App State’s 2023 Mandela Washington Fellows are pictured at Grandfather Mountain in Linville, alongside staff from the university’s Office of International Education and Development, including Dr. Jesse Lutabingwa, associate vice chancellor of international education, third from right in the front row. Photo submitted
BOONE, N.C. — This summer, two dozen emerging leaders from 21 African nations are visiting Appalachian State University’s Boone campus — working to strengthen their leadership and civic engagement skills through the university’s 2023 Mandela Washington Fellowship Leadership Institute.
App State is one of 28 public and private institutions nationwide — and the only university in North Carolina — selected to host the Institute this year as part of the 2023 Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders. The six-week Institute, taking place June 21 through July 30, is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.
Jeffar Amagadu, of Kenya, a 2023 Mandela Washington Fellow at App State, gives a peace sign while preparing meals as a volunteer at Boone’s Hunger and Health Coalition. Photo courtesy of Hunger and Health Coalition
Vicky John, of Tanzania, a 2023 Mandela Washington Fellow at App State, volunteers at Boone’s Hunger and Health Coalition, helping to sort and label pantry items. Photo courtesy of Hunger and Health Coalition
Gift Makuwa, of Zambia, a 2023 Mandela Washington Fellow at App State, helps stock fresh produce as a volunteer at the Hunger and Health Coalition in Boone. Photo courtesy of Hunger and Health Coalition
The Mandela Washington Fellowship, the flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), empowers young African leaders through academic coursework, leadership training, mentoring, networking, professional opportunities, and local community engagement. YALI was created in 2010 and supports young Africans as they spur economic growth and prosperity, strengthen democratic governance, and enhance peace and security across Africa. Since 2014, the U.S. Department of State has supported nearly 5,800 Mandela Washington Fellows from across Sub-Saharan Africa to develop their leadership skills and foster connections and collaboration with U.S. professionals. The cohort of Fellows hosted by App State are part of a group of 700 Mandela Washington Fellows hosted at 28 educational institutions across the United States.
After their Leadership Institutes, Fellows will participate in the Mandela Washington Fellowship Summit, where they will take part in networking and panel discussions with each other and with U.S. leaders from the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Following the Summit, up to 100 competitively selected Fellows will participate in four weeks of professional development with U.S. nongovernmental organizations, private companies and government agencies.
Funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and implemented by IREX, Leadership Institutes offer programs that will challenge, motivate, and empower young leaders from Africa to tackle the challenges of the 21st century.
Chiaratou Olayinde Moutairou, of Benin, left, and Pilar Beaka, of Equatorial Guinea — both 2023 Mandela Washington Fellows at App State — share a moment of smiles atop Grandfather Mountain in Linville as part of the university’s Mandela Washington Fellowship Leadership Institute. Photo submitted
Marie Ange Raissa Uwamungu, of Rwanda, a 2023 Mandela Washington Fellow at App State, helps label food pantry items for Boone’s Hunger and Health Coalition. Photo courtesy of Hunger and Health Coalition
Meet the 2023 Fellows
Browse the photo gallery below to learn more about the 25 Mandela Washington Fellows taking part in App State’s 2023 Leadership Institute. These young leaders represent 21 different countries across Sub-Saharan Africa and range in age from 24 to 36.
