Mandela Washington Fellowship

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 the African continent.

Purdue’s fourth cohort of Mandela Washington Fellows will participate in an on campus Leadership in Business Institute for six weeks between June 8 and July 16, 2022 for intensive executive-style leadership training, networking, community service, and skills building, with an emphasis on engineering and agriculture-related innovations and businesses. This Institute is a campus-wide collaboration, led by the office of International Programs in Agriculture, Office of Global Engineering Programs, The Burton Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Purdue and the colleges of Agriculture and Engineering.

After their Leadership Institutes, Fellows will participate in a virtual Summit. Up to 70 competitively-selected Fellows will also participate in six weeks of virtual professional development with U.S. non-governmental organizations, private companies, and government agencies.

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. Purdue University is a sub-grantee of IREX and is implementing a Leadership Institute as a part of the Fellowship. For more information about the Mandela Washington Fellowship, visit mandelawashingtonfellowship.org and join the conversation at #YALI2022.