This week, the Staley School of Leadership Studies at Kansas State University was thrilled to welcome 25 of Africa’s emerging civic leaders for the 2021 Mandela Washington Fellowship. Due to the ongoing global pandemic, this year’s institute will be held virtually. K-State has the privilege of hosting and engaging these civic engagement leaders for a six-week Leadership Institute.
The Mandela Washington Fellowship is the flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), funded by the U.S. Department of State. The Fellowship develops the capacity of young leaders from Africa to tackle the many complex challenges of the 21st century.
The 25 young African leaders hosted by the Staley School this year come from 17 different and very diverse countries, including Angola, Benin, Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Principe, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. The Mandela Washington Fellows come into the Leadership Institute with a wide range of experiences, with 5-12 years of leading change in areas such as disability rights, gender equality, education, criminal justice, peacebuilding, food security, and agricultural development.
In this series, we will be highlighting the vital work that these fellows are doing to make progress on tough challenges facing the African continent and, indeed, our world. This series will also include reflections of fellows on their experiences during the Leadership Institute and important takeaways.
Learn more about our outstanding fellows.
The Mandela Washington Fellowship 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 #YALI2021.
Onyedikachi Ekwerike, Ph.D., is a 2017 Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumnus, a graduate of the K-State Leadership Communication doctoral program, and the author of blog posts highlighting the 2021 Fellows.
