 Good afternoon. I'm Todd Haskell from the Department of State, the Bureau of African Affairs. And I'm Britta Burenland from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, also at the Department of State. And we're very excited to be here today. We're going to be talking about the Washington Fellowship. First let me start by giving a shout out. I understand that we've got a lot of people online from Nigeria, from South Africa, from Ethiopia, and a big group from Uganda, so we're really really thrilled about that. And we're going to be reading some of the questions, some of the questions that we got from you already in the week before this. Plus, we're going to be answering live questions as well. So please, if you have questions, start entering them into the website. First of all, let me talk a little bit about the Washington Fellowship to begin with. It's important to note that this is an initiative of President Obama. This is not something that grew out of the Department of State or out of my office or anyplace else, but it came from the President. And the President pushed this forward because he believes that Africa is a region on the move. You know, there's great challenges in Africa, and I think everybody recognizes it. But the President believes that there's a new Africa coming, a new Africa that's more prosperous, more confident, and that's taking its place on the world stage. That's why three years ago, the President launched this effort to make sure that we're talking to the young people of Africa and that we're tapping their imagination, their courage, and as the President would say, the yes we can attitude that we see across the continent. And we call the effort the Young Africans Leadership Initiative. Now, the President kicked this off three years ago by inviting a whole group of Africans to come to the White House. And since then, we've done a variety of different programs on the continent and in the United States about new skills and entrepreneurship and leadership and partnerships in education and health and technology. But last summer, while the President was in Africa, he announced a new program that's going to give thousands of promising young Africans, like you, the opportunity to come to the United States and develop the skills at some of our best colleges and universities. The program's called the Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, and it'll focus on civic leadership, on public management and on entrepreneurship, and the skills that you need to serve your communities and your countries in the future. You'll interact with Americans, the folks who participate in this program, because our citizens frankly have a lot to learn from you as well. And you'll meet with leaders in business and nonprofits and government. And at the end, there'll be a summit in Washington in which President Obama will attend and have the chance to personally enact, interact with participants in it. Of course, the time in America is just the beginning of this program. As part of the Washington Fellowship, we figure that when you get back home to Africa, we want to partner with you. And with the connections you make as Washington Fellows with your fellow Africans, you'll have something else for the rest of your life. And that's a network of Africans and Americans ready to collaborate on a future that you want to build. Now, President Obama has created this vision. It's a bridge between the United States and the young people of Africa that will last beyond his presidency and will shape the future engagement of the United States and Africa for years to come. But this is a two-way street, and we need young Africans like you from across the continent to participate. So I'd invite you to go to the website and apply for the fellowship. And remember, the website closes on January 27th. And that's why it's so important that we're talking today and that you apply to participate in the program. So thank you for coming online. And I look forward to answering some of your questions. But before I do, let me pass to Florida Brita. Thanks, Todd. That was very well said. We're getting a lot of questions about the program in the United States and what you'll do when you go back to Africa. So I'm going to tell you a little bit about the Washington Fellowship itself. So these are six-week academic leader and leadership institutes. And if you're one of the 500 fellows that's chosen to come to the United States, you'll be placed at a U.S. College or University for this training and intensive academic coursework. As you know, you'll participate in one of three tracks, business and entrepreneurship, civic leadership or public management. Each institute is six weeks long, and they're going to all take place at the same time. If you arrive on the program, you'll leave on June 15th. You'll arrive in the United States on June 16th. And the institutes would end on July 27th. As I said, there will be 500 of you in 20 different institutes in cohorts of 25. And you'll be at different colleges and universities all throughout the United States. These include small colleges, big universities, private universities, public universities, colleges and universities in big cities, colleges and universities in small towns. They're all over the United States, so you're really going to get a different experience from some of your colleagues. Each institute will be designed around one of the three themes. It'll also include leadership training. And hopefully, living in here and talking to Americans, you'll also gain a greater understanding of the United States. The institutes are going to be very academic in nature, and they'll include an integrated series of lesson plans, guest speakers, discussions, site visits, individual classroom activities, group activities and reading assignments. We're expecting these sessions are going to be very interactive, so that you'll have a lot of time for question and answers and really exploring your ideas and sharing your thoughts. Like I said, the institutes will include leadership training. And I know you all are leaderships in your own right, but we hope that the institutes will allow you to develop and enhance your leadership and collective problem-solving skills. And then you'll go home with new inspiration to, you know, apply some of these things that you've discovered in the United States. Each institute will also explore the concept of community service and the importance that Americans put on volunteerism. Each week you'll have at least one volunteer activity. We'll go to a US NGO, a local nonprofit or community organization and really do some hands-on work. Your institutes will include day trips, weekend excursions, meetings with think tanks, historical sites, places of worship, all kinds of things to let you both explore the theme that you're studying and get better to know the United States. As Todd mentioned, the program is really designed as a way to enhance mutual understanding. So as much as we hope that you will learn and experience the United States, we're also hoping that Americans will really get to know your countries, your cities and, you know, Africa. So to the extent that you can, we hope that you'll get out there and speak to Americans and share a little bit about your lives. Honor about July 27th, all fellows will come to Washington, D.C., where you'll take place in a three-day presidential summit. And as Todd mentioned, the summit will begin on Monday, July 28th, with a town hall with President Obama. So that's a great opportunity, obviously, not something that we get to do every day and something we're very excited about. And then during the three days, you'll also have the chance to meet and network with other fellows, fellows that studied in the same track, but maybe in a different institute, fellows from your same country that you didn't know before, fellows from other countries, fellows from other regions. And so that's a great opportunity for you all to network and get to know each other. You also have the chance to network with U.S. leaders in your area of interest, or maybe other U.S. leaders that you just have the opportunity to get to know. The summit will include exciting speakers. It'll give you the chance to make your own presentations. We hope that it'll be very interactive. We're still sort of finalizing exactly what we'll do at this summit. But there'll be social events. There'll be the opportunity to talk about your following activities in Africa. And during the summit, there'll be an expo hall, which will include U.S. companies, NGOs, and government entities working in Africa and allow you to make new partnerships and integrate resources into your follow-on activities. Now, after the summit, 400 of you will go home and do more exciting things in your home cities, communities, and countries. And 100 of you will take part in an internship. As you know, the internship is optional. It will be competitive as well to participate. And it will be, we call it an internship, but it's really going to be a high-level professional development opportunity at a U.S. business, a civic society organization, or a public government