 Hi, I'm Todd Haskell. Hi, I'm Britta Bearnland. And welcome to our live application Q&A for the 2015 Mandela Washington Fellowship. We're very excited to be talking here today about the program. It was just a few months ago that I was sitting in a ballroom with 500 of the 2014 Washington Fellows, waiting anxiously for our special guest, the President of the United States, President Barack Obama, to welcome the Fellows to Washington. The mood in the room was one of great expectation and excitement. And indeed, when one of the Fellows came out to introduce the President, the roar of the crowd drowned out the end of her introduction. The President's remarks to the Fellows and the dialogue that followed captured everything that this program is about. Exchange between Africans and Americans, hope for a better future for Africa, faith in the capacity of young Africans to make that future a reality, and a belief in shared values of democracy, justice, and equality. The President, I'm told, was thrilled, and he can take the credit. The Mandela Washington Fellowship is his initiative, an initiative he created because he believes Africa is a region on the move. There are great challenges, sure, but the President believes there is a new Africa, more prosperous, more confident, that is finally taking its place on the world stage. And that's why, four years ago, he launched the Young African Leadership Initiative that we call YALI. He wanted to tap into the imagination, the courage, the yes we can attitude of young Africans like you. And since then, we've worked with young people across the continent to empower them with new skills and entrepreneurship and leadership and new partnerships in education and health and technology. Last summer's fellowship showed its potential in that ballroom when the President met with the Fellows. The Mandela Washington Fellowship had brought young Africans to the United States from all over the continent to develop their skills at our best colleges and our best universities. And now, the same Fellows have returned to Africa applying those skills they have learned. Many are now working in internships or implementing proposals, with some with grants made available through YALI. Wherever they are in civic leadership, public administration, or in entrepreneurship, they are representatives of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, which, as I speak, is bringing real, positive, necessary change to Africa. President Obama had a vision of a bridge between the United States and the young people of Africa that would last beyond his presidency and would shape the future of the engagement between the United States and Africa. That vision is becoming a reality. And now, we want to invite you to join in the building of this vision of this reality moving forward. We invite you to go to the website yali.state.gov and begin your application so that you can become a Mandela Washington Fellow. And we urge you to complete that application before November 5th. Africa faces many challenges. We know that. But President Obama believes that young people in Africa are ready to face those challenges. As Nelson Mandela once said, it always seems impossible until it's done. Britta? Thanks, Todd. It's a great honor to be speaking directly to 1,000 of aspiring leaders throughout Africa. Hello, everyone. Todd and I really enjoyed having this opportunity to answer questions live last year. And so we're thrilled to be able to do this once again this year. I hope you all have lots of questions. If you're hosting a viewing party for this program, don't forget to take pictures and share them with us. Let me just start by saying that working on the Mandela Washington Fellowship last year was the highlight of my time here at the State Department. My staff and I spent more than a year and a half preparing for the exchange, refining the model, selecting the implementing partner through an open competition, drafting the application, meeting with officials at the White House, reading and scoring applications, preparing the universities and many, many meetings, on and on with so many small details, but nothing could prepare us for the excitement of getting to meet the fellows in person. Each fellow I met was interesting, smart, well-spoken and committed to a better future from Africa. So I can't wait to meet the next batch of wonderful young leaders and to see where you take your communities, countries and continent. So for those of you who don't know, a few main points about the program. It is a six-week academic and leadership institute in one of three tracks, business and entrepreneurship, civic leadership or public management. We will select 500 of Sub-Saharan Africa's top young leaders, aged about 25 to 35 to participate. Fellows will participate in groups of 25 at one of 20 institutes. The institutes are held at diverse universities and colleges throughout the United States. Each six-week program draws from the universities or departments unique set of expertise and resources, but also has common elements to the other institutes. The institutes include academic study, workshops, case studies, site visits, networking opportunities, mentoring and practical leadership training. As one of our goals is promoting mutual understanding between the people of Africa and the people of the United States, fellows will also interact with everyday Americans and get a chance to experience American culture through visits, community service and cultural programming. One additional thing about the institutes, this is a six-week very intensive program. If you apply, please be prepared to dedicate yourself and your time to the institute. You won't have much time to continue your work at home remotely. You really will need to take a break from your home endeavors to focus on the program and your leadership path. Now at the end of the institutes, all 500 Mandela fellows will convene in Washington, D.C. for a three-day summit as we did this past year. During the summit, fellows will have the chance to meet and interact with President Barack Obama as well as many other prominent U.S. government, business and civic leaders. The 2014 summit really was a highlight of the program and with the feedback from last year's cohort, the 2015 program should be even more dynamic. After the summit, up to 100 fellows will remain in the United States for an additional six to eight weeks after their academic institute to participate in internships in the public, private and nonprofit sectors with organizations throughout the United States. The internships are designed to be high-level, professional development opportunities that relate to fellows' professional experiences. Then fellows return home where they will have access to additional programming including leadership centers, mentoring, community service activities and internships in Africa. Now for a few tips on the applications. Last year we received over 49,000 applications for 500 slots, so yes, it is very competitive but that doesn't mean it isn't possible. The application includes several components. First and foremost, be honest. Second of all, don't be humble. This year the application includes six short answers or essay questions. My tip is to write clearly and concisely answer the question as specifically as possible. Give us ideas about things that speak to you personally. Don't