Webster University Ghana has hosted the 4th Cohort of the West Africa Regional Leadership Centre (RLC) of the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) at the yet to be commissioned new campus located in East Legon, Accra.
Webster University a proud supporter of President Barrack Obama’s YALI organized a networking and barbeque event to showcase to the world that Africa has some strong and bright young leaders in the world.
Speaking at the event that brought YALI cohorts from various African countries, the Campus Director, Webster University Ghana, Christa E. Sanders, said Webster University believes in investing in the next generation as YALI does.
“It is a very important collaboration for Webster University, we believe in investing in the next generation of African leaders and YALI also obviously doing the same thing. There is a lot of benefit in this partnership for both of us.”
The Ghana Campus Director further stated “At Webster we believe in promoting the next generation of global citizens who are also our global leaders, so Webster being here on the African continent, it has great meaning and great significance, we believe very much in the vision of YALI.”
The Public Affairs Counsellor, US Embassy Accra, Daniel Fennell disclosed the idea behind the partnership with Webster University Ghana to reach out to YALI.
“The idea was to bring Young African Leaders to the United States to meet President Barrack Obama and get to know some of our leadership skills but we wanted to expend that for more people to participate in the training. We had a plan of four leadership centres in Africa, and Webster University Accra is one of the first two to open, so this is an excellent program.”
Webster graduate students and YALI cohorts shared their perspectives on, “the impact of culture on leadership and the type of things we need to think about in being effective as African leaders.”
The keynote address from Professor Kofi Asare Opoku, former Research Fellow in Religion and Ethics at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, summarized the event by calling on young Africans to go beyond the skies.
“There are realms beyond the skies for young Africans to passionately aspire to and I have every confidence that the creative impulse that lies within each of you will find expression in whatever you choose to do for the benefit of your people,” he advised.
The event was concluded with a barbeque and networking session for Webster students and YALI RLC.
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Credit: Webster University