agency in the U.S. And these internships will take place in August and September 2014. There are a number of activities that will also happen in Africa, access to seed funding, community service activities, ongoing professional development activities, and the opportunity for you to continue to network with each other and with us. So with that, we'll turn it over to some of our questions. Great. Thanks, Brita. We've actually received a lot of questions in the past week, and we'll try to answer some of those. But this would be an excellent time for you to start thinking about your own questions, entering them into the website, and we'll make every effort to get to as many as we possibly can. One question we got earlier in the week, what are the dynamics of travel and accommodation? When will the travel arrangements be made? What are the accommodations and catering? Okay. Well, this is something that we're taking care of completely. I think there have been questions like how much does it cost to participate in the program? How much does it cost to apply? Application is free, and we're covering all the costs of travel and accommodation and the entire program. As Brita I think mentioned, we'll start off with six weeks at an American university, and there's a variety of different universities we're using. And after that come to Washington, we'll also provide accommodations and catering there. You have a question, Brita? Yeah. So we also got a question that was, will there be a general academic course work for each of the sectors, or can participants choose from a variety? So there are 20 different institutes, and for each track, there will be some core curriculum that will be incorporated throughout the institutes. But each institute will vary, each institute will vary, and the academic course work therefore will vary. When you come to these institutes, you'll be working with 24 of your colleagues, and you won't have the opportunity to pick and choose different course works. The 25 of you will go through the academic course work and the leadership training together. So fellows at an institute will all complete the same course work. Is another question interesting? Is there a set quota of participants from each country? And if so, how many per country? Is there already a fixed number of candidates per country that will be selected? One thing that we value a lot in the United States and that we're looking for in this program is diversity. So we want to have a diverse group of countries. We want to have a diverse group of ethnic groups. We want to make sure that we have men, that we have women participating, different religions, disabled people participating. We want to have the full range of people who make up African society. So we'll be looking to get people from every country throughout the continent. Obviously some countries are larger and we'll probably have more applicants, but you can be assured that we expect to have people participating in this program from every country on the continent. Britta? I've got another question. As a Washington fellow, can our individual projects be endorsed by the fellowship to provide leverage on a global front and provide awareness for efforts in our individual countries in order to ultimately reach the global community? Well, I guess first of all, I would say that as a Washington fellow, I do think that your voice will be raised. You'll have a new network of friends and colleagues throughout Africa and throughout the United States that you can call on for support and ideas about your projects and for endorsement. Also, as I mentioned before, you'll have time at the summit to connect with NGOs and companies as well as with other fellows that will give you the chance to discuss your projects and to bring awareness to them. In addition, once you go back to Africa, the program will continue to give you a lot of opportunities and resources, including the opportunity to apply for grants and seed funding that we hope will enhance your work and create awareness for your efforts in your country. Great. Thanks. Another question. What happens if one does not have supporting documents of being a leader? Maybe because of political reasons. Do you automatically disqualify that person for that, even if the person has leadership skills and has knowledge in the selected field? No. The key thing that we're looking at here is for leaders, people who've demonstrated leadership. Now, clearly, if you have trouble demonstrating that in a documentary form because of various political reasons in your country, we still want to look at your application. And I would urge people to take a look at the application online. And a really important part of the application online is the essays, where you have the opportunity to demonstrate the kind of things you've accomplished in your life and what your goals are for your future. In addition, we're going to be anybody who participates in this program is eventually going to be interviewed by representatives from our different embassies throughout the continent. So if somebody doesn't necessarily have the documentation or the evidence to show on paper what they've done but is able to demonstrate their leadership qualities both through their experience that they reveal in the essay and on their application and in the interviews, we'd welcome those folks. We are definitely looking for a diverse group of opinion as well. OK, I've got another question. What are the possible challenges one would face if selected to participate in this fellowship? I thought this was an interesting question. Culture shock, you're coming to a new country. It's always going to be a little bit different. Another challenge might be homesickness. You might be away from your family and friends for a longer period of time than you're used to. Jet lag, you know, people who haven't traveled much are often quite surprised at how tired they are when they first get here. It takes a little while to get used to our time zone. So just be patient about that. Another thing we hear a lot of our exchange participants that come to the United States, distaste for American food. So I encourage you to be flexible and to keep an open mind even if you don't like our food or you're feeling tired, it's all part of the experience. And it's just, you know, it's all here to take it in and just sort of enjoy it. Another thing is you possibly will be sharing a room with another fellow. So just, you know, keep an open mind about that. I also want to remind you all that this is a challenging, intensive program with rigorous coursework. You'll have the opportunity to learn a lot about yourselves and to learn about others as well. I think once you get over the bad food and the jet lag, you'll find that Americans are very friendly and that we have a lot in common with you. It's a great opportunity and with opportunities comes responsibilities. We challenge our fellows to return to Africa and to begin learning what they've to begin applying what they've learned and what they've discovered here. And so despite the challenges, I think it will be a very positive experience. Yeah. And in terms of food, I can note that Washington has a pretty impressive selection of African restaurants. That's true. That's true. When will the selection process officially start? When will applicants be noted to get notified of the outcome and selected? How shall we be informed for interviews and we're there to be done? OK, so the application online closes on January 27th. At that point, we have a process of review of the applications, which will begin here in Washington, but will then go out to the embassies in your individual countries where you live. And the embassies themselves will be setting up processes for contacting the strongest applications that they see for interviews. We intend to interview many more people than are actually selected, but we want to try to give a broad range of people the opportunity to make their case in person and that we can talk to them. That process will, if the application closes on January 27th, figure the interviews will be running through February and the first part of March, at which point selections will be made. And then the final selection will be made here in Washington. So people will actually be notified that they're participating in the program probably some time in the April time frame. Shrina? OK, another question. After the six-week academic institutes, will fellows have spare time to visit some U.S. important places before they return? If so, how long will it be possible for them to? How long will it be possible for them before they go back to their respective home countries? So after the six-week academic institutes, all fellows will come to Washington, D.C. for the Presidential Summit, as we mentioned. Here, you'll have a little bit of free time to explore America's Capital City, visit national memorials, landmarks, and museums. A hundred of you will go on to internships in another part of the United States. Well, you'll have the chance in some of your free time to have a look around. But all fellows must return home after either their institute, the