Atlanta, Georgia Local News
The Mandela Washington Fellowship returns to CAU
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Clark Atlanta University (CAU) recently announced its selection as an Institute Partner for the 2024 Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders.
Beginning June 19 – July 28, CAU will host 25 of Africa’s bright, emerging Business leaders for a six-week Leadership Institute, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.
The Mandela Washington Fellowship, is celebrating 10 years of being 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.
Established in 2014, the Mandela Washington Fellowship is celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2024. Since its inception, nearly 6,500 young leaders from every country in Sub-Saharan Africa have participated in the Mandela Washington Fellowship.
The cohort of Fellows hosted by Clark Atlanta University will be part of a group of 700 Mandela Washington Fellows hosted at 28 educational institutions across the United States.
CAU’s Dr. Darlita Moye said the Mandela Washington Fellowship was a program which started during the Obama administration and essentially is a program that brings over roughly 700 fellows from across the continent, in different countries in Africa every year.
There are three tracks: Civic engagement, public management, and leadership in business.
“Clark Atlanta University has the leadership in business track, and it is housed in the School of Business. So essentially, what we do here is we put together a curriculum that is rigorous, and we show them the best practices around business and leadership,” Moye said.
Additionally, Moye said they connect them on experiential learning visits to places like UPS, Coca Cola, and IBM. Last year, she said, they went to Google and this year they will be visiting Microsoft, so the fellows can see firsthand how they can apply what they’re learning in the classroom to what businesses are doing today.
She said they also focus on the social and cultural components by taking the fellows to various sites like the Martin Luther King Jr. Center, the Herndon Home, the Carter Library, the aquarium, and the Coca Cola Museum.
“We asked them to participate in community service, where they’re actually given back in the city of Atlanta, places like mad-share, places like Atlanta Community Food Bank and also trees,” she said. “What that does is it gives them a very well-rounded approach to how we’re doing things at HBCUs and how the community as a whole in Atlanta views community service.”
Furthermore, the fellows’ range between the ages of 25 and 35. Moye says they’re hoping what they do is take back these best practices of those things they can become community leaders, start a business, create a business, or scale their existing businesses.
“We’re providing a six-week intensive program that will help them achieve that goal,” she said. “We’re hoping it will have what we consider to be the multiplier effect, and they will be able to grow and create jobs within their community.”
This is the 10th year CAU has been doing this, according to Moye.
“We have been the only HBCU from the very beginning that is still here today. There are others, but we’ve been here the whole 10 years,” she said.
Since 2014, CAU has hosted 250 Fellows from the continent to connect with local partners-City of Atlanta, IBM, UPS, Coca Cola and Google through site visits, collaborative projects, and forums. Additionally, Fellows will give back to the community through service opportunities with local partners, such as Atlanta Community Foodbank, Med Share International, Trees Atlanta, Peachtree Road Race and more.
Following the reception and during their 6-week stay, the Fellows will participate in speed networking, small group sector, social/cultural events and more.
After their Leadership Institutes, Fellows will participate in the Mandela Washington Fellowship Summit, in Washington, D.C. 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
professional development with U.S. non-governmental 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.
For more information, visit https://www.mandelawashingtonfellowship.org.
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Isaiah Singleton
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