give a broad answer about a general topic. We are trying to learn more about you, your interests, your work and your future. The application deadline is November 5th. Don't forget to get them in by the 5th. We have no exceptions after that date. After November 5th, first year application will be read and scored based on the set program criteria. If you make the semifinalist round, you'll be called in for an interview in your country, probably in January or February of next year. Finalists will be notified in late March. Now it really is an open competition, so we invite you to apply. Now it's time to take some questions. Don't forget to ask your questions in the chat space on this page and on Twitter using hashtag Yali2015. Okay, I'm gonna start by reading the question and then I'll give you my answer. Can someone apply without sitting for the TOEFL exam but if they have a good understanding of English? Yes, the TOEFL exam scores are not required. Proficiency and fluency in English is required, but you do not need to have scores. So if you feel that you speak pretty good English but haven't taken the exam, please go ahead and apply. If you make it to the semifinalist round and you go into an office at the embassy or somewhere else in your country, the staff there will, of course, be having the interview in English and we'll get to have a little bit of a feel for whether you actually can speak English or not. But TOEFL scores are not required. Todd? Thanks, Britta. Question for me here, it says which criteria is used to select the best applicants? You know, criteria sort of breaks down into two groups. First of all, there's criteria to apply and you can get a lot of the answers to some of these questions at our website, yali.state.gov, but essentially the basic criteria people need to apply is they have to be in the right age range, which is ages 25 to 35, although we will accept younger applicants in very special cases. We're looking for people who speak English. We're looking for citizens of Africa who are living in Africa at the time. But when we make the selection, when we, as Britta was pointing out, we do receive a lot of applications for this program, we're really looking for leaders. Folks who are going to make a difference in the future of Africa. So we're looking for people with an established track record of leadership, of making positive change in Africa, and people with a vision for the future. And as Britta was saying, the essays and the applications that you submit are very important because we wanna see people who've had a track record of making change and are looking forward at making changes. We move forward. Okay, here's another question. Can we submit several applications? Will that improve our chances? Are there any penalties for applying multiple times? You cannot submit several applications and it will not improve your chances. I believe that if you submit several applications, your first application will be the one that is considered, your actual application, and all the subsequent applications would be tossed out. So there really is no advantage for submitting more than one application. And here's a question for me. Will this initiative continue after President Obama leaves office? That's certainly the intention. And one thing that I have found in my time working in the State Department is that US policy towards Africa is remarkably bipartisan. Democrats and Republicans, the two major parties in the United States will argue about a lot of things, but there is an extraordinary unanimity about our policy towards Africa. We've seen that with the African Growth and Opportunity Act, an act where the United States has significantly lowered tariff barriers for countries in Africa, and that began during the Clinton Administration, continued during the Bush Administration, continues today. Similarly, with the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, it's an substantial commitment to confront the HIV-AIDS crisis on the continent, which began during the Bush Administration and has continued during the Obama Administration. And President Obama certainly looks like, as jolly, as his legacy for Africa. And I can tell you that there is substantial support throughout Congress and throughout the government for the program. Britta? Okay, here's a question for me. Can Africans with substantial stay or exposure to the United States be qualified to apply? What are their chances? Well, this is kind of a tricky question. I think the program really does try to target sub-Saharan Africans who have had less exposure to the United States, but no one is disqualified from applying. So you still are qualified and eligible, even if you've had some exposure to the United States. In terms of what are your chances, it's really hard to say. We really don't know what the competition is. So I just, I encourage you to go ahead and apply. Okay, question for me. Does the successful submission of the application form automatically qualify for one for US citizenship? That's an easy one. Now, the answer is no. We're obviously looking for African applicants, and the point of what we're trying to do here, frankly, is we're trying to work with young Africans who are qualified and amplify their skills, but the whole overwhelming point of it is, is to help Africa and to sort of improve the relationships between the United States and Africa. So somebody who applies for the program who then has the intention of remaining in the United States or becoming a US citizen would not be in line with the goals of the program. Obviously, by applying for this program, you're not limiting your future ability to immigrate or anything like that, but that's not the point of the program. What we're looking at is folks who will go back to Africa and make a tremendous difference in their home countries, whatever that country might be. Okay, here's a question for me. How does formal education play a role in the selection process? Will candidates be disqualified based on whether or not they have a formal diploma or degree? So formal education plays a role in terms of we are looking at your application as a whole and your person as a whole. In the application, not only do you answer questions, but you'll be inputting information that's going to auto-populate into a resume. So we certainly will see and consider what your formal education is, but you will not be disqualified if you do not have a formal diploma or degree. As Todd mentioned, we really are looking for leaders in the communities, out in rural areas, in cities, in countries, so whatever the leadership means for you, it's just, it's looking at your whole package, so it's not required. Question for me, what is the required commitment to return back to Africa? Will fellows need to sign an agreement? The program, again, is for folks who are planning to go back to Africa and apply the skills that they've learned. It's much like any visa application. At the time someone will apply for the visa after they've been selected for the program, we certainly will be looking for people who have the intention of returning to Africa. And if it's clear that someone's intention, in fact, is not to do that, then they really shouldn't qualify for the program and they certainly won't qualify for the visa. Okay, here's a question for me, from an online participant who's asking. Last year I applied