Energy Commission Hosting Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders
The California Energy Commission is hosting two participants from the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders who plan to take their experiences back home.
Dina Ramaromandray of Madagascar and Errol Renaud of Seychelles are participants in the fellowship, which is a United States government program. It is the flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative, which empowers young African leaders through academic coursework, leadership training, and networking opportunities.
During their six-week stay, they will be working for Energy Commission Chair Robert B. Weisenmiller, engaging with staff and working on projects. They both come from island nations and understand the threat that climate change poses to their culture and way of life.
“Humankind must change its ways and radically decarbonize the economy to manage the threat of climate change,” said Weisenmiller. “It is opportunities like this where best practices are shared that enables us to have a global response to climate change.”
Ramaromandray and Renaud are committed to advancing energy access, reliability, affordability, and security. They also welcome the opportunity to serve as role models for younger generations. They hope to incorporate some of the lessons learned at the Energy Commission into their work back home.
Ramaromandray currently works in law and research for Madagascar’s Ministry of Water, Energy and Hydrocarbons. She is interested in becoming a leader in Madagascar’s public energy sector, where she will be able to help shape laws and policies to advance access to electricity and combat the effects of climate change.
Renaud is an electricity regulator in the newly created tariffs and economic affairs unit in the regulatory section of Seychelles Energy Commission. He has an international economics, trade and industrial economics background and has worked in the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change. He considers energy access critical to the sustainable economic growth of developing countries and small islands states.
