Our Project
The 4W-YALI Circle emerged from the vision and leadership of Kalkidan Lakew, a 2018 UW-Madison Mandela Washington Fellow who returned in summer 2019 to help launch this network. This group consists of over 40 young scholars from across Africa, many of whom engaged with 4W during their Mandela Washington Fellowship at UW-Madison (2016 to current). The goal of this group is to foster gender equity and wellbeing and to provide peer support and leadership development. We engage regularly through online discussion via our 4W-YALI Facebook Group, as well as monthly webinars in which YALI fellows and 4W leaders rotate in sharing their work. PDFs, PowerPoints, and recordings from each webinar will be made available to the public soon.
2019 Mandela Washington Fellows pose for a photo outside the Madison City Hall building ahead of a meeting with Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and staff. (Photo by Meagan Doll / UW-Madison)
Next Steps
- Finalize monthly schedule for engagement during the 2020-21 academic year, which will include regular webinar presentations and Facebook discussion chats. Webinars will rotate between 4W leaders and YALI alumni in order to share a range of work and to connect UW scholars and YALI fellows with related interests and expertise.
- Integrate 4W partners from around the world into the 4W-YALI Circle so that YALI alumni have opportunities to connect with leaders who may be working in their home counties. Such 4W partners include those leading education and development work in Malawi; local leaders of our Health by All Means project in Kenya; those supporting menstrual hygiene management in Ghana; mental health experts in Nigeria and Ethiopia; and those exploring gender and climate change in the Ivory Coast.
- Condense webinar materials into 20 minute public talks, PowerPoints, and other resources that can be shared widely online.
- Support continuous engagement by providing modest travel grants to allow YALI alumni to connect with one another and collaborate on shared work.
Webinar Presentations
- “#HearMeToo Movement” by Kalkidan Lakew (2018 fellow) about harassment experienced by Mandela Ethiopian doctors
- “Culture of Safety” discussion on the 4 Es for addressing traffic and household accidents (engineering, education, enforcement, and emergency response), led by 4W-YALI Leader Rahel Desalegne
- Discussion of Stolen Paradise, a book written by Folajogun Akinlami (2019 fellow) about her journey through life, love, and living with a disability
- Discussion of youth engagement in South Sudan by Zaida Ibrahim (2019 fellow), including her work with the Okay Africa Foundation on menstrual health management and sexual health advocacy, as well as radio talks on COVID19 awareness and youth’s distribution of hand-washing containers and sanitary pads to vulnerable communities
- Presentation of “Road Without Beckons” grant to combat sex trafficking in Nigeria by Ako Eyo Oku (2019 fellow), a collaboration with leaders from the 4W-STREETS Project.
