Youth leader Siyabulela Jentile will participate in the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders.

The fellowship is a comprehensive executive-style programme designed to build skills and empower youth to lead in their respective sectors and communities.

Jentile, who is also the founder of the Not in My Name campaign, has been invited to take part in the programme next year.

He said being afforded the opportunity to participate in the prestigious programme means another opportunity for him to learn and unlearn from other young progressive emerging leaders.

"I believe that you stop leading the day you stop learning. I am passionate about civic leadership, social entrepreneurship and social activism.

"This programme will play a significant role in the work that I do on a daily basis. I always make it a point to share whatever new knowledge and skills I have with my colleagues, so that we all move in one direction at the same pace; this opportunity will benefit them as well," Jentile said.

He said the programme includes participating in a six-week leadership institute at a US college or university to share experiences with and to learn from other youth leaders.

They will also attend a summit with young African leaders in Washington, DC, meet US government, and business leaders and will also strengthen their work through new connections, skills and ideas.

Jentile said the programme is application based, where applicants are selected for interviews and decisions are made based on the interviews as well as the general profile of the candidate.

"I was part of the inaugural Obama Foundation Leaders: Africa program, which is a one year long leadership program that seeks to inspire, empower and connect emerging leaders from across the African continent.

"As a certified Obama Foundation Leader, I believe that being a Mandela Washington Fellow will complement and enhance my leadership skills, connections and networks," he said.

Jentile is also the director of SJ leadership network, a new civic leadership development and social entrepreneurship start-up.

He was voted the 2019 SA Man of the Year in leadership category and in 2018, he received a presidential award in the leadership category.

He is a self-published author of a book called Summoned: A story of passion, purpose and prophecy and is also an advisor at Together First Global Campaign, which is a coalition of over 150 organisations world-wide. As a result of the global Covid-19 pandemic Jentile will fly to the US next year.