Joyce Zamorano Sanchez (second on the left) with the 2019 UC Davis Mandela Washington Fellows at the Chancellor’s Residence for a welcome reception.
Global Aggies: THE 24 YOUNG AFRICAN LEADERS WHO MADE MY SUMMER
By Joyce Zamorano Sanchez, Mandela communications student assistant, Global Affairs Over the summer, UC Davis welcomed 24 young leaders from sub-Saharan Africa, each from different careers and cultural backgrounds, and each filled with eagerness to learn. I was by their side as a communication assistant for Global Affairs—taking pictures, writing notes for stories like this, documenting the experience on social media—but also gaining a new perspective about Africa, and its various cultures, academics, and community service, and overall the beauty of the continent and its people. These young African leaders were part of the Mandela Washington Fellowship. This fellowship is the flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), an effort to invest in the next generation of African leaders. It’s a six-week program run by the U.S. Department of State and hosted by different colleges and universities across the country, designed to empower young people through academic coursework, leadership training, and networking. Global Affairs coordinates the program at UC Davis and hired student assistants like me to capture the experience. At a community welcome reception for the fellows, Nigerian fellow Ikechukwu Iwuala delivered a brief address, but said something that would remain in my mind throughout their stay.
“Having the Mandela Washington Fellows in Davis, it was as if the world was brought to me.”
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10/16/19 4:07 PM