Young African Leaders Enjoying Deepened Experience through Socialcast

A vibrant, new online networking tool is deepening the experience of some of Africa’s preeminent young leaders, who are in the United States as part of the White House’s signature engagement initiative with the continent.

Virginia’s Presidential Precinct launched the virtual network using Socialcast® by VMware, to create a seamless virtual community that will grow over the six week fellowship program and serve as a virtual town square even after the leaders return to their home countries.

Socialcast by VMware, a leading enterprise social networking platform, is enabling the fellows to share expertise, collaborate on ideas and find the best solutions to issues associated with nation building.

“The Presidential Precinct Network is a virtual center of opportunities, I look at it as an ‘all in one’ kind of network- a place where I get to connect with other professionals and get to know about their career plus exchange information and knowledge through searchable content. The Presidential Precinct Network is a bridge to career growth and a steering wheel for inspiration.” said Abella Bateyunga, a Washington Fellow and Governance Officer for BBC Media Action in Tanzania.

The Presidential Precinct Network (PPN) is the first platform of its kind to offer members a way to collaborate in real-time across diverse industries and provide access to resources created and compiled by experts in topics such as governance, leadership, economics, policy reform, design thinking, education, gender equality and public private partnerships.

VMware has offered Socialcast to the Presidential Precinct in kind, allowing for a thousand members to join the PPN for free. Thus far, more than 2,500 connections have been made.

“We are proud to partner with Socialcast by VMware to build this network that allows new leaders to gain the insight they need to create better governments and businesses for their home countries,” said Neal Piper, Managing Director of The Precinct. “Thanks to VMware’s generosity to help power the PPN, we can connect change makers across the globe like never before,” he said.

The Presidential Precinct is one of 20 entities chosen to host a group of Washington Fellows, members of President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI).  The Washington Fellowship provides young Africans in various careers leadership, academic coursework, and mentoring at the six locales that make up the Presidential Precinct: University of Virginia, William and Mary, James Madison’s Montpelier, U.Va.’s Morven estate, James Monroe’s Ash Lawn-Highland and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.

“VMware is proud to support President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative through the Presidential Precinct and offer Socialcast to extend mentor communications beyond the six week onsite program offered by the Washington Fellowship,” said Bob Schultz, chief strategy lead, End-User Computing, VMware. “VMware has a history of introducing industry changing innovation, and we are excited to see what this next generation of leaders will introduce to their local communities in the coming years,” he said.

The Presidential Precinct has already engaged hundreds of leaders to join the network, including the Washington Fellows, various scholars, the private sector and diplomats.

The Washington Fellowship culminates with a summit with President Obama at the White House this July.