to participate in the Washington Fellowship and I was chosen as an alternate. Am I eligible to apply this year? Absolutely. If you were chosen as an alternate, obviously you have very high qualifications and we encourage you to reapply. Even if you weren't chosen as an alternate, we encourage you to go ahead and reapply this year. Yes, please reapply. I think we were really struck last year by how many really great candidates did apply and just missed. And we are really looking for a lot of those people to apply again. Here's a question for me. Do I have to be rich or wealthy to apply and be selected as a fellow? No. To be honest, I think Britt and I can both give numerous examples of fellows we've met who were from very modest backgrounds and we welcome that. In fact, we are looking for the best folks, no matter what their religion, no matter what their gender, no matter what their socioeconomic standing, race, creed. We're looking for a diverse group of applicants but certainly this application is not limited to the privileged. Okay, here's a question for me. What are the plans to ensure that young persons with disabilities are equally represented in the 2015 Fellowship cohort? Well, all of our exchange programs here at the State Department really embrace diversity in every aspect of that word. And so we definitely try to include people with disabilities in our programs. I think last year in 2014, we're really pleased to have something like 4% of our participants were people who had self-identified as having disabilities. We made all kinds of accommodations to make sure that they could participate as easily as any other participant. And I think that the Fellows who had disabilities were really quite pleased with the program and it was really neat to see that they participated and that they really gained a lot of confidence and a lot of leadership training and ideas that they will take back to their endeavors, whatever they are in their countries in Africa. So we definitely are hoping to have Fellows with Disabilities in the 2015 cohort. So we encourage you to apply. And you can, the application does ask you if you have a disability. So it doesn't affect your chances negatively in any way. So we encourage you to go ahead and check that box so that we can have a look at you. Thank you. Here's a question. If I do not have a passport when I apply for the Fellowship, will it affect my chances for selection? No, it will not. We understand that lots of people don't have passports and when they apply, that's not an issue. Now, of course, if somebody is selected, they will have to get a passport in order to travel and participate in the program. But we're trying to work in enough time that people will be able to complete the travel formalities, getting passports, getting visas so that we can make sure that they can participate in the program if they are indeed selected. Okay, here's another question. From the American Corner in Yamosukuro in Cote d'Ivoire. It says, and first of all, let me say hello to all my good friends in Cote d'Ivoire. But the question is, what are the costs that the YALI program covers? Okay, the YALI program covers all the costs involved in participating in the program. So what does that include? That would include the cost of your visa application, certainly, it would cost the cost of traveling to the airport in order to get on the plane. It includes the airplane ticket. It includes your accommodation and food and incidentals while you're here in the United States. You travel within the United States if you qualify for an internship. It would cover the costs of your time while you were doing the internship here in the United States. And then it would cover the cost of your plane ticket back home. In addition, at that point, you would be eligible for a wide range of grants and opportunities when you were back in Africa. So, I mean, you shouldn't look at this as something that's going to cost you any money. I think British's point that she made earlier is an important one that this is and we'll be asking you for a time commitment. But in terms of money, you shouldn't be out of pocket for this at all. Okay, here's another question. What type of documents should applicants attach their application? As an example, should a journalist include their most compelling report? What impact would letters of recommendation have on the application? It really is up to you what documents you decide you'd like to upload. So I would just suggest that you pick the documents that you think best reflect your either your professional expertise or your leadership capacity. I mean, certainly many, many applicants last year uploaded letters of recommendation and those are very helpful for us. But certainly adding something like your past journal report, something like that is totally acceptable as well. Right, not required, I think you would say, but it doesn't hurt and it may help. Here's a question for me. It says on the application, it is stated that applicants should select or should select rather the sector that most closely aligns with his or her family, her daily work, education or community involvement. However, the application instructions also say the candidates may not be placed in their chosen track. Why would that be? Okay, I think Britta was pointing out that we get a lot of applications and we have found that we get some more applications from certain countries in one track rather than another. And what we do want is we wanna have a really strong group of applications but we also wanna have the kind of diversity in the three tracks. And I should say here that the three tracks are civil society, business entrepreneurship and public administration. So if we have a particular slate or recommendations coming in from a particular country for inclusion in the program, when we look at that list, it may be that we really need someone in civil society for instance or in public administration and we don't have enough candidates there but there is someone who considers himself a business entrepreneurship person but we also see that they're involved in civil society and they're such a strong candidate, we don't wanna leave them out of the program. So there may be minor adjustments made in that way. I think that's gonna really be the exception rather than the rule that the track that you identify as the track for yourself in the overwhelming majority of the cases, 99% I think, are going to be where the successful applicant ends up. But nonetheless, there may be incidents where we take a different approach but really I think that's the exception rather than the rule. Here's another question. It says, what kind of opportunities exist when participants return back to Africa, back home to Africa after the program? I think this is really important and I wanna take a little bit of time in answering this question because I think we've had exchange programs in the past and many of some people in the audience might have participated in programs and generally the focus has been on the program itself while it's ongoing here in the United States and certainly I think the Mandela Washington Fellowship pays a lot of importance to the time here in the United States. Again, there are these excellent programs at universities and colleges around the United States. There is the presidential summit where folks get a chance, frankly, to