The 2022 Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is officially over, however several fellows will remain in the U.S. for an additional month for Professional Development Experiences (PDEs). One such fellow from our #YALILesotho2022 cohort is Advocate Motlatsi Mofolo who is
attached at the Council on American Islamic Relations in Chicago Illinois (CAIR-Chicago). CAIR is a human and civil rights organisation aimed at defending human and civil rights, fight bigotry and promote tolerance for muslims in America.
Advocate Mofolo is a Gender-Based Violence, Human Rights and Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) practitioner with over 4 years of experience in the non-profit sector where he has implemented projects targeting women and girls, children, vulnerable, indigenous, LGBTIQ+ and other key populations. He is currently a MERL Consultant at Nairasha Legal Support; a not-for-profit organisation offering post-violence-care services to survivors of GBV. Before this, he worked as a Monitoring and Evaluation officer at Women in Law Southern Africa (WILSA). Adv. Mofolo is also an alumnus of the virtual International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) under the Human and Civil Rights for Marginalised Communities program. He is currently pursuing his Masters’ Degree in Human Rights Law at the National University of Lesotho. For his fellowship, he was placed at the The Presidential Precinct under the Civic Engagement track.
During his PDE, he hopes to gain more insight on how the U.S. has intentionally invested in the promotion and protection of human and civil rights of all its citizens, as an important factor towards upholding democracy and accelerating its development.
