CONGRATULATIONS to our two recipients of awards for this year’s Desert Start-Up Bootcamp (DSBC) entrepreneurship program! After 11 intensive weeks, participants came together for a final Pitch Night where they presented their businesses to panelists and investors. Seed capital awards of R25,000 were made to Xolela Jara of KAPP Delivery and Barabara Ayissi of Puzzle …
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Academy of Women Entrepreneurs begins in Pretoria The U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, together with implementing partner DreamGirls Academy, launched the Academy of Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) this week in Pretoria at the American Corner as part of its Women’s Month programming. AWE supports the White House-led Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) initiative, which is designed …
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Press Release | May 6, 2019 The United States Embassy held a clean-up at the Colbyn Valley Nature Area on Saturday, May 4. U.S. Embassy officials worked side-by-side with alumni from U.S.-funded exchange programs and residents of Lerato House, a transitional residential facility for young girls at-risk in the Pretoria city center. The clean-up was …
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Twenty-nine South African students and scholars have received fully-funded Fulbright scholarships to conduct research and complete postgraduate studies at U.S. academic institutions. The world-renowned Department of State-funded Fulbright Program provides scholarships to university graduates seeking a Master’s or Doctoral degree in nearly any field of study at a university in the U.S. Thirteen South Africans …
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Forty-six young South Africans will travel to the United States to participate in the Mandela Washington Fellowship, which aims to enhance leadership skills, bolster entrepreneurship, and connect young leaders from across Africa with the American people, and with each another. During their six-week visit, 28 U.S. universities will host 700 Fellows from sub-Saharan Africa for …
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Are you a musician? Keen to collaborate with artists from around the world? Then WATCH as our Chargé d’Affaires Jessye Lapenn meets Benjamin Jephta, a South African jazz prodigy, who went on the > OneBeat exchange program to the U.S! In this episode of our Meet The AlumnU.S. series, Benjamin Jephta shares more about his journey and what inspires his …
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Lots of laughter, stories of U.S. adventures, and memories from being a Fulbrighter were exchanged at a recent reception where the Embassy hosted The Fulbright Program alumni affiliated to the University of Pretoria . Our Acting Deputy Chief of Mission, Elizabeth McKay, enjoyed the opportunity to meet alumni who are making their mark on academia in South Africa. “Even after two …
Read More» Press Release Monday, 13 June 2016 For more information please contact: Cindy Harvey USEmbassySAPress@state.gov Johannesburg, South Africa – More than 140 rising young African leaders met in Johannesburg, South Africa June 9 – 11, 2016 to collaborate on their role in driving sustainable development and a prosperous future for Africa. In support of U.S. President Barack …
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On December 11, Under Secretary (U/S) of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller traveled to Pretoria for meetings on security cooperation, peacekeeping, and nonproliferation matters with her counterparts at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO). While in Pretoria, she also met with Mandela Washington Fellow alumnae to discuss leadership and …
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The United States Embassy in Pretoria hosted South Africa’s first YALI TechCamp: Digital Strategies for Grassroots Organizing. TechCamp is a hands-on, interactive two-day event for selected youth from ten countries in Africa, including South Africa, to interact with world-class technology trainers. The YALI TechCamp took place from October 21-22 at the American Corner, inside the …
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Consul General Frances Chisholm hosted a luncheon for 2015 Mandela Washington Fellows from the province of KwaZulu Natal on September 15. These dynamic young leaders recently completed an eight-week exchange visit to the United States under the auspices of President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). The 2014 Fellows were also on hand to share their experiences …
Read More» To close out Women’s Month, the “GeneratioNEXT” youth group hosted a “Women in Media” seminar at U.S. Consulate Durban on August 27. Over forty young community media practitioners and media students from Durban University of Technology and Creative Art College attended this interactive and inspiring overview of the challenges and opportunities for female media practitioners. …
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One hundred secondary students from Pietermaritzburg and the surrounding townships attended a two-day science program hosted by the Bessie Head Library’s American Corner in partnership with the KZN Science Center. Students were fascinated by educational videos projected on the inside of a mobile planetarium with a state-of-the-art 3D digital dome. One of the videos explored …
Read More» Young African Leadership Initiative alumnus and 2014 Mandela Washington Fellow Creesen Naicker, in partnership with the MRP Foundation, has introduced young learners to technology in the classroom at Nyakana Combined Primary School near Stanger, in northern KwaZulu-Natal. Through its TechEd initiative, MRP has donated 100 tablets and 30 computers to Nyakana, benefitting more than 1500 pupils. Activities focus on basic literacy …
Read More» The KwaZulu-Natal Science Centre is partnering with M-Net to host M-Net’s Magic in Motion Career Expo in Durban on August 18-21. The career exhibition will target grade 11 pupils to develop local talent in the film and television industry. The Centre’s CEO Candice Potgieter is a 2014 Mandela Washington Fellow and Young African Leaders Initiative alumna. After she …
Read More» On Thursday, November 6th, Free State province-based alumni of U.S. government exchange programs gathered in Bloemfontein to expand their networks, reconnect with the U.S. Embassy, and gain insights into the range of alumni-specific resources available to them. Bloemfontein, poetically known as the city of roses due to the abundance of these flowers and an annual …
Read More» Indaba brings together alumni from a wide range of exchange programs and dates “A shift in thinking” is how Jacqui Lück characterized her U.S. experience at a gathering of exchange program alumni in Port Elizabeth on October 3. The fourth “Alumni Indaba” in the country over the past two years, this was the first time …
Read More» Consul General Frances Chisholm lent USG support for the girl child at three events commemorating International Day of the Girl Child. On October 9, in support of the KZN Youth Empowerment Program, led by the alumnus of the U.S. Government’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) she attended an event with about 30 young girls at …
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