Madelynne Wager (BA '13) was selected as one of top young foreigners making an impact on the continent of Africa by Young People in International Affairs (YPIA). With this year's list, YPIA is honoring people who provide a counter narrative to the established and expected story of social migration out of Africa towards the West.
Wager is currently serving as a Machel-Mandela Intern at the Brenthurst Foundation in Johannesburg, South Africa. The mission of the Brenthurst Foundation it to be on the frontier of new ideas and innovative actions for strengthening Africa's economic performance by looking to tackle not only the key "what to do" questions but the more difficult challenge of "how to do it." Wager is the only Machel-Mandela intern focused on urbanization and inequality. As her YPIA bio highlights:
"With such research interests it helps that she's located in the largest urbanized and economically powerful city in South Africa. As well as being a policy hawk, Madelynne is a social activist having been involved with grassroots campaigns such as One.org, Feed the Future and PEPFAR. Johannesburg is lucky to have her."