This summer, the University of Nevada, Reno had specials visitors when members of the the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders came to campus from June 21 to July 30 to experience the world of business and entrepreneurship in the United States.

The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is the flagship program of the U.S. Government’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). Established in 2014, the Mandela Washington Fellowship has brought nearly 5,800 young leaders from every country in Sub-Saharan Africa to the United States for academic and leadership training. The Fellows, between the ages of 25 and 35, are accomplished innovators and leaders in their communities and countries.

The College of Business and the Northern Nevada International Center collaborated on writing the grant proposal and partner in running the entire program. Jeremy Tiedt, assistant dean of Undergraduate Student Success in the College of Business at the University, serves as the current academic director for the program.

According to Tiedt, the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is statistically harder to get into than any medical school or law school in the United States. Spread across 27 different cohorts, there are 750 members in the entire program.

“During their stay in the United States, we have different academic sessions with guest speakers and we try our best to also get them outside of the classroom, as well,” Tiedt said. “We host cultural events, site visits and networking events.”

Besides being exposed to events and lectures in Reno, members of the program also were given the chance to collaborate and build connections with other business owners in other African countries.

“The real purpose behind the program is connecting the African Leaders with each other. Each country in Africa has their own set of laws and regulations, as well as their own way of going about business, so this program gives them the opportunity to connect with others from different countries to work together on finding new and innovative solutions to the problems they may face in their home country,” Tiedt said. “The collaboration and problem solving across borders is one of the main objectives of the program.”