summit ends, or after their internship. OK. And last question I have written down here is I would like to know what you based the selection of youth leaders on in different countries. This is going to be a challenging selection process, but it's something that we're committed to doing. We're looking for folks who are down the road, have already made a difference in their communities and are already active in their communities and bringing about change and innovative approaches, but have the ability to fundamentally transform their countries in the future. We're looking for the young leaders who are going to be the leaders of the futures of their country and are going to be part of what when President Obama talks about a continent that's on the move, a continent that's on the rise. So through your application, through your essays, through the personal interviews, we're looking for people that we can identify can really bring about a transformation, a positive transformation in the continent and that the United States can work with in the future to finally bring Africa to the future that we know it deserves. Thanks. OK, I have one last question. Would there be an exam after the fellowship? So the good news is no, there will be no exam after the fellowship. The fellowship is intended to be a professional and personal development opportunity for for you all ambitious and motivated young leaders. As I said before, it's it's rigorous. It's intensive. It's very academic. It will require a lot of reading and thoughtful discussion during the institutes. But there's there's no credit given and there's no need for a final exam. That's good news. OK, listen, we started to get some questions from the field, so I'll read them out and then we can we can do our best to answer them. First question we've got here is how many applications can someone submit since there are three tracks to choose from? What if someone is eligible to apply to all three tracks? And that's an excellent question. I would suggest you go online and you take a look at the the application online and there you get to choose which tracks you want to participate in. But the application online actually prompts you to put in rank order the application you want. So you should really only apply once only apply once. But there, for instance, if you want to put the public management track up top and then maybe civic leadership and then entrepreneurship, you can actually put all three in rank order them on the actual application. OK, another question during the application process we have been asked to acknowledge that after returning from the program we will mentor we will mentor other young leaders. How will this happen? How are we going to meet those young leaders that we will mentor? Well, this is just something we asked you to commit to spreading the word and passing along some of the knowledge and some of the insights that you've gained while you're in the United States. Mentoring is probably something that you already do in your communities and possibly your schools or your profession. And we're going to be talking a lot about mentoring during the institutes to give you some of those tools. But I think it's something that a lot of you are already doing if you're young leaders. OK, we have another question. Who are the candidates in the field of public administration? If someone only has experience working in the private sector and volunteering with organizations, do they have the chance of being selected for the public administration track? It's a good question. Public administration essentially refers to people who work in government, yes? But the idea is that you might be planning a career in government. So it would be open to people who are interested in working in government in the future but are not currently doing so. On the other hand, I would say that in general, and there will be exceptions, a candidate who has some government experience is going to be a stronger candidate than someone who's never worked in government. But really, we would welcome applications from people who want a government career. Actually, here in the United States, we do have specific programs where people, young people, who've expressed an interest in a government career in the future can apply for special programs, their presidential management interns, and can actually be fast-tracked up into a government position. We've actually been talking to some African governments about the possibility of adopting such a program in their countries. But in general, the public management track, public administration track is for people who work in government or have a desire to do so in the future. And I would add that if you could use the essay section to kind of explain your story if it's a little bit unusual. I think British Point's really good. I can't overestimate the importance of the essay and the importance of distinguishing yourself in the essay and making it clear to us why you're a future young leader and what your dreams for the future are. Okay, here's another live question. Does an electronic system store each individual's information to be updated even after the closing date of the applications so that they will be notified in the future about other programs? Well, a couple things. When you were on your application, you had the opportunity to opt in to a larger network. So whether you're chosen or not, you had the opportunity to join the Young African Leaders Network, which you probably already started receiving information. But if you're part of this network, we're hoping to continue to engage you in discussion, to provide resources, and to continue the discussion. And I think it's also important that we plan this to be an annual program. So folks who don't necessarily get selected this year, we'd welcome to apply in future years. And a good way to keep up with the information about the program is to sign up for the Young African Leadership Network, which you can do actually through the website itself without even doing on the application, separate from the application. So we invite you to do that. We really want to make this. There's 500 people coming this year. We hope that number will go up in future years. And we really want to build a cohesive network of people who have the opportunity to take care of a lot of different, well, opportunities in the future. All right, we've got a question here from Uganda, a beautiful country I've been there actually. It says, can college students apply? Okay, the ideal age range that we are looking for here is from age 25 to 35. Now, I know some college students are going to fit into that and we would certainly welcome. And we actually will entertain applications from younger people as well. But remember, we're looking for people who can demonstrate their leadership abilities. There's lots of college students who could do that. It's probably a little bit easier after you've been in the professional world a little bit to demonstrate that, but we would still welcome those applications and we look forward to getting them and we'll see how it works. Sure. Okay, here's another question. Will Yali alumni from previous years somehow be a part of the 2014 program? Well, first of all, we love to stay in touch with our alumni, in particular our Yali alumni. And we're hoping that you all, Yali alumni are helping to get the word out to engage your friends and your colleagues and your networks to apply for this program. Once these Washington Fellows come back to Africa, there'll be a number of activities, community service activities, workshops, roundtables. And we certainly anticipate that a lot of our previous alumni from the Young African Leaders Initiative will also be able to take part in this program. And we really encourage the continuing networking and sharing of ideas and experiences for all of our Yali alumni. Okay, here's a question. Is a person who is a citizen and permanent resident of one of the participating African countries but is currently studying in the US or Europe eligible to apply? How will they be able to interview if they are not living in their home country? The idea of this is we are looking at people who have not had significant experience in the United States and who are living in Africa and are committed to the future of the continent and of their home country. I don't wanna make a hard and fast rule here. I think that there could possibly be a demonstration that someone's only temporarily overseas. But the interviews for the application will be occurring in Africa. They will not be occurring in other countries. So it would be somewhat difficult. I don't wanna discourage people from applying but I could see problems if somebody's living in the United States why their application would necessarily be weaker and also that it would be a burden for them to travel back to their home countries to participate in the selection process. Okay, here's another question. Are there minimal educational qualifications for Washington Fellowship eligibility? This is something we talked a lot about in the planning stages. And actually there aren't. We know that Africa is a diverse