CAIR-Chicago Selected to Host a Young African Leader
CAIR-Chicago is pleased to announce that it has been selected to host Solomon Ateh, a Fellow from Cameroon in the Professional Development Experience (PDE) component of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders from January 31 to March 11, 2022, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. This is the fourth selection for CAIR-Chicago, previously hosting Mandela Washington fellows from Burkina Faso (2017), South Africa (2018), and Eritrea (2019).
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, nearly 5,100 young leaders from every country in Sub-Saharan Africa have participated in the Mandela Washington Fellowship.
Solomon Ateh is a human rights and peace activist, development communication expert, & founder and CEO of Bantu Voices, an organization working to address the gaps of transparency and accountability in Cameroon's civic space through communication. He is the convener and moderator of the Global Peace UN 75 Inter-Generational Dialogue and a Member of the African Journalist Network for Digital Rights. He has also volunteered with local CSOs in Cameroon. This past summer, Solomon studied Leadership in Civic Engagement at Indiana University, Bloomington.
Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and with the health, safety, and well-being of Fellows and Partners as the highest priority, the Mandela Washington Fellowship was conducted virtually in 2021. New for 2022, 30 of the 2021 Fellowship Alumni have been competitively selected to take part in the spring 2022 PDEs—six-week virtual professional placements with U.S. non-governmental organizations, private companies, and government agencies. PDEs allow Fellows to learn and grow as young professionals while providing enriching opportunities for U.S. organizations to participate in collaborative exchanges.
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 #YALI2021.
Press inquiries should be directed to ECA-Press@state.gov