Mr. Drake Ssempijja has been awarded the prestigious Mandela Washington Fellowship of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). The fellowship is tenable at the Leadership in Civic Engagement Institute, University of Georgia, USA. Drake is an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Zoology, Entomology and Fisheries Sciences at CoNAS.The Mandela Washington Fellowship was established in 2014 by the U.S. Department of State and has to-date supported 3,700 young leaders from sub-Saharan Africa. The fellowship is a flagship program of YALI aimed at empowering young African leaders through academic coursework, leadership training, mentoring, networking, professional opportunities, and local community engagement.Thousands of strong applications are submitted annually from across Africa; after several stages of assessment, Drake’s application stood out for its relevance in building strong linkages between science, academia and society.