continent and that leaders are of all ages and doing all different kinds of things. So while we expect that many of our fellows will have advanced degrees, there are no minimum qualifications in terms of academics. Okay, it's stated that 500 people will participate in YALI. It's also possible that interested people might go beyond that number. What are your views if the number of interested people goes beyond the limits? Well, we certainly expect actually that we will get more than 500 applications. Indeed, we're counting now and we have more than 500 now. So we are looking to look at all the applications and select the 500 best applications and determine that. But I also wanna make it clear and I've said this before, we look at this as an annual program and perhaps the number even going further. This is not a program that we intend to stop with President Obama's term in office. This is something that we see right now that we see as a part of US reaching out to Africa about forming a deeper relationship that will go beyond administrations. So we are thrilled to have interested people. We're also thrilled that to maintain contact with the people who are not selected this time but maybe that we can work with them and build opportunities for them in the future either to participate in future Washington fellowship programs or even to just participate in the continent. We are very excited about that. And I've got another question here for me. It's from the Ivory Coast. I don't belong to an NGO but as an individual, I've been involved in many humanitarian projects. Can I apply for the fellowship program? Yes, of course you can. Okay, we've got a couple of other questions that were sent to us in advance. Let me pick one of those. Here's one. Africa is divided in many official languages including English, French and Portuguese. The Washington fellowship program is will be held in English in the United States and those who are not native speakers of English will lose the opportunity to take part in the fellowship despite the fact that they might be excellent candidates in making progress in English language studies. How do you plan to share and balance the fellowship between the youth of Africa? Well this is a tricky question because of course we do understand that there are a lot of French speakers, Portuguese speakers and then a range of other languages throughout Africa. But because these institutes are being held in the United States at American universities and colleges with American professors and US leaders, right now the coursework will all be in English and we hope that some of you who are still making progress in your English studies will still be able to participate and we are looking at options for future years because as Todd mentioned, we do plan and hope that this program will continue for many years in the future for the opportunity to bring some other languages into the programming. Okay, I have another question. How much weight does the supporting documentation part of the application add in the selection process? Well the supporting documentation is really optional. So it's hard to say exactly how much weight it would add but I would encourage you if you have supporting documentation to include it, if you don't have strong supporting documents then don't include it. We really want to get a feel for who you are and what you bring to the table and as Todd has mentioned a couple of times, sort of sitting down and thinking through and writing coherent essays and putting together a good accurate resume using the template are going to be the best ways to get your selection across. Okay, here's a question, that's a live question. How will this program benefit the United States? I think it's clear that the United States has identified as an interest a prosperous and democratic Africa, prosperous and democratic nations within Africa. So the President Obama has laid out a strategy and the outreach to young people in Africa and to young African leaders is a strong part of it. I've actually been struck by language where the President has said that he thinks that this will be his strongest legacy of his foreign policy, will be the outreach to young African leaders. So the United States seeks an Africa which is a partner, is a country that we can work with and that is prosperous and can move past the kind of challenges that sometimes come up in Africa that we don't want to minimize that they are very serious and bring about a brighter future for the country, for the continent as a whole. Great, okay, so we have another question. Will we have any kind of financial grants or support in case we want to set up or develop a community project when we return back home? So as I've mentioned, once you get back home there's an in Africa component. We do plan to fully continue to engage and support you and part of that is giving you access to resources, to grant databases and so on so that you can find financial support for community projects and you'll learn a lot more about that as you go through the institutes. And here's another question we received earlier in the week which is also about activities back home in Africa after. It says what kind of support besides the networking can one expect as an alumni of the program, I am talking here as an entrepreneur. Well, there's a series of after program programs that we have in mind for Africa. And you mentioned networking, you say besides the networking, but let me just mention that we really wanna seek to establish kind of YALI alumni groups in all the countries where we have a significant number so that you will be able to interact with other members of the, other veterans of the Washington Fellowship, people who've participated and work with them as well. Also, the embassies will be working in these countries with those groups and there will be some financial support for those groups and their projects moving forward that will be available. Also be mentorship opportunities. We look forward to the ability to have continent wide or regional conferences where folks, fellows from different countries can gather in one place to discuss an issue of importance that you decide, that the leaders decide and that we could certainly support those efforts. And there will also be, and since it's brought up entrepreneur, there will actually also be seed money available for entrepreneurs to help them in their business. I have a question here. What is the minimum requirement for English language proficiency? Is it based on the TOEFL score? We're looking for folks who have English that's good enough to participate in a academic program in the United States. We're not gonna be doing the TOEFL test, but we do ask on the application for people to self-rate their English and then we'll be looking at the essays, obviously see how well they're written. And frankly too, there will be an interview process. So during the interview process, I think it should become apparent whose English is strong and whose isn't. We really would like the idea to expand this program at some point to be in other languages as well, but for this first year of the Washington Fellowship, we're gonna focus on an English language program. I realize that's the challenge in some of the countries, but that's what we'd like to start. And those determinations, whether or not people's English is good enough, will be made at the embassies during the interviews and also based on the application. Okay, it looks like we have another question, another live question. Will the universities offering the academic institutes issue certificates? Well, as I mentioned, you will not be getting any academic credit from the university, but typically after the completion of the six weeks, the university will give you a certificate of completion. And then when you come to the State Department after the three-day Presidential Summit, you will get a nice official certificate of completion from the U.S. Department of State. Okay, I have another question here which is about networking. And I think that's really important. So I wanna focus on these questions. Will there be a networking session organized for all the chosen African leaders to encourage intercontinental venture partnering? I mean, this is really important, okay? Because I think we've talked a little bit about the fact that Africans leaders will learn about the United States during this program and that Americans will learn about Africa. But I think a really important aspect of this is that we're bringing people together from throughout the continent and they'll get the opportunity to know each other. And we will be providing throughout the institute, certainly, but also once we're back in Washington, plenty of opportunities for different folks to interact with each other. And then once we get back onto the continent, we really wanna build a feeling of being a Washington fellow that whether you're a Washington fellow in Uganda or in Burundi or in Nigeria or in Senegal or in South Africa, that you will identify with other fellows and that you will sort of have a team that you can build on and build that sort of intercontinental, intracontinental I