ask President Obama what's on their mind and I think last year's participants will tell you that the president will tell them. So that's an important part but we also really value the importance of this program continuing on once participants return to Africa and to do that what we've done is a range of different opportunities for folks once they return to Africa. So what are those opportunities include? They include the possibility to apply for grants for your business or even for other opportunities through embassies, financial opportunities to support your efforts in your other fields of work. They include mentorship opportunities through our colleagues at USAID where our fellows have the opportunity to be mentored by more senior people. They include the possibility to do internships at different businesses and firms across the African continent that again our colleagues at USAID are working on. Our embassies across the continent are working with the return fellows to form Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni Organizations and these organizations will be engaged in various activities in partnership often with the embassies themselves and there will be different financing available there. There will be regional conferences that will be spread out across the continent where returning fellows will get together to take stock of where they are since what they've done since they got back from the fellowship and plan opportunities moving forward. It's a very fluid process and a lot of this is already in train. A lot of it is developing. I think we've been very heartened to see with the Ebola crisis, for instance, in parts of West Africa, the way that the Yali fellows in the affected countries have stepped up and played a leading role in organizing the response there and certainly our embassies across the continent have a commitment to work with the fellows in making this a reality. So I'm really glad this question was asked because I think this is one thing that really makes the Mandela Washington Fellowship so important. It isn't just the time in the United States. It's important as that is, it's laying a groundwork. But this is the beginning of a relationship that we hope will continue to exist moving forward in the years ahead. As the Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni cohort begins to grow, we're very excited about that possibility and we're very interested that this will shape, largely shape the future engagement between the United States and the people of Africa. And I see there's another question for me here, so let me take it. For me it says, will applicants from West African countries currently being affected by Ebola be considered for the fellowship? And the answer to that question is an emphatic yes. We're very committed to maintaining our engagement with West Africa. Now we're also very concerned about what's going on and President Obama has made it a very strong commitment on his part that the people of West Africa are not alone in this fight, that we stand with them, that we are doing what we can to mobilize the international community to take action on this, to meet this problem. I mean, I know that people talk about the Ebola problem in West Africa, but it's not a problem alone for West Africa, it's for the world. I think that the President has recognized that, that together we have to work together to meet this need. And we are committed that our exchange with West Africa and with Africa go forward. I can't predict the future. There's a lot of things that can happen between now and then, but we are committed to making this program go forward. And as I speak, there are exchange visitors from West Africa in the United States now. And we certainly don't plan and we certainly hope that that doesn't change. Krita? Thanks, Todd. Okay, here's a question for me. I want to apply to a university in the United States after the program. Do I still qualify to apply? There's no restriction for you to not apply just because you're thinking about going to the university, to a U.S. university after the program, although you are required at the end of this program to return back to Africa, but it certainly is possible that you could then return to the U.S. for some kind of study. Just to point out once again that we are looking for the future leaders of Africa, so we are looking for people who are committed to their home communities and countries to implement change and work for, work towards a prosperous Africa, but that doesn't mean necessarily that you would be not qualified just because you're thinking about going to the U.S. university. Okay, I think the next question up on the teleprompter. So yeah, so we got that one. Unless you have anything to add? No, I think Prit and I made the point well. I mean, obviously some of the fellows may want to go on to the future and do different things, and some of that might involve studying the United States. There's no, certainly there's no elimination of that possibility. Okay, another question for me. After being selected for the Mandela Washington Fellowship, what is the criteria for being selected for the U.S.-based internships? So there is a question on your application, and we're going to be looking at that question, which is would you like to apply to the Mandela Washington Fellowship internship, and we ask you, during your interview, we're going to ask you a bit about why you want to apply, what you want to get out of the internship, what do you hope to gain from a professional experience in a U.S. office, and really is during your internship, I mean, during your, excuse me, during your interview, that the people interviewing you will rate you in terms of your suitability for the internships, and then back in Washington, D.C., we have a big selection meeting when we go through those top candidates for the internships and we make our final selections there, but we will try to make it fairly diverse, so bring interns from all the Sub-Saharan African countries. So it's actually the same criteria and selection materials that you apply for the fellowship. Okay, so here's another question for me. The selection criteria says leaders with a proven record are ideal. Is there a time range of experience or record that is required? I'm getting all these tough application questions. You know, our criteria is pretty relaxed for a reason. That is because we want to sort of be able to read your application and possibly interview you in person and really get a feel for who you are as a person and where you're headed. So there's no set range of experience that is required. I don't know, Todd, do you have a feel for how many years of kind of professional experience we'd like to see? A minimum or? I think a lot of these questions are really subjective rather than objective. In other words, if somebody has more experience and more recent experience, that's better. Right. But that doesn't mean that somebody who had experienced several years ago and maybe has taken a break to study or resolve some family issues is eliminating. In fact, that might even be something that's looked upon as good. We're gonna be looking at the whole person. Yes. And so a lot of these issues, again, subjective rather than objective, and it's the best I can do. Sure. All right, here's a question. I'm a Togolese but living in Morocco. Is it possible for me to