Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) 10th Anniversary

CORE COMPONENTS OF YALI 10 CELEBRATIONS

• YALI Commemorative and Competition Books

  The YALI 10th Anniversary Commemorative Book and the YALI 10th Anniversary Competition Book were produced to memorialize this momentous milestone. The Commemorative Book encompasses all of the anniversary’s events and activities including snapshots of keynote speeches, sessions, and content and highlights anniversary participants, speakers, entertainers, and cultural content providers. The Competition Book is a collection of the poems and stories from YALI alumni sharing how YALI transformed and enhanced their professional development as young African leaders.

  • The YALI 10th Anniversary Commemorative Book available to read or download here in the following languages:
  • English
  • French
  • Portuguese

  • The YALI 10th Anniversary Competition Book available to read or download here in the following languages:
  • English
  • French

• YALI 10 Virtual Summit

  This milestone event celebrated 10 years of YALI and looked ahead to the next 10 years of the initiative. The Summit convened YALI alumni and Network members, U.S. and African policymakers, and subject matter experts and stakeholders to celebrate YALI’s accomplishments, discuss many of the most pressing governance, development, and security issues facing Africa, leverage the transformation and opportunities offered by the continent, while strengthening U.S.-Africa relations, and the bonds of collaboration among Africa’s youth across countries, regions, communities and sectors.

  Learn more here.

• YALI 10 Competition

  To celebrate a decade of YALI change-makers and their achievements, YALI alumni and active Network
  members who have demonstrated a commitment to leadership in their communities were encouraged to
  participate in the competition by submitting entries (in written, video, audio, or multimedia format) that
  described or demonstrated how YALI has impacted their personal and professional development, and how
  they have made a difference in their communities and around the world. The competition was open to
  individuals or alumni groups, and entries were required to correspond to one of YALI’s three curriculum tracks
  (or across multiple tracks for group submissions).

  Competition Winners: A total of 185 entries from 38 countries were received, including 81 essays/poems,
  28 videos, 11 multimedia entries, and 10 photography submissions. A committee reviewed the entries and
  selected 15 winners who were announced and showcased at the YALI 10th anniversary summit. The third place
  winner was 2015 Mandela Washington Fellow Ms. Hyasintha Ntuyeko, and the second-place winner
  was 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow Mr. Uche Kenneth Udekwe. Dr. Chidzani Mbenge, a 2019 Mandela
  Washington Fellow, was selected as the competition’s first-place winner for her poem entitled "The Shy Girl Who Refuses to Die Shy". 

• YALI Impact Videos

  To capture the impact of YALI, a diversity of YALI alumni, Network members, U.S. and African officials, YALI stakeholders and partners, and YALI Advisory Council members recorded short impact statements responding to one of three questions: how has YALI impacted your life, community, and the world; what does YALI mean to U.S.-Africa relations; and what do you envision for the next 10 years of YALI? The impact statements were played throughout the summit.

• A Vision for the Future of YALI

  Having successfully reached its 10th birthday, the last day of the Summit focused on crafting a vision of the next 10 years of YALI. Participants convened in three breakout sessions: business and entrepreneurship, civic engagement, and public management to discuss “The Next 10 Years of YALI: A Vision for YALI’s Future”.

  The Vision for the Future of YALI videos can be found on the Wilson Center's YALI 10 Summit playlist here.

• YALI Expo

  The YALI 10 Summit Expo provided an interactive forum for African, U.S., and international civil society, public, and private organizations representing a variety of sectors, to engage with Summit participants and foster engagement, partnerships, and actionable connections between the United States and Africa.

  To view the YALI Expo vendor list, click here.

• Summit Networking Rooms and Lounges

  To facilitate networking and connections among the participants, virtual Networking Rooms and Lounges were open throughout the summit. Over the course of the 5-day summit 2,617 connections were made through the Networking features (an average of over 3 per attendee), and there was an average of 64 attendees per lounge. In the Networking Rooms, participants were matched with fellow attendees, based on interests indicated during registration, for 3-minute networking sessions. In the Networking Lounges, participants could select which Lounge to join based on their interests.

  We are extremely thankful to our YALI 10th Anniversary Committee members and everyone who led discussions, formed connections, and participated in this virtual activity.

  Lounges were hosted the following topics and groups:
  • Regional Leadership Center East Africa
  • Regional Leadership Center Southern Africa
  • Regional Leadership Center West Africa Accra
  • Regional Leadership Center West Africa Dakar
  • Mandela Washington Fellows Alumni Group
  • Francophone Countries
  • Lusophone Countries
  • Business and Entrepreneurship
  • Civic Engagement
  • Public Management
  • YALI Alumni in Media
  • YALI Creatives
  • Intellectual Property Rights as a Driver of Socioeconomic Growth in Africa

• #YALI4Ag Livestream

  Agriculture is the backbone of Africa’s economic development goals and is central to achieving food security. The YALI 10 event focused on agriculture’s pivotal role in meeting Africa’s economic development goals and achieving food security for its citizens, and the role of Africa’s youth, including YALI, in achieving this goal.

  For more information and to watch the livestream click here.