guess as you say here, partners with other Africans. We really feel that this is an important part of the program, the fact that you folks right now who are out there listening to us on the continent will get the opportunity to interact with each other. Okay, I've got another question that was sent in advance. As not everyone will be chosen for the Washington fellowship, what programs are there for young visionary African entrepreneurs? So I'm gonna answer this question with three things in mind. One is, as we've mentioned, when you go to the website or you submit your application, you have the opportunity to opt into the Young African Leaders Network. And through that network, you'll find a lot more information about what's happening on the continent as well as other resources that you can tap into. In addition, we encourage you to stay in contact with the US mission, the post, the consulate, or the embassy that's closest to you. Those people in our offices and our American consulates are really gonna know a lot about various opportunities for you and your colleagues. And then thirdly, I'll mention that the US State Department offers a wide variety of different programs, not only the Washington fellowship, but we have a lot of other programs. So I encourage you to go to exchanges.state.gov, where you can also find other programs that you might be able to apply for. Okay, here's another question we received earlier this week. Do participants have a given obligation in their nations after the fellowship? If there are, which body will they report to? In working in the selection process and in the recruitment process for the participation in the Washington fellowship, we're really looking for leaders, people who are not gonna do things because they have an obligation to do them, but because they have a commitment to do them. We're looking for people who are committed to the future of their communities, of their country, and of the continent as a whole. So there's no obligation associated once you're back in the continent about what you need to do. But hopefully, if we choose the right candidates, and this will certainly be also a part of the academic studies, that we'll have chosen people who will return to the continent, who even when they left the continent had a commitment, but upon return, they will also have the skills to apply and bring about real change. Okay, I see that there's a live question for me. For young aspiring leaders that are already employed in the respective countries, being away from a job for six weeks is a long time. What is your advice for them? Should they still apply? If selected, will they give them proper documentation to be excused from work? It's a great question. I mean, and we, it is definitely something that in designing this program, we talked a lot about. Clearly, there are a lot of people that we are looking for are people who've progressed in their careers to a point where taking six weeks off might be difficult. We are definitely willing to work with your, after you've been selected, to work with your employers to make it clear exactly how your participation in this program will frankly be a benefit to your employer, that you will come back with increased skills and increased networking abilities and the contacts, the ability to interact with folks. And this is something that we do with other programs that we have and we've had almost universal success in getting people, getting employers to do this. I can't frankly guarantee that an employer will give you the time off, but we will certainly be your allies in providing letters and support for the fact that you should participate. So it's an excellent question and yes, it's something that we think about a lot and I appreciate that you raised it. Okay, I have another question here. Do you think that 500 people will be able to make the kind of impact you desire in a continent of over one billion people? You know, choose the right 500 people, you could make a tremendous impact, yes? I mean, I think that we have seen the impact that individuals like Mediba and others have had when it's just one person. But so we're talking about 500, but we're also talking about a beginning. We're talking about continuing this program year after year. And the interesting thing is the people who participate in this program, they're 500 young Africans now, but you're the future, right? I mean, the folks who are going to be changing the continent in the future are the folks who are young now and are gonna be able to bring about the positive transformation, the positive change that I think that we're all looking for. So I take your point, it's an enormous continent, it's got some real challenges, but I think that what history has shown us and has shown us brilliantly in Africa in numerous examples is that there are times where one person or a few people can make a tremendous difference in the lives of many. And that's what we wanna tap into now. We wanna see if we can work on identifying those people and give them some of the skills and abilities that they can bring about that real change. Brita? Okay, I've got another question here. After returning to Africa from the Washington Fellowship, how long can we access the resources available to the 2014 Washington Fellows? That's a good question. And I guess what I'd like to answer is that we really see this as the first step in a longer engagement with the United States. So you'll come here for six weeks and possibly stay on for an eight week internship, but we really hope that this is really a lifetime communication. In terms of the actual resources, when you get on our alumni site for, it's state alumni for alumni of all the State Department programs, there are a number of different resources and databases and all kinds of different things that you can access. And once you've taken part in a State Department program, you actually have access to those resources for life. So we're investing in you not just for six weeks and not just for a year or five years, but really for a lifetime. Okay, and here's a live question from South Africa, but it's from a Nigerian living in South Africa. He writes, will my application be considered with those of South Africans or Nigerians? It's another good question. We're interested in is not necessarily what citizenship you have or even what country you live in, but what country do you think that you will be making an impact in in the long run? And that's the kind of thing that I think people will be able to see in the essay. So if you're a Nigerian who you plan, if you're a citizen of Nigeria and you plan to make your life in South Africa, we'll be looking at your application, at your essay for how you will be making an impact in South Africa as the years go forward. If on the other hand, you are a Nigerian living in South Africa and you intend to return to Nigeria and make a difference there, we need to see in your application in your essay that that's what your future plans are. And so if your future that you plan for yourself is in South Africa, you will be considered among the folks who are applying from South Africa. But if your future is considered, you wanna consider your future in Nigeria, then you should do it the other way. And we'll be looking at your essays in order to make that kind of determination. Okay, I've got a question. What is the criteria for selection? So first of all, there's the technical aspects. You have to be a citizen of an African country and residing in a sub-Saharan African country. You should be proficient in English, which we've already talked about. And between the ages of 25 and 35 at the time of your application. Other than that, you should have a proven record of leadership or accomplishment in public service, business or civic engagement. As Todd has spoken so eloquently, we like to see a demonstrated commitment to public or community service to volunteerism or mentorship. We're looking for someone who has the ability to work cooperatively in diverse groups and who respects the opinions of others. Someone with a demonstrated knowledge or professional experience in the sector of the track that you are applying to. And things like good communication skills, as Todd has mentioned, the essays are really important. Being able to communicate your vision and your ideas during that interview at the embassy and energetic, positive people. And then of course, I think probably the most important is just a real commitment to return to Africa and put your new leadership skills to benefit for your country and your community. Okay, I've got another question. Is there any problem for someone to apply who has previously traveled to the US? Will US sponsored program alumni be eligible to apply? Okay, so as we've mentioned, this program is really designed for candidates who have not had a great deal of experience in the United States. However, if you've traveled to the United States, that certainly is not a hindrance to apply. And in terms of if you're already a program alumni from a US sponsored program, you may not be the ideal candidate because you've already had the opportunity to experience the United