Welcome to the Mandela Washington Fellowship Civic Leadership Institute hosted by the Department of African American Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign!

The Mandela Washington Fellowship is the flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) and embodies President Obama’s commitment to invest in the future of Africa. Through this initiative, young African leaders are gaining the skills and connections they need to accelerate their own career trajectories and contribute more robustly to strengthening democratic institutions, spurring economic growth, and enhancing peace and security in Africa. The Mandela Washington Fellowship is a program of the United States Government. The U.S. components are administered by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and supported by IREX, a U.S. non-governmental agency.

The Civic Leadership Institute is an intensive six-week program that provides 25 young African leaders with an interdisciplinary examination of how citizens have shaped U.S. history, government, and society―both as individuals and groups― including discussion of similarities and contrasts with experiences and opportunities on the African continent. The institute defines civic leadership, examine its development in the U.S. and develops skills in areas such as citizenship, community building, economic development, grass-roots activism, political organizing and leadership, volunteerism, and the use of technology in advancing civic causes. Through an interdisciplinary examination of American society, coupled with experiential study and an immersion program in the “heartland” of America, the Institute explores how American grass- roots, political, and legal movements have created a common cultural heritage and core set of values that drive innovation, legal reform, humanitarian, and civil rights efforts continuing to define American society today.