PAYLP Alum Reflects on Youth Leadership

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This year, International Youth Day will recognize the meaningful participation of youth innovation for human and planetary health. To celebrate International Youth Day, we are highlighting one of our many inspiring alumni: Celestina Richard Livigha of the Pan Africa Youth Leadership Program (PAYLP). Livigha spoke with Meridian’s Center for Global Leadership to reflect on her youth exchange experience and its impact of her leadership journey. Livigha is from Tanzania and a proud PAYLP alumna from the 2018 April cohort. She recently participated in the Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program at the University of Massachusetts in Spring 2021. Livigha...

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My Experience with YLAI – A U.S. Department of State Exchange Program

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YLAI 2018 cohort

From September to October 2018, Meridian International Center successfully implemented the Young Leaders of America Initiative (YLAI) 2018 cohort. This great program which is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, brought 250 YLAI Professional Fellows from Latin America and the Caribbean to expand their leadership and entrepreneurial experience. YLAI is designed to address the opportunity gap for youth, especially women, by empowering business and social entrepreneurs with the training, tools, networks and resources they need to transform their societies and contribute more fully to economic development and prosperity, security, human...

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Cultivating talent among African students through Community Action Plans pitches to DC social entrepreneurs

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PAYLP student country group finalists pitch their Community Action Plans

Nearly 100 students from 23 African countries arrived in Atlanta, Georgia, this summer to participate in the Pan-Africa Youth Leadership Program (PAYLP). Many students were not only traveling outside their respective countries for the first time, but also meeting citizens of neighboring countries for the first time. Participants shared that they were equally intrigued by exposure to the customs and personalities of fellow Africans, along with those of the Texans, Washingtonians, Hoosiers, and other Americans they met during their three-week cultural and educational exchanges across the United States. Upon arrival in Atlanta, students were challenged to assess the greatest...

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PAYLP Through the Eyes of a Meridian Intern

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PAYLP group photo after their presentations with panelists.

 “This program has offered me the opportunity to experience what I’ve learned in school, a lot of what I teach my pupils and read on the internet and books…. I am sure this will breed a group of young leaders with a hunger for success.” (Private Mchenga of Malawi, PAYLP Adult Mentor participant) Students will often look to adults, school, and friends to shape the things they do not know. When that is not enough television and movies fill in the gaps.  As it turns out, romanticized perceptions, movies, and television often steer us further away from the reality...

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