Conakry, August 10 2020
For Immediate Release
U.S. Embassy Conakry is pleased to announce that Ibrahima Kalil Gueye, a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumnus from Guinea, is the winner of the 2020 Leadership Impact Award. This annual award recognizes the individual achievements of one member of the Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni Network. U.S. Embassies and Consulates and other stakeholders submitted nominations, and Ibrahima will engage virtually with alumni and selected finalists and alternates for the 2021 program.
The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is the flagship program of the U.S. Government’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). Since 2014, nearly 4,400 young leaders from every country in Sub-Saharan Africa have participated in the Fellowship. The program fosters closer relations between Americans and Africans and empowers young African leaders through academic coursework, leadership training, mentoring, networking, professional opportunities, and local community engagement.
Since 2016, Ibrahima has led “Open and Transparent Guinea,” a program that has reached 10,000 citizens by promoting transparency in the country. In 2019, Ibrahima coordinated the National Marathon of Governance, funded by an Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund grant from the U.S. Department of State. Over 43 days, he traveled 5,500 kilometers through rural Guinea, empowering 2,300 people through workshops, conferences, and discussions to inform citizens of their rights.
According to Kenya Jordana James, Acting Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy Conakry, “Ibrahima Kalil’s commitment to ending corruption and promoting good governance throughout Guinea is commendable. We applaud the work that he is doing as a good governance advocate to promote peace, justice, and equality.”
As YALI celebrates its tenth anniversary, Ibrahima is an excellent representative of the program’s impact as an Alumnus of both the Fellowship and the YALI Regional Leadership Center in Dakar and member of the YALI Network.
The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and administered by IREX. For more information about the Mandela Washington Fellowship, visit www.mandelawashingtonfellowship.org.