States and experience some of our programming. And we're hoping that this program will reach out to new leaders that we haven't had the chance to really engage up to this point. But you're not ineligible to apply. So I guess I would encourage you to go ahead and give it a shot and we'll see you here again. Okay, let's see, we have some questions that we got earlier this week. With the companies we'd like to carry out our internship, will we be the ones approaching them and therefore stating in the application whether they agreed or not, or will the YALI team entirely do that on our behalf? Okay, well there's two kinds of internships or professional development opportunities. There's the ones in the United States which a hundred of the 500 will participate in. And for those, we will be identifying companies to work with and placing fellows into those internships. Then there's the internships in Africa which are professional development opportunities. And we plan to have a work with a variety of different, when we are already doing so, variety of different private organizations, also civil society organizations on the continent in order to identify opportunities for people to apply. And then they will sort of, we'll work with you and with the companies and sort of matching people into internship opportunities that are appropriate. Okay, here's a question. If there's no US diplomatic presence in a country, where will I be able to interview? We will be coming up with opportunities for people to do interviews in neighboring countries or nearby places that they will be able to do that. So for instance, someone here mentions Somalia. We will certainly try to seek either to do it in some way electronically or perhaps in Nairobi. I do not want to belittle that question. It is going to be very difficult in places where we don't have a diplomatic presence, but it's something we're committed to to try to get that kind of diversity of countries and participation. So I would urge you to apply and if your application is strong enough, we'll be in contact and we'll work with you to come up with a solution. Thanks, Todd. Okay, I've got another question. If you apply this year and are not selected, can you apply again next year? So the answer to that is yes, absolutely. If you're not selected, we encourage you to continue to do great things in the year between this one and the next year's application and yes, apply again. Okay, here's a question for Todd. What specific documents would be required to present if one is invited for the interview? You know, I'm going to leave that to you. We are really looking for people who can present things. Basically, an interview is usually just the ability to come in and talk about your experience. We'll have already had your application and whatever documents you'll have uploaded along with the application, although you don't have to upload any documents, but after we've seen your application, mostly we'll just be presenting. On the other hand, if you've got something that you really want to bring in and show, we will not say no to that either, but the interview will be occurring on the continent, again, with representatives from our embassies there and they will be asking you questions. If they have any documentary requests based on your application, they may ask you ahead of time, but I think for the most part, the time to present documents will be over by the time you're invited for an interview and that's the point where we'll want to see you. Okay, I've got another question that was submitted earlier this week. Let's back to the networking topic. Will there be a networking session organized for all the chosen African leaders to encourage intercontinental venture partnering? So as we've mentioned, the academic institutes will take place between June 16th and July 26th, and then all the fellows will gather in Washington, DC for the three-day presidential summit. And during that time, you'll have the opportunity to network with each other, to meet with American businesses, NGO and government leaders, and to participate in a town hall with President Obama. Okay, here's a very hard question. I'll do my best to answer it. With the high levels of corruption backed with impunity, how will successful participants of the Washington Fellowship Program be assured of making positive impacts in the local community when the application might possibly not align with political will? It's a very good question. I mean, it's obviously more difficult to make a difference in a country or in a situation where marriage is not rewarded, where decisions are made based, not on one's ability or capacity, but are made based on maybe relationships or perhaps money passed under the table. These kind of things happen, I think, around the world. I think you have these situations happen in the United States at times. And I think what we're really looking for is people who are able to tackle those questions. And we're also looking for people who later on in their career will be in a position to bring about change in these kind of situations so that the next generation of leaders come on. This is not, to talk about a fundamental transformation of the way a country is run or works, it's not easy. If it was easy, it would have been done. But we're looking at making an impact through this program. We're looking at you making an impact through this program. And I appreciate the question. It's a hard one, but I think that we can bring about the sort of fundamental change if we can join together and make that kind of commitment. Okay, I have a repeat question here, so I'm gonna do my best here. One of the most popular questions we are receiving, and we're hearing this a lot, is what is the quota of selected applicants per country? Again, we are looking for a diverse group of applicants. We don't have a set quota per country. I think it's clear that countries with larger populations and we'll have a higher number of participants than countries with smaller populations, but we have made a real effort to balance it, to balance the numbers so that we get a good representation throughout the continent. We will, there will be again no set quota from any one country. There's no minimum, there's no maximum. I will say that we would like to have representatives from every country and we will seek to do that. But I would expect that we will have at least five or 10 from just about every country on the continent, just about every country on the continent. And of course, larger countries like, well like Nigeria will have significantly more than that. Okay, we've got a question from Zimbabwe. Is it possible to come a bit later to the US if I am chosen because I'll be writing examinations around mid-June? Well, you know, it's always tricky when you have your life going on and you are working on exams to take these six weeks and come to the United States. Typically, we require that everyone come on the same day. It's very important in terms of setting the tone for the institute, getting to know the other 24 colleagues. There's a lot of very important orientations and bonding and sort of networking that happens in the first few days. So it certainly would be our great encouragement for you to come on the day where everyone else is arriving. We have been able to, we've had this problem many times in the past. Sometimes you can work with your university to take the exams a little bit earlier. Sometimes you might be able to work with your university to take the exams when you get back. And we are willing to sort of provide supporting documentation to help you negotiate that. It's possible in a small, small number of cases we might be able to allow you to come maybe one day late, but it's really not advised. So we hope to work with you to find a solution to that kind of issue. Okay, I know this is a question that we get a lot. So I'm glad that it's been asked today. Will the participants' home governments impact the selection process after interviews for the semi-selected candidates? You know, we are working with a variety of different people in trying to identify different candidates. We're working with civil society leaders. We're working with business leaders. We're working with people in government. And we've asked them to go to young people who they have working in their institutions and tell them to apply if they think that they are future young leaders. But the decision-making process will be made by us, by the U.S. embassies overseas in coordination with the Department of State here. So again, it may be that we have approached someone in government in this country or that and said, do you have anyone in your ministry who you think is a future leader that you have a lot of faith in? And that person says yes. And then we say, well, here's a card and have him apply because we think he should apply. But the application will be considered on the merits. It will not be considered based on that. In the same manner, we will be talking to the heads of civil society organizations, NGOs, and saying, do you have anyone in your organization who you think you would like to have apply who's a really strong