50 young professionals from 4 continents join the Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders (ADEL) network

The Policy Center for the New South (PCNS), striving to do more than "act for" young people, works with them to ensure they presently have a voice. The objective is no longer "preparing for the future" but rather combining change with the present, through intergenerational dialogue.

The new cohort of 50 Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders (ADELs), comprised of 27 nationalities, will be attending workshops from 9 to 11 December, held partially at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. The new members will be introduced to each other as well as to high-level.

Atlantic excellence rooted in Morocco

These Emerging Leaders, aged 23 to 35, will join an already established community of 300 "alumni" of the program consisting of experts, researchers, entrepreneurs, civil servants and members of civil society.

For this edition, more than 2000 young people have submitted outstanding applications. This alone signifies the program's success as well as its Atlantic and Moroccan excellence. The selection process was based on the four criteria of initiative, leadership potential, vision and the ambition to strengthen transatlantic ties.

The 2019 Emerging Leaders include 26 women and 24 men. Among these are 16 Africans (including 6 North Africans), 13 Europeans, 11 North Americans and 9 South Americans and Caribbean’s. These members hail from the private sector (12), public sector (11), think tanks and universities (11), civil society (10), international organizations (3) and the media (3).

Some prominent members include Edna Liliana Valencia Murillo, a Colombian Journalist of African descent at France 24 presenting programs on women and Africa in Spanish; Aziza Geleta Dessalegn, Minister Plenipotentiary for Political Affairs, who represents Ethiopia, at the United Nations’ Office in Nairobi; Maximo Plo Seco, who is manager of the Cultural Infusion for Europe office and works to build intercultural harmony within organizations in Spain, through an original tool, the “Atlas of Diversity”.

Led by high level experts

During the dialogue, leadership, entrepreneurship and design thinking will be on the agenda, with speakers will be high on the agenda with, speakers such as the American design thinking specialist Abe Mabogunje, Nigerian journalist and writer Enuma Okoro, and French economist Bruno Boccara, who specializes in a psycho-social approach to public policies.

Furthermore, professor Lex Paulson (United States) will talk to them about collective intelligence and community building, while Badr Ikken, director of the Research Institute for Solar Energy and New Energies (IRESEN), along with other experts, will discuss the economics of climate change adaptation and the role of innovation and technology in energy transition. Other speakers include Wadia Ait Hamza, former ADEL and head of the World Economic Forum Global Shapers, who will address leadership issues and US journalist Richard Lui (MSNBC) will discuss misinformation and "fake news," while Sarah Glover, president of the National Association of Black Journalists in the United States, will talk about "race, gender and culture."

Intergenerational Dialogue

The objective of the ADEL program is to build a community that transcends the Atlantic Dialogues conference. This community will be active not just during the dialogues but will be presented with various opportunities throughout the year. For example, in 2019, they published 22 blog posts on the Policy Center’s website, took part in the African Peace and Security Annual Conference (APSACO) in Rabat, and 10 of them participated in the Paris Peace Forum.

Furthermore, ADEL 2018 alumni and Nigerian economist Olisaeloka Okocha, along with Fatima Ezzahra Mengoub, an agricultural economist at the Policy Center for the New South, contributed to a chapter of the Atlantic Currents Report on Technology and Agriculture, which will this year be presented at the opening of the Atlantic Dialogues.

Throughout the conference, the new cohort will be able to interact with its predecessors and share its ideas. The closing plenary session will be, as usual, dedicated to the new members of the ADEL network.

Throughout the conference, the new cohort will be able to interact with its predecessors and share its ideas. To encourage this, the closing plenary session will be dedicated to the new members of the ADEL network.

About the Policy Center for the New South

Launched in 2014 in Rabat with more than 40 experts of both south and north, the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS) is a Moroccan think tank aiming to contribute to the improvement of economic and social public policies that challenge Morocco and the rest of Africa as integral parts of the global South. www.policycenter.ma