Information for Professional Affiliate

What is YALDA 

YALDA was set up by African students at Harvard College, aimed at providing a forum for youth on the African continent and those abroad with a commitment to the welfare of Africa. By networking with professionals, mentors and each other, YALDA members have the opportunity to increase their capacity to take on positive leadership roles in their universities, countries and across the continent. The ultimate objective is that through YALDA, members will implement their long-term visions for Africa. YALDA is about building the bridges needed to support one whole vision, rather than two half visions, for Africa. Through the YALDA network, innovative ways to connect youth and professionals who have complimentary needs and interests are born and take shape.

Why you should become a mentor/advisor
As an adult professional with a strong interest in Africa, by registering to become a YALDA mentor/advisor, you can gain access to a network of hundreds of aspiring youth leaders in African universities and communities, and can browse or search detailed profiles of innovative ground-level projects proposed by young people in the business and investment fields. 

What being a mentor involves
Patience, commitment and dedication to positive leadership and development on the African continent. As a registered professional affiliate you choose how to be involved. Areas of involvement can range from just submitting articles to the YALDA newsletter, to being actively involved in a YALDA branch, attending their events and building relationships with some of the members.

You can also post information about organizations, jobs, internships, fellowships, volunteer opportunities which will only be accessible to our YALDA youth members. We also encourage you to support YALDA through any financial assistance you are able to offer us. 
If you are interested in mentoring students, you can indicate that when you register and students may contact you specifically and ask you to become their mentor; in no way are you obligated to accept but you can always refer them to someone else.

As a registered affiliate, our database also allows you to locate students, student organizations and projects in your field that you find most compelling; then you decide how to get involved. The student profiles on our database also state what it is the students themselves are hoping to gain from building vital relationships with professional leaders like you. We encourage you to offer our members with essential information, advice and assistance to help them realize their future goals and leadership potentials. 

An endnote
Our hope is that you consider joining the network to communicate directly with Africa's youth via YALDA, access a powerful search engine, and learn about the creative solutions young people are proposing to Africa's problems and how you can get involved.