Doing Business in East Africa, Julie Ogwapat

Julie Ogwapat, East Africa Chair for Young African Leaders

The Young African Leaders Initiative (commonly referred to as 'YALI"​) was launched by the U.S. Government as a signature effort to invest in the next generation of African leaders. There are four Regional Leadership Centers across the continent, in Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, and Kenya. These Centers serve as regional hubs to encourage transformational learning and enhancing leadership skills.

The YALI Regional Leadership Centers are a project of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in close partnership with the MasterCard Foundation. Each Center is managed under a public/private partnership. The YALI Regional Leadership Center East Africa, located at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, serves 14 countries in East and Central Africa. The Center is overseen by Deloitte East Africa and is supported by a growing number of African and international public and private partners. The YALI Regional Leadership Center East Africa is more than a location for learning or a venue for collaboration; it is a philosophy, a forward-leaning culture of diversity that invites dreaming and thinking differently to define and realize one’s potential.

Selected participants will engage in leadership training across three tracks of study: (1) Business and Entrepreneurship, (2) Civic Leadership, and (3) Public Management in a 4-week residential format with a focus on individual and team leadership skills, innovation, creative learning, and communication. The program's emphasis is on interactive and experiential learning which fosters each participant's ability to contribute both individually and in teams.