In Washington today, 500 exceptional young African leaders convened at the second YALI Presidential Summit and Town Hall with President Obama. Over the course of the three-day Summit, the 2015 Mandela Washington Fellows, who represent the extraordinary promise of an emerging generation of entrepreneurs, activists, and public officials, will engage with leaders from the public and private sectors, as well as with each other.

During his remarks, President Obama announced several important expansions for YALI:

• Today, the YALI Regional Leadership Center (RLC) in Accra, Ghana opened. This is the second of four RLCs to open this year.
• Next year, up to 80 Americans will participate in a reverse exchange, traveling to Africa to work directly with Mandela Washington Fellow Alumni and other young people and institutions across the continent.
• The YALI Network has grown to over 140,000 members who will now have access to expanded online courses, including three new online courses called the “The Mandela Washington Fellowship Institute ”
• Additionally, President Obama affirmed that next year the Mandela Washington Fellowship will expand to 1,000 participants.

The expansion of YALI programs over the past five years has allowed the U.S. Government to connect with more young Africans than ever before. To date, tens of thousands of young African men and women have increased their skills, professional networks, and resolve in driving positive change in Africa. YALI is providing opportunities for young Africans to enhance their leadership skills and create meaningful ties with American citizens, businesses, organizations, and each other.

Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders

The Mandela Washington Fellowship is the flagship program of YALI, the President’s signature initiative launched in 2010 to deepen the United States' engagement with the youth of Africa. YALI supports young African leaders as they work to spur growth and prosperity, strengthen democratic governance, and enhance peace and security across the continent.

Now in its second year, the Mandela Washington Fellowship brings 500 young African leaders each year to the United States for six-week trainings at 20 U.S. universities. The Class of 2015 Mandela Washington Fellows arrived in the United States in June and participated in institutes at 20 top American universities. Their academic coursework and executive leadership development focused on one of three tracks: business and entrepreneurship, civic leadership, or public management. Formal university programming was augmented with workshops, mentoring, and networking opportunities with leaders in their fields.

Upon returning to their home countries, Fellows continue to build their skills through support from U.S. embassies, the United States Agency for International Development, the United States African Development Foundation, and other partners. Fellows have access to ongoing professional development opportunities, mentoring, networking and training, community service, and seed fund­ing to support their ideas, businesses, and organizations.

The U.S. government has seen significant impact from its investment in young leaders through the Mandela Washington Fellowship. Since the completion of their Fellowship experience in the United States, Class of 2014 Fellows are building innovative businesses, connecting with American and African investors, forging new relationships with young leaders across African nations, and serving their communities with skills developed during the Fellowship.

YALI Regional Leadership Centers

This summer, YALI Regional Leadership Centers have begun providing leadership training to young Africans between the ages of 18 and 35, further expanding YALI’s reach. These innovative and technology rich Centers in Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, and South Africa will reach every country in sub-Saharan Africa. The first Center, located in Nairobi, Kenya welcomed its inaugural group of 80 young leaders in July and hosted President Obama for his civil society town hall during his recent visit to Kenya. Today in Accra, Ghana, the Regional Leadership Center covering much of West Africa welcomes and begins training 100 motivated and talented young Africans. The four Centers will train approximately 3,500 young African leaders annually. Admission to the Centers is merit-based, broadly representative of each Center’s region and diversity, and will have gender-balanced participation.

To ensure that the Centers provide relevant, quality training, each is designed to include a broad array of public-private partnerships, building upon the assets of African institutions and the resources of the United States. YALI RLC partners include Microsoft, McKinsey & Company, Procter & Gamble, and many others who have committed more than $80 million of financial and in-kind resources in support of the Centers. The MasterCard Foundation, a premier partner, recently expanded its contribution to the YALI Regional Leadership Centers by committing an additional $5 million in financial resources.

YALI Network

The YALI Network numbers more than 140,000 members and continues to grow. Using yali.state.gov and social media platforms, the United States provides YALI Network members with free online courses and materials; connects members with global leaders in their field; and enables members to collaborate on new initiatives. In addition, YALI Spaces in Cote d’Ivoire, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Senegal, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, and Rwanda are being renovated to provide Network members vibrant, state-of-the-art physical spaces to meet, learn, and incubate their ideas. Trainers will facilitate online courses and provide advising sessions on everything from business start-ups to opportunities for study abroad. Meeting rooms, collaboration spaces, and business tools will allow YALI Network members to work together to create social ventures, community service projects, and new business start-ups.

Source: state.gov