The Washington Fellowship is a merits-based fellowship that aims to bring over 500 young African leaders from around the continent  to the United States each year, beginning in 2014, for leadership training, academic coursework, and mentoring in the domains of public service, business and entrepreneurship and civic engagement. The programme hopes to create unique opportunities in Africa to put those new skills to practical use in propelling economic growth and prosperity and strengthening democratic institutions.

Identifying the opportunity

I am always looking for personal and career development opportunities as one can never stop learning. I entered a media business venture with no prior experience and barely any knowledge of how to run a business. I think it is very important for me to look for and take up opportunities that make me grow as a person, a media professional as well as a business woman. This is also one of the reasons I sought after the opportunity to be a WINer.

I first found out about the programme two years ago when two Batswana were selected to attend one of the exchange programmes organised by YALI and started following the programme. I was ecstatic to find out that for the first time, 500 young Africans will be selected for the 2014 edition. Not only did that give me a better chance to be selected but also because this would be a great opportunity for a lot of young Africans and ultimately benefit the progression of the continent.

Application and selection process

The application process was open for interested individuals between the ages of 25 and 35 from all over Africa given that they had an interest and were passionate about one of the three domains. The application mainly focused on identifying what you thought were the major challenges in your country, what you think the solutions can be and how you plan to be part of that solution.

There were 500 slots to be filled by finalists from around Africa, and 25 of them were to be filled by Batswana. Over 500 people applied from Botswana alone, but only 75 were shortlisted for the one-on-one interview with a panel from the US to compete for the 25 slots.

I know a lot of young aspiring Batswana that I believe stood a better chance at getting accepted into the fellowship, had they applied, than I did. Although I was still doubting myself, I decided to go ahead and apply anyway. I got some of my confidence back when I shortlisted for the interview and still cannot believe I got selected.

The fellowship

The fellowship starts on 14 June and ends on 31 July. The fellows will all be placed in different host universities and colleges around the US for 6 weeks and then later convene in Washington DC for a 3-day summit hosted by President Barack Obama.

There is also an opportunity for 100 of the participants to do an internship afterwards for 2 weeks in the US, or Africa. The Washington Fellows will also have access to dedicated funding opportunities to support their ideas and businesses. What also makes this opportunity unique is the chance to have a growing network of fellow Young African leaders as YALI is planning to increase the number of fellows each year.

Moving forward 

To be able to empower others, you need to first empower yourself. In my opinion, it is very important that you go after the causes you are passionate about and that’s what I did. I believe in the importance of media development and economic diversification and this is why I chose to apply for the business and entrepreneurship fellowship. There are many opportunities out there  that give you the chance to grow; scholarships, fellowships and mentorship programmes and I think it is impotant to make use of those that are of interest to you.

Being selected as a finalist proved to me that I am on the right track and has given me the courage and confiedence to continue working on my media development projects. I intend to start as soon as I get back, hopefully with a possibility of funding, or even with assistance from the network I will have built during my 6 weeks in the US.