Zachuas Olopi, of Kenya, serves as the team lead for the Inua Village Group, a community-based organization founded in 2017 that focuses on early education, food production and security, community-level manufacturing and a cooperative society. Through this organization, he focuses on solving the intricate relationship between social and economic challenges that members of his community face. He plans to eventually serve as chairman of the group, through which he would have the capacity to create jobs for more than 160,000 people, educate more than 10,000 children and feed more than 15,000 people each year. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Wellington Bakaimani, of Zimbabwe, is the founder and executive director of Simukaupenye Integrated Youth Academy, an organization that promotes youth engagement in governance and sustainable development. He also serves as the president of the Southern African Youth Development Council and has attained funding for his Rural Young Women Engage Project, which empowers young women leaders with the knowledge and skills they need to be effective and successful in their communities. Bakaimani aspires to be a socioeconomic and political influencer, promoting a pro-democracy generation of young leaders who will foster sustainable development and occupy key leadership positions in economic and political spaces in Zimbabwe. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Wagner Gomes, of Cabo Verde, is the national institutional partnerships development coordinator for SOS Children’s Villages of Cabo Verde. In this role, he works to mobilize and manage partnerships with the purpose of developing and implementing social projects in favor of vulnerable children, families and communities. Through his experience with App State’s Mandela Washington Fellowship, Gomes aims to develop the skills needed to advocate for policy changes to favor children’s rights and to network with community-based organizations that empower children and families. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Vicky John, of Tanzania, is a leader in the field of sustainable agriculture, with a focus on empowering rural communities to adapt to climate change and create solutions to battle food insecurity. She is a pioneer in the fields of climate-smart gardening programs and farmer cooperatives that provide eco-entrepreneurship opportunities to women and girls. Her goals for her time as an App State Mandela Washington Fellow include furthering her knowledge about community agriculture projects, agricultural technologies such as remote sensing and integrating new concepts into traditional rural agricultural systems. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Stehen Katende, of Uganda, is the founder and director of Kisoboka Africa, which supports the economic development of women and girls. The organization has supported over 2,000 women and youth in the Lwengo District of Uganda, helping them to save and invest over $170,000 to start and manage successful businesses. The organization also works with refugees in the Nakivale Refugee Camp to help them develop and manage their own businesses. Katende aims to learn strategic planning skills through App State’s Mandela Washington Fellowship, so that he can strengthen his nonprofit organization and turn it into a self-sustaining organization. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Refiloe Semethe, of Lesotho, currently works as a project manager for a climate change project focusing on young girls and women. She provides climate change education, assists in the implementation of micro-projects within her community and supports the implementation of advocacy actions. She has also worked with a group of girls and young women to help co-create climate change educational materials used by the Lesotho Girl Guides Association to educate girls and young women on climate change. Her long-term goal is to have more women tackling climate change at all levels in her country and to inspire more women to take on decision-making roles. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Pilar Beaka, of Equatorial Guinea, is part of a social investment team, through which she works on community projects such as schools, parks and the construction of drinking wells. She is also assigned to manage health programs such as cervical cancer screening and testing. By taking part in App State’s Mandela Washington Fellowship, Beaka strives to develop the necessary skills to address social issues related to young women in her community and country, to fight for human rights — especially for vulnerable populations, to plan strategically and to improve her public speaking skills. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Martinien Edgard Niakawoya, of the Central African Republic, works for a women’s association that promotes entrepreneurship activities, as well as a nongovernmental organization called Ephphatha. Through his role with these organizations, he has trained young girls and women survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) on income-generating activities. Through App State’s Mandela Washington Fellowship, Niakawoya plans to network with other leaders from across Africa and in the U.S. who are also working on behalf of victims of GBV. He aims to use his newly acquired skills and experiences to launch a new initiative with his organization called the Integral Promotion of Woman and the Social Inequality Fighting. