Mandela Washington Fellows -- BSU June 27

The EarthView team is proud to be making a presentation to a distinguished group of leaders from throughout the continent of Africa who are participating in the Mandela Washington Fellowship program. We will be welcoming leaders from 17 countries to a special presentation of EarthView. We have also arranged for them to experience their continent on the National Geographic traveling flat map -- a huge map of their home continent that we can explore by walking from country to country!



We look forward to meeting and learning with these young leaders.

BSU President Fred Clark, Esq. recently announced the program to the campus community.

On June 17, Bridgewater State University will welcome 25 African leaders to participate in the U.S. State Department’s Mandela Washington Fellowship (MWF), the flagship program of President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) (http://www.bridgew.edu/mandela-washington-fellowship). President Obama launched YALI in 2010 to support young African leaders as they spur growth and prosperity, strengthen democratic governance, and enhance peace and security across the continent.

The Fellows are emerging civic and public leaders aged 25-36 and are coming to Southeastern Massachusetts from Angola; Botswana; Cabo Verde; Cameroon; Ethiopia; Kenya; Lesotho; Liberia; Mauritius; Nigeria; São Tomé and Príncipe; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Somalia; South Africa; Swaziland; and Uganda. Those selected for the program have promoted innovation and positive change in their organizations, institutions and communities.

Through the extraordinary efforts of the entire campus, and after six months of intense planning, we have created an outstanding Public Management Institute that includes academic course work, leadership training, cultural experiences and networking opportunities.  The Fellowship experience will culminate in August with all 1,000 Mandela Washington Fellows from each of the 41 host universities across the United States attending a summit in Washington, D.C., with President Obama.

The Mandela Washington Fellowship program presents a remarkable opportunity for our university to have a deep and meaningful engagement with Africa, and significantly enhance our strong reputation as a public university committed to global education. We can all take pride in being part of this effort to empower the next generation of African leaders.