by Molly Chapple
Three CoJMC professors recently spoke at the Mandela Washington Fellowship, the flagship program of the U.S. State Department Young African Leaders Initiative. The fellowship program brings 700 community leaders from 20 African countries to take part in programs at 27 elite academic institutions, chosen as host sites.
The new class of Mandela Fellows attended the Civic Leadership Institute at Nebraska June 20 - July 29, 2018.
Three CoJMC professors spoke at the conference, including professors Brandon Nutting, Michelle Hassler and Kelli Britten.
Hassler and Nutting’s talks were both part of the Communications and Organization Development series.
Hassler spoke about refugee resettlement and how students in the Mosaic class engage in a community they aren’t familiar with. She described the ways that fellows can apply those same principles to their own projects.
“Just meeting them and talking with them was so inspiring,” she said. “They truly are the future leaders of Africa.”
Nutting spoke with the fellows about best practices for relationship and influencer marketing on social media. He explained how fellows can apply the model of marketing influencers to their own work.
He also helped identify marketing influencers from the fellows’ home countries and showed examples of how they are shaping social influence.
Britten’s talk was part of the Community Development and Human Rights series. Her talk focused on building strong community members who could serve as future leaders. She spoke about understanding and executing the tenets of civic leadership.
Nebraska is in its second year as a host institution. The program is led by Sonia Feigenbaum, associate vice chancellor for international engagement and global strategies and the institute’s academic director; Katrina Jagodinsky, academic leader; and Maegan Stevens-Liska, administrative director in the Office of Global Strategies.