apply for the fellowship? I mean, I would invite you to apply. I think that you need to recognize that the application process, the interview and the rest of it will be occurring in Togo for you, not in Morocco. Generally, we've been looking at Africans living in sub-Saharan Africa as the most qualified candidate and if it does appear that someone has established his life and his future outside of sub-Saharan Africa and we do kind of draw the line at the Maghreb country. So in other words, for the purposes of this program, we don't look at Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt as part of sub-Saharan Africa. Then those folks would have in that same sort of subjective, objective way, would have a hard time convincing us that they were actually part of Africa's future but if it's possible candidates could establish that, this is something that you're really going to have to address in your application when you put it forward. I'd also note that the interviews for the finalists for selecting the final groups will be taking place in sub-Saharan African countries. So that would also present a challenge for you. Now, a Togoese living in Nigeria on the other hand would be a much easier thing to do, would be easier to apply and the embassy in the country in which you're living might even be, will likely be able to do the interview for you and then transmit that back to our embassy in Togo to make a decision. I hope that answers clear. There is information along these lines at the Yali.state.gov website if you have additional questions about that. Okay, there's a question for me. How many participants will be accepted in each of the sector tracks, business and entrepreneurship, civic leadership and public management? So we are trying to have it stay fairly balanced. One third, one third, one third. It's not exactly perfect with 500. We will have six institutes in the public management track, seven in the business and entrepreneurship track and seven in the civic leadership track, which if my math is correct equals 150 finalists or fellows will be chosen in the public management track and 175 for each of the business and entrepreneurship and civic leadership tracks. Okay, here's a question for me. What can I do to demonstrate my leadership if my initiatives and experience were not formal and are not traceable? Not formal and not traceable. I think that the application is, maybe this should go without saying, but if it doesn't, I'm going to say it. The application is really, really important. If your leadership qualities, the things that you have accomplished are not the kind of thing that you want an award or you have a diploma to show, you're really gonna have to demonstrate that in your application. But I will tell you that I think last year we had some fellows who, if you just looked at their resume, their list of jobs and the different things they had done, maybe it wasn't quite as impressive as when you actually read their essay and they talked about the challenges they faced and the things they had done. And I know when I sat down with those people, I was really, really struck by how impressive the accomplishments some were. In fact, one thing that I think Britt and I commented on was sometimes when people put their resume in the application, they put their job at the top of the resume and then we spoke to them a little bit or we read in their essay and it turned out that after hours, they were working with an NGO or maybe they were piloting a small business, entrepreneurship opportunity at home. And really looking at their resume and maybe what's completely traceable and obvious looking at their resume was not even the most important thing about the person, that they had this whole other side to them. And that's really, if you're that kind of person, we really need to see that come through in the application and the essay. And a lot of times those are among our most impressive candidates. So sure, we're definitely looking forward to the people who have a traceable record, who have diplomas and the rest of it, but we're looking for these other folks as well. So please don't use that as a reason not to apply. And just to echo that point, the questions really do allow you to draw on those experiences. We're asking you about your community work. We ask you about where you see yourself in 10 years. So that gives you the opportunity to talk about where you hope to go. And we ask you about your most significant professional accomplishment or an innovative idea. So even if you don't have some of this background, you do have the opportunity I think to really demonstrate what makes you special and unique. Here's a question for either of us. I'll go ahead and read it and then we can decide who gets to jump in. What makes people under 25 years eligible for the fellowship? Well, I can tell you technically that the system will allow you to apply if you're at least 21 at the time of the deadline. So that means people between the ages of 21 and 25 are eligible to apply. And we saw some really outstanding fellows last year in 2014 that were only 21 or 22. So what makes you eligible for the fellowship? Something outstanding, I think, something that we've talked about all along. Really what makes you a leader in your community or your organization or your country? I don't know, you don't want to add anything? Well, I think we just saw a teenager win the Nobel Prize for Peace. Now, we're not as open-minded as the Nobel people because we're not letting teenagers apply, but the problem is, right, is when you're 21, when I was 21, I hadn't really done much yet and it would have been hard for me to demonstrate something. But there are actually folks out there who've done a great deal. So it's probably a little bit of a harder climb for folks like that, but we welcome their applications. They will receive the same consideration that older applicants do, but of course they probably face a little bit of a hurdle that they haven't had their time in their lives to have the proven record of leadership that we're looking for. Here's a question for me. What are the impact of the program for the development of Africa? It's a great question. President Obama has talked about this program at length and the United States is very committed to the development of Africa. In our strategic goals for Africa, certainly development is at the top of the list. It's the reason the President brought the leaders of the continent together this summer. It's the reason that we are engaged in power Africa in effort to dramatically increase the level of electrical power that's going on in Africa, that to feed businesses is the reason that we promote the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which significantly lowers US tariff barriers and has created a range of industries throughout Africa as businesses have grown up to export to the United States. It's the reason we do so many things. And yet having said that, I'm really struck by the fact that the President will often say that of all his legacy in Africa, of all his efforts, he thinks this program will be the one that he's most remembered for. And as he said, it's not the most expensive program. It's not always the one that foreign leaders come and talk to us about, but he really believes that the young people of Africa, the generation that we see now, and we sometimes talk