Sedrick N'Gotta
Cote d'Ivoire

Sédrick is a digital activist with over four years’ experience working in democracy and governance fields, particularly in citizens’ participation, election monitoring, and advocacy work around transparency and anti-corruption. Sédrick serves as IT manager for The Civil Society Organization and the Platform for Elections Observation in Côte d’Ivoire (POECI). He is responsible both for managing digital communications and integrating ICTs into election observation activities. As a volunteer, Sédrick promotes better understanding of ICT use and web-based platforms to support citizens’ participation in Côte d’Ivoire through capacity development activities and program monitoring for local NGOs. Sédrick intends to use the knowledge acquired through the Mandela Washington Fellowship to develop his recently founded nonprofit organization, Open Africa Initiative, which aims at providing technical assistance to Francophone countries-based CSOs in order to improve their organizational capacities, outreach and, ability to mobilize citizens for change through an effective use of ICT and social media.