Nalumino Mayumbelo, the 2023 YouthMappers Leadership Fellow, and Ndapile Mkuwu, the 2019 YouthMappers Leadership Fellow and former YouthMappers Regional Ambassador, have been selected as young leaders for the 2024 Mandela Washington Fellowship. The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is the flagship program of the U.S Government’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). It is a program of the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and administered by IREX. IREX is a U.S. non-governmental organization that implements the Fellowship in partnership with the U.S. Department of State. During the Fellowship, the Fellows participate in six-week Leadership Institutes, studying Business, Civic Engagement, or Public Management hosted by U.S. colleges or universities. Learn more about the fellowship here.
Nalumino has over seven years of experience in urban and regional planning and is a town planner at Ndola City Council in Zambia, focusing on integrated development planning, local area planning, development control, and land use planning. She is a co-founder of 'Local Knowledge Mappers' and a 2023 YouthMappers Leadership Fellow. She also holds a Bachelor's degree in urban and regional planning and is pursuing a master's degree at Copperbelt University. Based on Nalumino's interests and previous experience, she has been placed in the Mandela Washington Fellowship “Leadership in Public Management” track at the University of California - Davis.
"I am honing my leadership skills and networking with other young leaders from Sub-Saharan Africa and the United States. After my leadership institute concludes, I will participate in the Mandela Washington Fellowship summit in Washington DC, during which I will have the opportunity to interact with U.S. leaders in business, government and non-profit sectors."- Nalumino, 2024.
After the Mandela Washington Fellowship, Nalumino plans to continue her work in sustainable development and upgrading unplanned settlements in Zambia using GIS for evidence-based decision-making.
Ndapile Mkuwu has over four years of experience in education as an instructor at The African Drone & Data Academy (ADDA), a collaborative project with the Malawi University of Science and Technology, Virginia Tech University, and Furman University. She has engaged with over 500 students across Africa and has received the Women to Watch award in the Education category from Women and Drones. She is a 2019 YouthMappers Leadership Fellow and served as a YouthMappers Ambassador for two years. Ndapile holds a degree in Earth Sciences from the University of Malawi and is passionate about driving positive change through education and innovative technological solutions. Ndapile has been placed at Georgia State University under the Public Management Track.
"One of the notable requirements for the program is a focus project that you are supposed to submit at the start of the fellowship, they pair you up with a focus project coach who supports you in bringing the project to fruition, the program also provides opportunities for networking through peer collaborators who are individuals in the same field as you and weekly professional networking sessions. My project is on introducing a STEM program for youngsters between the ages 12-17 years of age."
Established in 2014, the Mandela Washington Fellowship is celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2024 and has brought nearly 6,500 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. Learn more about this great opportunity here.
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