U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa
PRESS RELEASE
Addis Ababa, July 3, 2024 – The U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa is proud to celebrate ten years of the 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, the U.S. government’s signature effort to invest in the next generation of African leaders, supports young Africans as they spur economic growth and prosperity, strengthen democratic governance, and enhance peace and security across Africa. The Mandela Washington Fellowship is funded by the U.S. Department of State, designed and managed by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), and implemented by IREX. The Mandela Washington Fellowship is celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2024.
Since its inception in 2014, nearly 6,500 young leaders from every country in Sub-Saharan Africa have participated in the Mandela Washington Fellowship, including more than 300 from Ethiopia.
Nearly all Mandela Washington Fellowship alumni agree that being a Mandela Washington Fellowship alumni has been beneficial for their professional development. Mandela Wahington Fellows are positioned to impact their communities through their expertise, networks, and initiatives. For example, YALI Mandela Washington Fellow alumnus Dr. Addisu Fekadu from Arba Minch University has leveraged his fellowship experiences and connections at Kansas State University to develop Ethiopia’s first enset scrubbing and bleaching center, implemented upon returning from his fellowship. 2021 Fellow Dr. Emnet Shimber collaborated with her host institute, Appalachian State University, to spearhead the Healthcare Simulation Educational Exchange project in Ethiopia. She trained more than 200 Ethiopian nurses with high-fidelity simulation technology to enhance their skills as emergency first responders.
This year’s cohort of Fellows from Ethiopia will be part of a group of 700 Mandela Washington Fellows hosted at 28 educational institutions across the United States. Fellows were selected from a pool of over 50,000 applications submitted across the continent.
After the Leadership Institute in the United States this summer, 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 of additional professional development with U.S. non governmental organizations, private companies, and government agencies.
Upon completion of the Fellowship, Fellows will join the larger alumni community where they embody the shared aspirations of the United States and Ethiopia for mutual prosperity through strengthened partnerships and enhanced mutual understanding.
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 #MWFCelebrates10 and #YALI2024.
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