Life of Wry

At the suggestion of our friends Margie and Wes, Jim and I agreed to serve as Mandela Fellowship hosts for the next six weeks (or so).

From its website, “The Mandela Washington Fellowship will bring up to 700 young leaders to the United States in the summer of 2024 for a comprehensive executive-style program that is designed to build skills and empower Fellows to lead in their respective sectors and communities.”

The program started during the Obama administration and this is their 10th anniversary.

Being a host involves, basically, inviting two young African leaders to dinner, which we’ll be doing this coming week. Additionally, there is a reception next week Jim and I will attend, and at the end of the program there is a celebration, which we cannot make. We may try to squeeze in one other social gathering with our fellows before it’s all said and done.

I attended a potluck at the I-House this evening and met a number of the fellows, most of whom had just arrived the day before. There are 24 of them at UC Davis this summer (and, as I understand it, there are 28-ish other sites around the country doing the same). One fellow told me that in Nigeria there were 10,000 applicants for 55 slots. Extremely competitive and a very popular program!

More to come. For now, a not-very-good pic of the potluck, which was hugely attended and quite fun.