Ghanaian alumnus selected for the Mandela Washington Fellowship Leadership Award

The United States embassy Ghana has announced Dr. Joel Duah Afi, a 2019 Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumnus from Ghana as the winner of the 2024 Leadership Impact Award. 

 The annual award recognizes the individual achievements of one outstanding member of the Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni Network.  Candidates are nominated by U.S. embassies and consulates and other Fellowship stakeholders for the impact of their work and their service as ambassadors for the Fellowship. 

A statement issued from the embassy in Accra said Dr. Duah traveled to Washington, D.C. to accept the award and “will engage with Alumni and 2024 Fellows throughout the next year.”

The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is the flagship programme of the U.S. government’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). 

Celebrating its 10-year anniversary this year, the Fellowship has supported nearly 6,500 young leaders from every country in Sub-Saharan Africa since its inception in 2014. 

The programme 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.

Cultural Affairs Attaché at the embassy, Laneice Brooker said “Dr. Duah has actively served as an exemplary ambassador for the Mandela Washington Fellowship programme in various capacities and is an excellent representative of the programme’s impact as an Alumnus of the Fellowship who inspires us all in his work as a medical doctor and health educator.  We are proud of his achievements and look forward to many more impactful endeavors.”