about this as a youth bulge because the quantity of young people and the quality of young people in Africa are so great that we are really looking at a generation that can bring about fundamental change and development. And he hopes that, and we believe that through this program, we are identifying future leaders. We are identifying the people that will make the future change possible and bring about the development that we're looking for. So I know the President, there's very few issues that the President is focusing on as much on a day-to-day basis as this program. And so that's why I'm urging you on behalf of the President, please do apply, do get involved, and I know that we're gonna see real change that comes out of the efforts we're making today. Britta? Okay, thanks. Before we move on to more of your great questions, we want to show this great picture that the U.S. Embassy Namibia just sent into us. Hello, Embassy Namibia, and thanks for joining the program today. Hey, Namibia. I have a question here. What happens to the applicants who will not make it through? Are there any programs or activities available to them? You know, this is, it's an interesting question, and it's something that kind of grew out of the popularity of this program. I'll be honest, I think, Britta, I'm not giving away any state secrets here. When we did this program last year, we didn't expect to get 49,000 applications. We thought we'd get quite a few applications, but we had no idea. And what we were struck by, what folks throughout the State Department were struck by, Secretary Kerry, and frankly, what struck President Obama was that, wow, there's this massive group of young people in Africa who are raising their hand and are saying, who are responding to his call to build a bridge, to create these kind of connections and talk about development in the future of Africa and how we can make it better. So that actually led to a new initiative, something that we call the YALI network. You'll notice that when you sign up to apply for the Mandela Washington Fellowship, there's a button that you can press to join the YALI network to sign up for further information about the program. And what we've done is, we've collected those names and email addresses, and we regularly communicate with these people who've signed up to join the YALI network with information. And we're also pushing out a number of resources to these folks, training opportunities and different ideas, so that we can begin a conversation with them. And one thing we're also, and this is really purely as a result of the massive response that we got from you last year, these regional leadership centers in Africa where we recognize that the numbers that we have for the Mandela Washington Fellowship, 500 a year now, and we hope that number will begin to grow, still somewhat limited, especially when you consider the full number of folks in Africa. So these regional leadership centers that we are working with African partners to establish in different countries on the continent will provide the kind of training opportunities for members of the YALI network, to people who apply for the program and don't necessarily make it. So I mean, stay tuned. We're working on making concrete these programs that are moving forward, but there are just a whole range of resources. So I would urge you, when you fill out your application, do sign up for the YALI network. We're looking forward to working with people in the YALI network moving forward. And we hope actually, I know Britt and I hope that a lot of the fellows that we get this year will come from the YALI, people who joined the YALI network last year and who are joining the YALI network even now. And of course, there are other exchange opportunities too for fellows, for applicants from Africa. So we know that many of our applicants who applied then were chosen for other programs in the United States. So that is a possibility. I know a lot of you are sitting here watching this in either U.S. Embassy libraries or American spaces or maybe you're watching it with representatives from your embassy. Please go up and talk to them about the kind of programs that we have after Britt and I are done, of course. We often talk to them about this and they should be able to talk to you about the possibilities. They may not be things that are available tomorrow but they're things that are available soon and we hope will become an important part of the relationship we have with members of the YALI network. Okay, here's another question. Can a fellow return to their home country and do an internship with a U.S. agency there? Sure, I'm not sure I fully understand the question but once you return to your home country, of course you can do an internship with a U.S. agency. It may or may not be part of the fellows program. The fellows, the Mandela Washington Fellowship does include internships that take place in Sub-Saharan Africa. If you're talking about one of the internships that's part of the up to 100 that will take part in internships in the United States, those take part here in the United States but there certainly are opportunities to have internships in Africa as well. Hey, here's a great question. What is the mission of YALI? I think when the president founded this, actually four years ago, but then he's revisited this on several occasions, he talked about tapping into the imagination and the courage of young Africans of building a bridge between the United States and the young people of Africa, of developing the skills that these folks had and beginning a conversation with them that will kind of shape our relationship moving forward. He wanted to make sure that we took advantage of the potential of young Africans and to build a better future for the continent. I think that's, the amazing thing is really when you look at US goals in Africa, when you look at President Obama's goals, they're very similar to the goals I think that young Africans have for their future. They're very similar to the goals that Africans in general have for their countries. And I think that we're, you know, there's setbacks and there's challenges but I think we're beginning to see a lot of that come true. I think we're the level of economic growth throughout Africa, the opportunities are really expanding quickly and we look at Yali as sort of a key input into that to sort of bring about the better future that we know is possible. Okay, here's another question. For applications for the civic leadership track is proven volunteerism required? I think the application gives you the opportunity in a few different places to talk about your volunteerism. There's a question that asks you the role that you play in your community, what interaction do you have with your community outside of your professional work? You can also document any volunteerism you have done in your resume. Certainly we need you to be factual and honest but I'm not sure what it means by proven volunteerism. We need you to be honest of course but you don't need to send in any kind of certificate or necessarily a letter of reference from that volunteer organization. Thanks, Brenda. Here's a question. Is there a plan to support fellows who return to their home countries after the fellowship to continue the role they play in their communities? Yes, I mean I think we're very committed to do that. Now, to support