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Marie Ange Raissa Uwamungu, of Rwanda, is the founder and executive director of Impanuro Girls Initiative, a female-led, nongovernmental organization that focuses on several key areas: sexual reproductive health and rights awareness, menstrual hygiene management and ending period poverty, gender-based violence awareness, savings and job creation, and mental wellness and advocacy. Uwamungu strives to develop several key skills through her participation in App State’s Mandela Washington Fellowship, including fundraising, networking and communication. She aims to use these skills to implement her organization’s five-year strategic plan. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Macy Wilson, of Liberia, serves as an agricultural extension officer, providing technical training and extension services to small-scale female farmers and farming organizations on the latest techniques and information related to crop production, climate-smart agriculture and best farming practices. As a Mandela Washington Fellow, Wilson aims to network with people from diverse backgrounds and to hone her skills in the areas of leadership, communication, entrepreneurship, mentorship, public and motivational speaking and advocacy. Her long-term goal is to promote technology options for farmers that would increase their productivity and build their resilience to the negative impact of climate-related changes. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Lindelwa Mkhwanazi, of Eswatini, serves as a capacity development officer, supporting five LGBTIQ organizations. Through this work, she ensures that these organizations have the capacity to independently implement their development initiatives and provide health programs for the growth and sustainability of their communities. She has worked in various nongovernmental organizations as a program officer for adolescents and youth programs on reproductive health. With an interest in developmental issues and traditional practices, Mkhwanazi shared that her experience in App State’s Mandela Washington Fellowship will allow her to become a globally minded leader who is prepared to advocate for the development of gender policies that economically empower women and youth in her community and country. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Koinonia Baloyi, of South Africa, is the communication and fundraising officer for African Bush Camps Foundation. She is also the founding director of Girls with Wings, an organization that sows hope and restores the dignity of homeless and underprivileged women by providing them with sanitary products. In 2022, Baloyi launched an entrepreneurship project to create a new brand of sanitary pads, resulting in job opportunities for homeless women through the labeling and packaging of the pads. Baloyi aims to use the skills, networks, relationships and knowledge she gains through App State’s Mandela Washington Fellowship to grow her organizations — continuing to ensure that homeless women have adequate access to menstrual health products. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Jeffar Amagadu, of Kenya, is the founder and director of Declares Kenya, a youth-led, youth-serving organization with a primary goal of amplifying the voices of women and children. The organization does this by facilitating programs that focus on achieving a healthy and sustainable world in which women and children can realize their full potential and take the lead in their development. Amagadu is working to sharpen his civic engagement and advocacy skills through App State’s Mandela Washington Fellowship and plans to teach individuals in rural and marginalized Kenyan communities how to amplify their voices and work toward social and economic justice. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Idda Katigula, of Tanzania, serves as executive director of the JJ Breastfeeding Organization. Through her advocacy, Katigula’s organization has helped more than 15,200 people through activities that include one-on-one and group counseling, live social media meetings, and an online forum providing resources for health care providers — such as national and global breastfeeding guidelines, protocols, research papers and conference opportunities. According to Katigula, most health care providers working in Tanzania’s maternity units have limited lactation knowledge, which affects parents’ feeding choices and goals for their young ones. She aspires to support the Tanzanian government in establishing the country’s first Human Milk Bank, which will save the lives of newborns and premature babies. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Ida Puliwa, of Malawi, is founder and director of the Othakarhaka Foundation, a nonprofit and volunteer-based organization that provides food, clothing and shelter to elderly and orphaned populations and works with victims of forced marriage, helping them to return to school. The organization also advocates and cares for patients with chronic health conditions by offering palliative care services. Puliwa aims to sharpen her managerial skills through App State’s Mandela Washington Fellowship to better operate her organization. She has built an organization of 4,000 volunteers, raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants and positively impacted the lives of thousands of Africans. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Hadidjatou Yaya, of Togo, serves as the administrative assistant for A Woman A Farm. She previously served as an intern for the Social and Legal Actions Center, where she held the position of social programs and projects coordinator. Yaya plans to pursue a master’s degree in marketing and business, to publish several theater pieces and a compilation of essays, to run her own agricultural business and to have her own YouTube channel — a platform through which she will discuss business, social issues and leadership issues. