Africa 2014

In July 2014, Whitney and Betty MacMillan brought together a group of influential people in Minneapolis, all of whom lead initiatives to improve lives and livelihoods on the continent of Africa.

As a contribution to this forum, Catherine Panter-Brick briefly described the forceful arguments made by academics and social activists at the February 2014 Yale workshop on African youth and governance. It focused on the links between identity, livelihoods, and politics on the continent, and the inequalities existing between youth who saw themselves as stuck on the path to social adulthood, due to a lack of connections or a stagnant economy, versus youth who believed they were at the forefront of changing governance in Africa, harnessing social media to create new forms of civic engagement. In Minneapolis, this apposition of views provided the basis for a thought-provoking exchange of ideas on the roles of government, business, and philanthropic efforts in promoting wellbeing and resilience in this region.