“When I look around me, I realize people need education and motivation to change their lives for the best,” says Nana Diaby, an entrepreneur and the first-ever female Malian television talk show host. Diaby, also one of 500 participants in the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, came to this conclusion after witnessing the 2012 Malian coup d’état. She aspired to build a better future for new generations of youth through dialogue on her talk show, Phiphi.

As a consequence of the coup, Mali was left in a state of collapse – resulting in sanctions by surrounding nations, as well as a major plummet in foreign investments and tourism. At the heart of this destruction, explains Diaby, was the government’s unconvincing response, causing people to lose hope in the political system. Young people in particular lacked faith in governance and in their own self-leadership abilities.

“The youth of Mali are not empowered enough to take control of their lives to make something positive out of it,” she says. “Most of them are waiting for the government to change the country without realizing that we are the future leaders and that we have control of the future Mali we want our children to live in.”