YALI Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders 2025

The Mandela Washington Fellowship will bring up to 700 young leaders to the United States in the summer of 2025 for a comprehensive executive-style program that is designed to build skills and empower Fellows to lead in their respective sectors and communities.

• Table of Content
• About Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI)
• YALI Mandela Washington Fellowship
• Requirements for YALI Mandela Washington Fellowship Qualification
• Application Deadline
• How to Apply

About Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI)

The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) is a signature effort to invest in the next generation of African leaders. The need to invest in grooming strong, results-oriented leaders comes out of the statistics: nearly 1 in 3 Africans are between the ages of 10 and 24, and approximately 60% of Africa’s total population is below the age of 35. Who will empower and lead these young Africans? Who will shape the future of business and entrepreneurship, civic leadership, and public management? In order to answer these questions, YALI promotes three models designed to identify and empower young... continue reading

YALI Mandela Washington Fellowship

Requirements for YALI Mandela Washington Fellowship Qualification

The Mandela Washington Fellowship does not discriminate against applicants because of race, ethnicity, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, geographic location, education, income, socio-economic status, ability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other protected characteristic as established by U.S. law.  The Fellowship is committed to fairness, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. 

The Mandela Washington Fellowship is open to young African leaders who meet the following criteria:

• Are between the ages of 25 and 35 as of the application deadline (September 10, 2024), although exceptional applicants ages 21-24 may be considered;
• Are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the United States;
• Are eligible to receive a United States J-1 visa;
• Are not employees or immediate family members (spouses, parents, children, or siblings) of employees of the U.S. Government (including a U.S. embassy or consulate, USAID, or other U.S. Government entity);
• Are proficient in reading, writing, and speaking English (additional guidance coming for applicants who are deaf);
• Are citizens of one of the following countries: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, or Zimbabwe;
• Are residents of one of the above countries and will be permanently residing there as of May 1, 2025 and at the beginning of the Fellowship in June 2025; and
• Are not Alumni or prior participants of the Mandela Washington Fellowship.

Please note that Fellows are not allowed to have dependents, including spouses and children, accompany them during the Fellowship.

Application Deadline

How to Apply

Got questions?  Visit Frequently Asked Questions  about the Fellowship application to learn answers to common queries.

For more details, visit YALI website