the role. In other words, our embassies in the field are very interested in working with the fellows and talking to them about their goals and moving forward. We are working to set up mentorships for any fellow who wants one so these would be people who could provide advice moving forward. We are working through our embassies to establish alumni organizations of Mandela Washington Fellowship members so that that can be an important part of organizing folks and putting together kind of programs for moving forward in a whole range of ways. I know I've talked a little bit about this earlier but I really wanna emphasize just how important is the ongoing activities on the continent. This Mandela Washington Fellowship doesn't end when folks board the plane to go back to Africa. In some ways, that's really just a beginning. Yeah, it's kind of unique program in that way that it really is just the first step in a longer engagement with the United States and the continuation of this program. Exactly. Okay, here's a resume question. On the resume portion of the application, applicants are asked to write in the third person pronoun. Does this also apply to the personal statements? No, you should write your personal statements in the first person. I think if it says, you know, where do you see yourself professionally in 10 years, you want to say I believe that I will be the president of Togo in 10 years or whatever your answer is. Definitely write your essays in the first person, they're going to be much more personal, they're gonna be much more readable, they're gonna be much more believable. Here's a question. Is there a quota of selected fellows from each country? We're always looking for diversity in our program. So we're looking for diversity in gender. I think last year's cadre of Mandela Washington Fellows was exactly 250 men and 250 women. We're looking for diversity. People have asked about handicapped folks and we certainly want to make sure that that important sector of your countries is represented. We're looking for diversity in religion and race and creed and ethnic background. We're looking diversity in every single way and we're also looking for diversity in country. So what we do have sort of an effort to make, well we want a fellow, certainly some fellows from every country and we want fellows in proportion to the size of countries and in addition to the quality of applications that are coming forward. So we do look at targets. There's no 100% fixed quota or anything like that but we want to make sure that we don't get 500 applicants from Togo and none from any other country on the continent. We want to make sure we have a good spread out across the continent as a whole. Okay, here's a question for me. What do you mean when you say leaders? Does the term apply only to those in the political arena or do you also consider those in innovation, entrepreneurship and civic engagement? Absolutely. A leader is a very broad term and certainly there are leaders in civic, in civic civil society. There are leaders in nonprofits. There are leaders in business. Probably many of you who are thinking about applying already are leaders and so it's just a matter of you really demonstrating that and proving that to us on the application and or in your interview. You do not need to be in the public sector or to be in an elected office to really be a leader. Okay, I'll try this one, Burnett. Feel free to chime in if you'd like. What is the difference between Yali and the Mandela Washington Fellowship? Okay, about four years ago, the president announced the Yali initiative. That's the Young African Leadership Initiative. And the Young African Leadership Initiative includes a wide range of activities. But the premier program at the center of Yali is the Mandela Washington Fellowship. I mean, other parts of Yali includes the Yali network. That's all the different folks that we're pushing out. People who sign up to receive our emails that have information about MOOCs and other educational opportunities. These regional leadership centers where we'll be providing training at different parts of the continent. That's part of Yali. We are establishing, if some of you are in American spaces now, we're establishing kind of super American spaces that we're gonna call Yali spaces. There are a host of different programs that all fall under the umbrella of Yali. But the one that is sort of at the center of Yali is the Mandela Washington Fellowship. And that's the program that we're talking about now. Is that about get it? Sounds good to me. Sounds good to her. Okay, here's another question for me. Is it possible to get partners from the USA to partner with my business through my involvement in the Yali program? One thing that we did a lot of at the summit, and I'll let Britt have probably expand on this, but is we gave opportunities for fellows to network. And that was networking with each other, but it was also networking with American businesses, with American entrepreneurs, with American politicians and statesmen, with a wide range of folks so that they could present themselves. I know there was a lot of focus on how to pitch your business. So really, you know, this is a program that provides folks who are selected with the opportunity, and at that point, we expect them to get involved. In addition, a lot of US businesses that are on the continent are providing internships for the Yali fellows when they return back. Am I missing anything, Brita? I don't think so. I mean, I think the program is very, very packed. So along with your academic coursework, you will also have opportunities for networking, and hopefully a little bit of unscheduled time as well, so if there are specific businesses that you want to get in touch with while you're in the United States or while you're in Chicago or wherever it is you are for your institute, you'll have a little bit of time to do that. Okay, here's a question from Twitter. Is it necessary to get a letter of recommendation from my school or workplace? So I think, Todd touched on this earlier, you are welcome to submit letters of recommendations or upload other documents, supplemental documents as they're called. Those are optional, so it is not required to have a letter of recommendation from your school or workplace. It certainly helps, but it is by all means optional. Okay, a question for me. If selected, will the program managers negotiate an absence permission from an applicant in case of refusal of the current employer? This is something that we face with a lot of our exchange programs, is that somebody gets selected for one of our programs and then their employer says, no, he can't go, he's too busy, and then often the next line is, but I'll go. No, we do our best. We will provide, our embassies do provide letters or to explain what the program is and the reason why the employer should allow the person to travel. But of course, your employer is your employer. And ultimately we can't force an employer to say let him go or not let him go. We will certainly make the effort to explain to the employer why it's in the best interest of the employer to allow his employee to go and to improve his skills and his capacity to perform in a certain job. I don't recall that this was a wide scale problem last year. I think most employers, oh, the overwhelming majority of employers, I can't actually