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Gift Makuwa, of Zambia, is co-founder of Health Literacy Zambia, an organization focused on women’s health in rural areas — with a main focus around non-communicable diseases in women, such as hypertension, diabetes and breast cancer. During her time in App State’s Mandela Washington Fellowship, Makuwa aims to gain leadership, management, networking and collaboration skills, which she said she will use to create a mobile clinic program and a strong network of health ambassadors who can fulfill the mission of Health Literacy Zambia in all provinces of the country, ultimately reaching more than 100,000 women in rural areas. She is concurrently pursuing a degree in medicine and surgery at Levy Mwanawasa Medical University. Photo by Chase Reynolds
In his 10 years of professional work, Fred Mensah, of Ghana, has served as the team lead on a sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) project with the Presbyterian Health Service-North. Through this position, he has played a key role in championing women’s empowerment as a strategy to eliminate SGBV among young women and girls. Mensah aspires to be a professional who advocates for the improvement of women’s lives and the promotion of gender equality, sharing that he believes strongly in the idea that improving the life of one individual within a community will contribute to developing the whole community. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Joseph Yennu, of Ghana, serves as a community optometrist, providing affordable access to cataract surgery. He is involved with eye health screening programs in schools and community outreach to help with early detection of glaucoma and childhood refractive errors for the prevention of avoidable blindness. Through his outreach efforts, Yennu was responsible for a 50% increase over the past year in cataract procedures performed in Ghana’s Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa District. Yennu hopes to collaborate with district health officials to develop and implement school-based eye screening programs to ensure the early detection of cataracts. His long-term goal is to establish a nongovernmental organization to expand rural access to cataract surgery. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Daniel Sendegeya, of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is co-founder of the Congo Innovation Academy (CINA), which trains individuals with disabilities and conflict-affected youths in entrepreneurial leadership skills to create sustainable change. Since its inception, CINA has trained almost 300 youths. In his role, Sendegeya has offered entrepreneurial leadership training, launched an empowerment program for women and raised funds to provide laptops to his trainees. Through his experience in App State’s Mandela Washington Fellowship, Sendegeya aims to create a lasting network, promote diversity and flexibility, develop critical and strategic thinking and develop professionally to ultimately increase his development activities in his community. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Chiaratou Olayinde Moutairou, of Benin, serves as a project supervisor for CARE, a leading humanitarian global organization. She has dedicated her professional life to girls’ and women’s empowerment issues. She promotes sexual and reproductive health rights and is involved in the fight against gender-based violence. Most recently, she worked on a community project funded by the United States Agency for International Development that focused on gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive rights, advocacy and accountability for lasting change. Moutairou shared that when women and girls are financially independent, they are able to make decisions that positively impact their families and their communities. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Brian Bongani Sibeko-Ngidi, of South Africa, serves as director of the Uthingo Network, one of the leading queer organizations in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He participates in high-level advocacy for the inclusion of LGBTQI+ needs in policy development and social cohesion initiatives and is interested in community education initiatives that challenge anti-LGBTQI+ social norms in rural-based and township communities. Sibeko-Ngidi’s goal for participating in the Mandela Washington Fellowship at App State is to network with LGBTQI+ organizations, as well as LGBTQI+ rights advocates and academics who conduct research in the LGBTQI+ and queer theory spaces. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Bojosi Antonette Ncube, of Botswana, serves as a senior agronomist based in the northeastern region of Botswana, where she works closely with small-scale farmers in rural farming communities. She provides consulting services for agribusiness value-chain management, working with intergovernmental institutions, development banks and the private sector to design, develop and implement agribusiness improvement programs. Ncube also has a professional interest in climate change adaptation and mitigation and has volunteered with AU-EU Youth Hub as a climate change and sustainability specialist. Through her participation in App State’s Mandela Washington Fellowship, Ncube aims to gain knowledge on resource management, strategy development, financial management and effective networking. