SECWAC Meeting Dec 5: ''Africa Rising: Youth Changing the Narrative''

Chris Bradford, CEO of African Leadership Academy, presents “Africa Rising: Youth Changing the Narrative”

Southeast Connecticut World Affairs Council meeting takes place on Tuesday, December 5 on the Connecticut College campus

Waterford, CT – $20 for the General Public; Free for students
 
The Southeast Connecticut World Affairs Council (SECWAC) announced today that Chris Bradford, CEO and co-founder of the African Leadership Academy (ALA) in Johannesburg, South Africa, is to speak at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 5, 2017, at Crozier Hall at Connecticut College.

 
Mr. Bradford’s talk, titled “Africa Rising: Youth Changing the Narrative,” will share how the African Leadership Academy’s mission to address the causes, not symptoms preventing African growth and prosperity. He’ll outline how the Academy’s four powerful educational tenets, the Power of One, the Power of Youth, the Need for Pan-African Cooperation, and Entrepreneurship is Fundamental in Growth are key to the educational process. The goal is to create strong leadership throughout African society in politics, business, healthcare, education, the environment and elsewhere to create positive change and prosperity.
 
Bradford will describe the Academy’s rigorous selection process and results to date, the population explosion in Africa as one of our greatest global challenges – and one of Africa’s greatest opportunities.
 
A reception will begin in Crozier Hall at 5:30 p.m., and the main event will begin at 6:00 p.m. The presentation is a part of the SECWAC Speaker Series. SECWAC meetings are free to members ($75/year; $25/year for young professionals under 35).  Walk-ins are $20 for the general public (non-members; the $20 cost can subsequently be applied towards a SECWAC membership) and free for area college and high school students. 
 
Immediately following the presentation, SECWAC meeting attendees have the option for $35 to attend a dinner in Crozier Hall at Connecticut College with the speaker.  Reservations are required by Friday, December 1, at 860-912-5718.
 
Reporters are welcome to attend as guests of the SECWAC Board. Interested reporters should contact Paul Nugent at info@secwac.org or 860-388-9241. About Chris Bradford
As a graduate student at Stanford University, Bradford and colleague Fred Swaniker began to build African Leadership Academy, a pan-African institution that sought to address what they saw as the most important factor in Africa’s future development: the supply of ethical and entrepreneurial leaders across the continent. This work was validated in 2006, when Bradford and Swaniker were named Echoing Green Fellows as two of the “leading emerging social entrepreneurs in the world” – selected from over 900 organizations worldwide. 
 
Bradford led the design of African Leadership Academy’s innovative curriculum, which merges rigorous academics with powerful courses in Entrepreneurial Leadership and African Studies. He also shaped the Academy’s admissions process, which has selected outstanding young leaders from numerous applicants in countries across Africa since 2008. With its unique focus and pan-African reach, the Academy is unlike any other school in the world.  Bradford graduated Summa Cum Laude from Yale University with a Bachelors of Arts in Economics, where he also won the Delaney Kiphuth Award as Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and holds an MBA and MA in Education from Stanford University.
 
About African Leadership Academy
African Leadership Academy (ALA), located in South Africa, seeks to transform the continent by developing a powerful network of over 6,000 leaders who will work together to address Africa’s greatest challenges, achieve extraordinary social impact, and accelerate the continent’s growth trajectory. There are currently 46 countries represented and 983 young leaders in ALA’s network. Their model includes identifying potential, simulation and practice, and connecting leaders to opportunity by networking. Learn more at http://www.africanleadershipacademy.org. About the Southeast CT World Affairs Council (SECWAC)
SECWAC is a regional, nonprofit, membership organization affiliated with the World Affairs Councils of America (WACA). The organization dates back to 1999, and has continued to arrange 8-10 Speaker Series meetings annually, between September and June. The meetings range in foreign affairs topics, and are hosted at venues along the I-95 corridor, welcoming members and guests from Stonington to Old Saybrook, and beyond.

SECWAC’s mission is “to foster an understanding of issues of foreign policy and international affairs through study, debate, and educational programming.” It provides a forum for nonpartisan, non-advocacy dialogue between members and speakers, who can be U.S. policymakers, educators, authors, and other experts on foreign relations. Learn more at www.secwac.org.