candidate? The same with businesses. We will be reaching out to a variety of leaders because we wanna get the broadest group of possible people. But one thing that's really, I think, interesting about the Washington Fellowship is that the application is through an online platform. It means that anybody can apply. It means that within the age specifications. It means that folks who don't have the contacts have the ability to compete with people who do have the contacts on a level basis. And we're gonna do our darnedest, our best, to make sure that we have a diverse group of folks that represent every ethnicity and male, female, different religions, different regions of the country, urban and rural, connected and not connected, politically favored and perhaps not so much. We are really interested in having the most diverse group of candidates possible. So that means that as much as we will appreciate the advice that we get from our counterparts in foreign governments, we are looking forward to making decisions ourselves and not allowing host governments to have veto over who we choose and who we don't. Okay, there's another question for me. In the case of candidates not living in their home country working in another African country, but they'll go home to their home country to make a difference, which US embassy will conduct the interview, home country or the current country? Great question. We don't wanna put a tremendous burden on people living on the continent and living in another country. So we're gonna try to, we're not gonna try. We're going to work out an arrangement between different embassies where maybe if you are say a Ugandan living in Senegal, that you will not have to go all the way back to Uganda to do the interview, but that the embassy in Uganda will say we have this great candidate but he's living in Senegal and then so the embassy in Senegal will then conduct the interview. Okay, I've got another question that was sent earlier this week. Does the Washington Fellowship have any plan of decentralization or expansion so as to give the vast number of aspiring young African leaders beyond the 500 the opportunity for first-hand training? So yeah, so this year with 500 aspiring young leaders coming to the program as Washington Fellows is really the pilot year. Assuming great success, assuming that you all come with great enthusiasm and head home with new skills and new energy, we really do plan to not only continue this program for many years but also to expand it so that we would be able to bring more than 500 in future years. And as we've already mentioned we're hoping that we might be able to include new languages and possibly new themes in the future years. And I have a question here. It's what is the official language of the program and the official language of the program is English. It will take place, the academic study will take place in English. The different, the presidential summits will be in English. The internships in the United States will be in English. Obviously once you're back on the continent it's possible the internships will be whatever the local language is in the country. Although there may, there'll be probably a fair number of those in English as some American firms will participate. Okay, will selected applicants be allowed to get visas? It's often, I understand, I think the questioner notes that it's often difficult to get visas for some, difficult to get US visas for some African citizens, citizens of different African countries. The visa process will go on separately, obviously from the application. We will select the people who are selected for this candidate and at that point we will help them arrange to do their visa interview. We will provide supporting documentation and they will go in and apply for their visa. We imagine that generally when we do programs like this, the overwhelming, overwhelming majority of people do in the end get their visa. Having said that, there's no guarantee. Somebody, for instance, who has been turned down for numerous visas before or maybe had lived in the United States some previous time for an extended period or I mean there could be a variety of reasons why somebody might not get a visa. But I really think that is going to be, and well I can't guarantee anything. I really think that's gonna be the exception rather than the rule. We do recognize that this will be an issue and because of that we will probably have alternate candidates and there are also maybe other people who we will have alternate candidates because there will be people who will be selected who will then decide that they don't want to go after all maybe they can't get time off their job, maybe they can't get a visa, maybe what seemed like a good idea in January or February when they applied seemed like less of a good idea in June. So in addition to the 500 who will be selected to participate we will be identifying people who will be sort of a replacement group, substitute group of others are unable to travel. And Berda I think you've got another question. Okay great, do applicants of the entrepreneur track have to have businesses that have a social focus? I would say the answer to that question is no. The business and entrepreneurship institutes are gonna cater to fellows that aspire to become leaders in the private sector or that are aspiring to start their own business ventures. I'm sure some of these will include businesses that have social entrepreneurship as part of their activities but not all. And we do think that these institutes will expose the fellows to business and entrepreneurship approaches in the US. You'll learn some technical capacity and it will include those that address social issues. So while it's not required that they have a social focus it will be something that will be discussed and will be examined and perhaps will be something that businesses once they go back to Africa could look to incorporate. All right we have a question here. How long will the presidential summit last and would it be in groupings or general attendance? The summit will be three days long and I think as Berda pointed out it'll open up with a town hall that will be hosted by President Obama. I can tell you the president loves this kind of thing and he really is looking forward to it, the opportunity to interact with folks. I know that when we've done this kind of thing before we often schedule it for a certain amount of time and invariably the president spends more time doing it because he really finds interactions with young people and young Africans in particular to be something that really drives him and is a positive feeling. We'd anticipate people would arrive the day before the summit we'll attempt to organize some sort of networking type event where people can all get together and then we'll have three days of events at which point most people will return home and the hundred will stay for the US based internships. Okay I have another question from earlier this week. What measures are in place to ensure alumni of the Washington fellowship are able to channel the skills and training acquired during the program into the development of their home countries? So it's something we've talked about a little bit but the in African component of the Washington fellowship really has sort of four tracks if you will. One is something we've talked about a lot which is networking. We really do hope that you'll form the foundation of a continent wide network of young leaders and that there'll be a lot of different events and innovative online platforms where you can continue to engage with each other and with us. The second is professional development. We anticipate that you will have the opportunity to apply for internships and professional placements and mentoring opportunities across sectors. We're planning webinars and Skype discussions that will provide virtual meetings for you all to discuss common opportunities and challenges. The third is seed funding which I know that everyone's interested in seed funding for their projects and we're gonna have a lot of resources that will link you to seed funding where you can compete for grants to launch or grow small businesses, social enterprises or other community organizations that you're working on. We'll also have coaching and mentoring and while you're in the US we'll talk a bit about how to write a grant so that you'll have skills to really put together those documents to apply for some of that seed funding. And the fourth component of the in Africa programming is community service activities because as we've mentioned at its core the Washington Fellowship is really seeking to support young leaders as they take on the responsibility of creating the future of Africa. We're hoping that you'll be empowered to use the skills that you've developed to mentor others and to really build your communities and your countries. Okay, I have a question here that was sent, well actually we have a live question coming in so that's more fun to do live. It says during the Washington Fellowship will we have the opportunity to meet young American leaders? Yes, during the institutes there will be every, these