International Research Funding Alert

July 2023

The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders has started at Texas Tech University, with 24 fellows attending the Institute focused on public management and leadership. This year marks the fifth time Texas Tech has been selected to be one of the hosts for this highly competitive initiative, which is the flagship program of the U.S. State Department's Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). Since its inception, YALI has brought more than 5,000 young leaders from countries across Sub-Saharan Africa to the U.S. for leadership training.

The program will run until July 30th at which time the TTU team will accompany the Fellows to the Mandela Summit in Washington, D.C. The twenty-four participating fellows are some of the brightest and most tenacious young leaders across Sub-Saharan Africa. Many of these men and women either run their own business or lead a nonprofit. This year 19 countries are represented, with fellows ranging from 25-35 years old.

The TTU academic team for this project, comprised of Dr. Darren Hudson, Dr. Conrad Lyford, Dr. Jamie Bologna Pavlik, and Dr. Ian Lértora, has prepared a detailed curriculum focused on academic and leadership lectures which emphasize Public Management. The administrative team, led by Ms. Elizabeth Espino, and Mr. Michael Johnson, has prepared a schedule which includes community service, site visits, and a variety of cultural events including a visit to TEXAS! at Palo Duro Canyon. The Texas Tech fellows will also travel to Austin to share experiences with the University of Texas Mandela cohort and engage in coordinated community service events and academic sessions.

More information can be found in the "New Cohort of Mandela Washington Fellows Visit Texas Tech" Texas Tech Today article.