Ivy Tech to host 25 Mandela Fellows from 20 African countries

BLOOMINGTON – Ivy Tech Community College’s Bloomington campus will host 25 Fellows from 20 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa on July 11-12. The visitors are Fellows of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, a program of President Barack Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative.

“The Fellows are civic leaders with records of creating positive change in their organizations and communities,” said Chancellor Jennie Vaughan. “We’re proud to host them at Ivy Tech Bloomington and hope after their visit with us that the Fellows take away practical knowledge in their areas of interest.”

Indiana University was selected as a partner university to host Mandela Fellows and provide a six-week academic and leadership institute. As part of the institute, Ivy Tech will provide two days of programming focused on the topics that the Fellows have expressed interest, including sustainability, journalism and media, corporate social responsibility and entrepreneurship, health and nutrition, community development, grassroots movements, women and disability rights advocacy, education, and governance and democracy.

Fellows will participate in open discussion round tables, panels, and networking while visiting the community college. Some of the local agencies they will meet with include Ivy Tech for its academic degree program and certification offerings, Hoosier Hills Career Center, The City of Bloomington Outreach, Bloomington Economic Development Corporation, Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, Girls, Inc., Boys & Girls Club, WorkOne, and others.

Their home countries include Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire (2), Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya (2), Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria (3), Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe (2).

Ivy Tech Community College Bloomington (ivytech.edu/bloomington) is located at 200 Daniels Way on the west side of Bloomington.