowers young African leaders through academic coursework, leadership training, mentoring, networking, professional opportunities and local community engagement. YALI was created in 2010 and supports young Africans as they spur economic growth and prosperity, strengthen democratic governance and enhance peace and security across Africa. Since 2014, the U.S. Department of State has supported nearly 5,100 Mandela Washington Fellows from across sub-Saharan Africa to develop their leadership skills and foster connections and collaboration with U.S. professionals. The cohort of Fellows hosted by the University of Georgia will be part of a group of 700 Mandela Washington Fellows hosted at 27 educational institutions across the United States.
After their Leadership Institutes, Fellows will participate in the Mandela Washington Fellowship Summit, where they will take part in networking and panel discussions with each other and with U.S. leaders from the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Following the summit, up to 100 competitively selected Fellows will participate in four weeks of professional development with U.S. nongovernmental organizations, private companies and government agencies.
Funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and implemented by IREX, Leadership Institutes will offer programs that will challenge, motivate and empower young leaders from Africa to tackle the challenges of the 21st century.
Some of the highlights for the Fellows participating in the University of Georgia’s program will be:
- Collaborating with local partners on community minded projects in the areas of public health, food security and youth empowerment.
- Giving back to the community through service opportunities with Extra Special People and Books for Keeps.
- Sharing their culture with the Athens community at the Africa in Athens event at the Georgia Museum of Art.
The 2022 program at the University of Georgia will be delivered through a collaborative effort of the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, the UGA Office of Global Engagement and the African Studies Institute at Franklin College.
For additional information about the Mandela Washington Fellowship Leadership Institute at the University of Georgia, please contact Brian Watkins at brianw@uga.edu. To learn more about the Mandela Washington Fellows at the University of Georgia, visit https://yali.uga.edu/.
The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is a program of the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. government and administered by IREX. For more information about the Mandela Washington Fellowship, visit mandelawashingtonfellowship.org and join the conversation at #YALI2020.