think of a case where somebody said no about their employee going, but that doesn't mean I can rule it out. Okay, here's another question. What are the stages in the selection process? Okay, so the first date that is the most important, which probably most of you know, is November 5th because the applications are closing. Starting on November 6th, we're gonna start reviewing the applications, reading and scoring them. And we've recruited out to like hundreds of readers throughout the United States who have an expertise in one of the tracks or an interest in Africa to follow a scoring rubric to score your applications. At the same time, our colleagues in the embassies and consulates around Sub-Saharan Africa are going to be reviewing your applications. They're going to start calling semi-finalists in for interviews in January and February. It's possible they might start calling them as early as mid-November or December, but I think the bulk of the interview time will be January and February. If you are chosen as a fellow, you will find out sometime around late March. And of course, it is an option if you can't get away from your job or there's something in your life that makes it for you unable to attend. Of course, you can turn down the fellowship and that's always a good news for people who are on the alternate list. So you'll find out if you're a fellow or an alternate in late March. And IREX, who is our implementing partner, our NGO that helps us in this program, will notify all the unsuccessful candidates by the end of March. And at that time, you can start getting your paperwork together, your passports and so on, and getting your documents ready to apply for your visa. And you would come to the U.S. in mid-June and start the fellowship. So that's the selection process. Did I miss anything, Tom? The only wrinkle I would add is there obviously are events going on in certain countries, like there might be elections, different things that are happening, which our embassies will probably not try to avoid scheduling, you alluded to this, the interviews or selection process during that period. So don't be surprised, in some countries you may get a phone call earlier about an interview then January or February. But I think that's pretty much the standard one. In certain countries, the application process may move more quickly. It certainly will not move more slowly than that. You will be able to know by early March whether or not you are a finalist for the program. Actually, it's mid to late March. Mid to late March. Mid to late March. Don't get them too excited too soon. Yes, okay. The only other change that we've made from last year is that you will find out that you are a finalist that you've selected for the fellowship first and then you can start working on your paperwork. And then in a week or two, we will let you know exactly which institute you are placed at. And you don't have any ability to choose which university or college you're going to. You will be placed in a university or college, but we'll let you know that slightly later than we let you know that you've been selected. Can an applicant be selected in the business and entrepreneurship track, even though he or she has not yet founded a company? Well, I mean, I think there is more to doing business than founding a company, although that's a really big part of it. Look, there's a lot of applications and there's a lot of folks who've accomplished things. And I'm really encouraging if you think you have, I'm encouraging people to apply. We'd like lots of folks to apply. But if, you know, I don't want to take this question too far, but if you haven't had much experience in business, think about how your application will stand up against somebody who has. There is other kinds of experience in business, but I think that's an important criteria to keep in mind. Okay, here's a question. Why are applicants asked how long it has taken us to complete the application? Will this have an impact on our potential selection? No, that will not have any impact on your potential selection. It's just a question for us that allows us to get a feel for how difficult or how easy the application is. And that will help us to redesign the application in future years to kind of get a feel for how long it took applicants to really fill it out. But it has no bearing on your selection. Yeah, I mean, I know when you fill out an application like this, there's sometimes a tendency to think a lot of the questions are criteria. And actually a lot of the questions sometimes are just helping us to make sure that it works better in the future. So that's something to keep in mind. Here's a question for me. Are people with degrees from the United States or Europe favored during the selection? They're not favored. They're not eliminated either. We are looking at all applicants and interested in that. Having said that, if we're looking at somebody who's already had a lot of experience in the United States, particularly in an academic environment like this program is providing, we do scratch our head a little bit and think what kind of value added are we really giving by this person participating in the program? So I can tell you last year we did have some people who had degrees from the United States participate in the program. But I think that it is definitely not something that counts on your favor and may work against you. But nonetheless, we have open minds and it will really depend on what the other applications look like. Todd, we are running out of time, but we have time for one last question. I'll go ahead and read it. Are there educational opportunities in the United States for fellows who would want to further their education after the program? Do you mean as part of, well, the number of things, I think, and you can chime in. Immediately after the program, no. I mean, no, you go back to Africa and work on sort of applied the skills that you've had. Now, down the road, life is long. And a year or two down the future, people may suddenly come across an educational opportunity and want to go back and study. But in the immediate aftermath, we are looking for folks who are going to be heading back and looking to begin their lives and start again. I guess it's safe to say that this program is not a feeder program into any kind of master's program or workforce in the United States. We are absolutely looking for leaders who are going to go back and make changes or follow their own leadership path. But as Todd mentioned, for some of you, that may include further study in the United States. Probably for the majority of you, it won't, but it certainly isn't, is a possibility. Well, I mean, I'm afraid we're out of time for today. Thanks for all the great questions, really. This has been great. And don't forget to join us on Thursday, October 30th, for a second web chat. And for that web chat, we're gonna be featuring a 2014 Mandela Fellow, somebody who could tell you exactly what this experience is like. And someone who watched this web chat last year and it inspired him to apply. So it'll be interesting to hear his viewpoint. Maybe next year you'll be doing a web chat. We wanna thank you so much for your wonderful and active participation. And we again, we encourage you to visit yali.state.gov for more information about the application process. Good luck and see you on October 30th.