institutes are going to be taking place on the campuses of American universities and we will be making, taking every opportunity to put you together with young Americans and to share experiences. I can't emphasize how important it is that what we're about here is kind of mutual exchange. While there is some training involved in this program the thing that we like the best is that Africans learn about the United States and Americans learn about Africa and I think that that is in both directions really there needs to be much more of that. So we're thrilled to be able to do this program or we're thrilled to be able to work with young Africans and expand their skills and the rest of it but frankly we've been a little bit selfish too. I think Americans will benefit tremendously from the opportunity to learn from young Africans and have exchanges with them. I think that we all benefit when we get the chance to know each other and interact more. Okay and we have a question here for Britta actually. Will there be consideration for those applying to the entrepreneurship track who don't own a business yet but aspire to own a business? So absolutely if you're an aspiring business owner that this track is definitely meant for you. I just encourage you to really explain in the essays or somehow in your application perhaps with supplemental documentation what your thoughts are, what you're planning why you want to start this business venture so that we can get a feeling for what kind of business you aspire to own what are your capabilities and really what is your vision for when you get back to Africa but the answer is yes we encourage those who are aspiring to own a business to apply as well. Okay here's a question I got earlier in the week. This program is said to be for six weeks. Will those be in the United States entirely or since one of the program requirements are that we mentor and give back apply what we have learned in the program will part of the six weeks be mentoring, implementing of what we have learned or perhaps we'll have separate timeframe all together if yes, how long? Okay, the part of the program that's six weeks is the academic training at the institutes that we spread around the United States and then following that there's going to be the three day summit in Washington but in terms of the mentoring in terms of the implementing what you're doing we're looking at this as something that people will do for life, yes. Let me point out that we look at the Washington Fellowship and being a Washington Fellow as something that will be part of your identity that you will work with other Washington Fellows that will be something that you will take back with you and certainly the way that we hope to look at it that we look at the Washington Fellows as partners that will be for the United States as we share our common goals in bringing about positive transformation in Africa. And so in the years to come when you are making a speech or presenting your resume to get a job you will mention the fact that you are a Washington Fellow. The brand Washington Fellow will be known. It will become something that we are looking at. So when the beginning of the question here that says the program is said to be for six weeks in fact the program is really for life. The academic institute part of it is for that and I think that's actually a really important concept to understand. When you join this program you come to the United States for this summer but you remain a Washington Fellow and our partner moving on in the years ahead. Okay, another question from earlier in the week. It's a simple one, this one. Are we required to do the exact resume as the template and the sample on the web? Well the answer to that is yes. And I'm sorry if this is a burden for you. I know it's a little bit tricky to sometimes to use a template. Maybe you already have a resume and you prefer the one that you use but it really helps us in the selection process to have everything in the same format so we can quickly and easily identify what your professional experience is, what your academic experience is and so on and so forth. So the requirement here is yes that you use the resume with a template. All right, let's see if we have a question here. Here's a question. Are some of the business partners of the program involved in the energy sector? And it's selected, do we get to choose which business we interact with? Okay, again there's two different types of internships. There's 100 that will be in the United States immediately following the Washington Summit and then there are the internships that will be back on the continent. We're gonna be doing our best to match people up with what they wanna do and what they're the most qualified for. Certainly we expect that's what the fellows will be interested in and we also imagine that's what the businesses will be interested in as well. Renewable energy is extremely important in the United States. It's been a real emphasis of the Obama administration, exploring alternative and renewable forms of energy. So we would actually tremendously welcome young African leaders who are involved in the renewable energy field to begin with and we would look at those people, that we look at those as strong candidates. Britta. Okay, another question that we got earlier. As organizers, what are your expectations? What would you like to come out of this event and what do you hope each participant could take home with them? This is a really hard question. When I was hoping I wouldn't have to answer. But so what are our expectations? Well, first of all, we hope that you have had a good experience in the United States. We hope that you've learned something. We hope that you've shared something. We hope that you will go back and continue on your leadership path, whatever that might be for you. So for each one of you, it's gonna be very different. But we do hope that you bring back new skills and new enthusiasm and new energy. And as Todd has mentioned earlier, we hope that there's sort of a multiplier effect. So there'll only be 500 of you going back the first year. But your young leaders, your young aspiring leaders, you have new ideas. Now you have new contacts and new networks. And we hope that you will share with others, with your friends, with your colleagues, with your families, what you saw in the US, maybe what you learned, maybe what you taught others. So that this experience really grows. And then we also hope that you continue to stay in touch with us. Like we said, we really think this is the first step in a longer engagement with the United States. The first step in your continued leadership path, and the first step for you as Africans to really shape the future of your country and of your continent. All right, we have a question from Reller this week from Nigeria. The question reads, as a woman in business in a developing country, I want to empower other young aspiring female entrepreneurs with knowledge, tools, and financial resources to start their own businesses. And the questioner goes on to know if the program will provide that. Well, first of all, I want to say like, what a great question. I really actually look forward to reading the essay by the person who asked this question. Because we are looking for people who are looking at these questions and how they can do the transformation. Look, this is a program that is going to provide people with the skills, both the kind of business skills and also the leadership skills that they will be able to come back and achieve things in their countries. And I'm excited also to see that this is a question from someone who identifies themselves as a woman because we definitely are seeking gender balance. So we're seeking to have roughly equal numbers of men and women participating in this program. I like the fact that this questioner has developed as a goal empowering other young aspiring female entrepreneurs. Much like as Brita said, that is extremely important to us. That the people who participate in this program don't just benefit personally, but also benefit their communities at large. You know what, Brita, I think we're running out of time. It looks like we need to wrap up. So thank you all. We've really enjoyed talking to you. I hope you found this useful. I hope you'll get on the website. The Washington Fellowship website can be found at youngafricanleaders.state.gov. There's no www in front of that. If you have questions, you can always send them to washingtonfellowship at irex.org or you can send them through the website and we'll be sure to answer them. And this is great. I understand that almost a thousand people have participated in this web chat around the continent. I mean, that's great. And we really look forward, we'll do this again if it's useful, but I want to give a shout out to all my friends around the continent in South Africa, in Burkina Faso, places I've had the opportunity to live in the past. And we look forward to seeing your essays and applications and thanks very much for participating. And hope to see you in the U.S. Hope to see you in the U.S. This program has been brought to you by Kinex.