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Aicha Traore, of Côte d’Ivoire, is founder and project manager of the nonprofit Pro-Kids, which advocates for inclusive education. Each year in Cote d’Ivoire, close to 6,000 teenage girls become pregnant and drop out of school, Traore shared. Pro-Kids works to return these girls to school and to unlock their potential by raising awareness, providing sex education and promoting the girls’ self-esteem. As an App State Mandela Washington Fellow, Traore strives to gain valuable skills in relationship management, fundraising, advocacy, organizational management and leadership, so that she can recruit, organize and develop a strong network of young volunteers for Pro-Kids — allowing the organization to reach more teen mothers through increased programming and support services. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Roda Mabuluco, of Mozambique, serves as project coordinator for Madre Coraje Association, an organization devoted to reducing social inequalities by promoting better social services, access to livelihood and citizen participation in the preparation and follow-up of public policies. She also serves as senior impact manager for the organization Kurandza, which strives for female empowerment through education programs — supporting young girls with scholarships, supplementary literacy classes and mentorship. As a participant in App State’s Mandela Washington Fellowship, Mabuluco plans to learn more about developing inclusive methodologies and materials to empower people with disabilities. Photo by Chase Reynolds
'Mutual learning and understanding'
“Programs such as the Mandela Washington Fellowship Institute help strengthen global learning at App State by bringing the world here, to both the university and its local communities,” said Dr. Jesse Lutabingwa, associate vice chancellor of international education, director of international research and development and professor of public administration. “The Mandela Washington Fellows enhance North Carolina’s High Country region by engaging with campus community members, local leaders and Friendship Families — all for the benefit of mutual learning and understanding.”
Two App State Mandela Washington Fellows — Idda Katigula, of Tanzania, left, and Koinonia Baloyi, of South Africa — take part in Boone’s 2023 Fourth of July celebration. Photo submitted
On July 10, App State’s 2023 Mandela Washington Fellows visited North Carolina’s capital, Raleigh, where they gained a multifaceted view of governance issues and public access to elected officials and governmental resources. The Fellows and staff members of App State’s Office of International Education and Development had the opportunity to meet North Carolina Rep. Abe Jones, who represents Wake County, second from right, who shared this image via Twitter. Photo courtesy of NC Rep. Abe Jones
App State’s Institute provides participants with an overview of how citizens have shaped U.S. history, government and society, both as individuals and as groups. Fellows have the opportunity to compare and contrast what they learn in the U.S. with their experiences in Africa, and to participate in seminars and workshops conducted by App State faculty and staff, as well as leaders from local nonprofits.
The Fellows are paired with peer collaborators who are leaders in Boone and/or Watauga County so that they may learn from one another and broaden their networks. Fellows also volunteer with local organizations, spend time with American Friendship Families in the High Country to experience American family life and participate in cultural events and activities.
App State’s 2023 Mandela Washington Fellows, who hail from 21 different countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, showcase the traditional clothing of their countries and cultures during a presentation to visiting Upward Bound students at the university’s Boone campus. Photo submitted
App State’s institute is supported through a partnership between the Office of International Education and Development and Academic Civic Engagement.
The Mandela Washington Fellowship is a program of the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and administered by IREX. For more information about the Mandela Washington Fellowship, visit mandelawashingtonfellowship.org and join the conversation at #YALI2023.
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Ghislaine Sêtchémin, a 2021 alumna of App State’s Mandela Washington Fellowship.
25 African leaders will visit App State for a 6-week Leadership Institute — the first held in person since summer 2019
About the Office of International Programs
Appalachian State University combines a strong liberal arts foundation with a comprehensive, pervasive and integrated commitment to global engagement. The Office of International Programs assists App State in fulfilling its global engagement mission by working to develop awareness, knowledge, appreciation and respect of cultural differences — in both domestic and international contexts — in the university’s students, faculty and staff, as well as in the surrounding communities. Learn more at https://international.appstate.edu.
About Appalachian State University
As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, affordable education for all. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.
Ghislaine Sêtchémin, a 2021 alumna of App State’s Mandela Washington Fellowship.
25 African leaders will visit App State for a 6-week Leadership Institute — the first held in person since summer 2019
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