Application Deadline: July 1st 2019
In July 2014, U.S. Government announced the creation of four Regional Leadership Centers (RLCs) in Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, and South Africa to serve as regional hubs across the continent to encourage transformational learning and enhanced leadership skills. The RLCs are a collaborative effort between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in close partnership with the MasterCard Foundation and other private sector partners. Each RLC is managed under a public-private partnership.
The YALI Regional Leadership Center East Africa, located at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, is managed by Deloitte East Africa in collaboration with a growing number of African and international partners.
The YALI RLC East Africa is more than a location for learning or a venue for collaboration; it represents a philosophy, a forward-leaning culture of diversity that invites dreaming and thinking differently to define and realize one’s potential.
The educational philosophy incorporates three main focus areas: personal transformation, leadership transformation, and sector transformation. Enhanced leadership skills underscore all three focus areas.Selected participants will engage in leadership training across three tracks of study:
(1) Business and Entrepreneurship,
(2) Civic Leadership, and
(3) Public Management in a 4-week residential format with a focus on individual and team leadership skills, innovation, creative learning, and communication. The program’s emphasis is on interactive and experiential learning which fosters each participant’s ability to contribute both individually and in teams.
Recruiting and Selecting the Best Leaders
To place about 90 qualified participants per cohort, in nine cohorts each year, the YALI Regional Leadership Center East Africa Center has a rigorous recruitment and selection process. Admissions staff at the Center actively recruit young men and women, between the ages of 18 and 35 from 14 East and Central African countries, who are interested in enhancing their futures as leaders in business, the public sector, or civic organizations.
The intensive and rigorous program is not for everyone…it requires a significant commitment away from family, friends, and work and school obligations
Participant Criteria:
*Between ages 18 and 35
*Citizen of one of 14 East & Central African countries
YALI RLC East Africa Countries:Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda
*Fluent in English
*Able to fully commit to the 4 week program
*Demonstrated involvement in the community
Engagement After the Program
One of the most important questions after the 4-week program is: what’s next?
Alumni will have ongoing opportunities to connect, continue their learning, help to shape future cohorts of the program, and apply the lessons, tools, and techniques learned to benefit their communities.
Some of the Center’s exclusive alumni-only opportunities include:
Volunteer Engagement—Serving as volunteers via country-based Alumni Chapters or as Country Liaisons, alumni can help to coordinate activities, host trainings, recruit prospective participants, review applications, and engage the community.
Transformation Fund —Applying for financial and non-financial resources that support collective action that help alumni to provide meaningful activities, trainings, events, workshops, and forums to their communities and countries.
Networking, Events & Continued Learning—Taking advantage of specialized networking occasions (e.g., with local investors, public officials, etc.), social events, continued educational opportunities such as monthly Learning Labs, and a platform to keep connected with fellow graduates.
For More Information:
Visit the Official Webpage of the YALI Regional Leadership Center Fellowship Program 2019
