Photo by: Bloomberg
The US Embassy announced on Tuesday that 46 South Africans had been invited to participate in the first Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) Washington Fellowship.
US Ambassador to South Africa Patrick Gaspard congratulated the group of leaders who would represent their country in the first year of the fellowship.
The 46 leaders would travel to the US in June with over 450 other young African leaders for a six-week programme at one of 20 prestigious US universities followed by a conference in Washington, DC hosted by US President Barack Obama.
The South African recipients were selected from almost 4 000 applicants and represent a diverse group of leaders already making important contributions in entrepreneurship, public administration and community service in their communities.
“The participants from South Africa are among the most inspiring and talented young people in the country and we are excited to provide them with this opportunity to network with other leaders on the continent and in the US,” he said.
Gaspard regretted, however, that owing to space constraints the Embassy was not able to send all of the qualified and worthy candidates who applied this year. He encouraged all unsuccessful applicants to reapply next year as well as to consider the other educational and professional exchange programmes available on the Embassy website.