U.S. embassy announces 2023 Washington Mandela Washington Fellows |27 May 2023

The participants in a souvenir photograph with Ambassador Jardine

Two young African leaders from Seychelles have been selected to participate in the 2023 Mandela Washington Fellowship Programme.

The participants were announced during a ceremony organised by the U.S. embassy on Thursday, May 25, in Port Louis, Mauritius.

The two participants from the Seychelles cohort, Nissa Thompson and Sarentha Luther, attended the ceremony in-person.

The Mandela Washington Fellowship includes a six-week programme at a U.S. college or university, where participants will have the opportunity to share their experience with and learn from U.S. citizens and other Fellows.

The programme allows participants to explore opportunities beyond their daily work in the fields of Business & Entrepreneurship, Public Management, and Civic Engagement, and network with U.S. representatives from the government, NGOs, and businesses.

“The Mandela Washington Fellowship Programme has, over the years, become the most popular and successful of U.S. exchange programmes. It is a life-changing journey. We hope you will return with the skills, network, and motivation to be active agents of change,” U.S. ambassador Henry Jardine said to the 2023 participants during his remarks at the ceremony.

The Mandela Washington Fellowship is part of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), the U.S. Government's signature effort to invest in the next generation of African leaders, which started in 2010.

Over the last ten years, 5,800 young leaders from every country in Sub-Saharan Africa, including 22 from Seychelles, have visited the United States on this exceptional programme.

Press release from the U.S. embassy