On Wednesday, June 20, Wagner College will welcome its fifth cohort of young African leaders for the summer-long Mandela Washington Fellowship program — 6 weeks of study, service, fun and fellowship. The group of 25 young people (ages 25 to 35) from sub-Saharan Africa are up-and-coming community leaders in their home countries, which is why they were selected by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and its implementing partner, IREX, to participate in the highly competitive Young African Leaders Initiative.
The YALI program empowers young African leaders through academic coursework, leadership training, mentoring, networking, professional opportunities and local community engagement. Since 2014, the U.S. Department of State has brought 3,000 young leaders from across sub-Saharan Africa to the United States to develop their leadership skills and foster connections and collaborations with U.S. professionals.
The Wagner YALI Fellows will be part of a larger group of 700 Mandela Washington Fellows hosted at 27 institutions across the United States this summer. These exceptional young leaders will meet at the end of their Institutes in Washington, D.C. for the fifth annual Mandela Washington Fellowship Summit, where they will take part in networking and panel discussions with each other and U.S. leaders from the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Following the Summit, 100 Fellows will participate in six weeks of professional development training at U.S. non-governmental organizations, private companies, and government agencies.
For more information about the Mandela Washington Fellowship, visit yali.state.gov/mwf and join the conversation at #YALI2018.
Read more about Wagner College’s YALI Fellows in our online Newsroom.
