City College of New York partners with UNSSC on Nelson Mandela Project for Social Change

The City College of New York (CCNY) and the United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC) have agreed to partner on the Nelson Mandela Project for Social Change, a pioneering initiative aimed at bridging social and political divides by developing new generations of leaders across the globe. The agreement is a key component of a Memorandum of Understanding signed by CCNY President Vince Boudreau, the Dean of the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership Andrew Rich, and UNSSC Director Jafar Javan.

The Memorandum of Understanding envisages collaboration between the two institutions on joint research projects, sharing of knowledge and expertise, designing globally focused training and learning activities around leadership, as well as leadership development programmes, internships, academic exchanges and public forums. The Nelson Mandela Project for Social Change is also being created in collaboration with the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg, a non-profit that is the primary custodian of Mandela’s name and legacy. A member of the foundation will be on the project’s advisory board. “With the world in desperate need of good leadership,” said Foundation Chief Executive Dr Mbongiseni Buthelezi, “this project promises to offer a vital and accessible resource.”

UNSSC inaugurated the Nelson Mandela initiative earlier this year in Turin, Italy, bringing together five founding academic partners: American University in Beirut in Lebanon; Universidad Austral in Argentina: IE University in Spain; Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore; and The Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

The philosophy of the Nelson Mandela Project for Social Change is anchored in Nelson Mandela’s fundamental leadership insights: promoting a culture of values-based and adaptive leadership, resilience, and empathy, and reflecting a determination to create a genuine and safe dialogue space to foster social change

At CCNY, the project will be anchored in the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership and led by Richard Stengel. Stengel was the former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs during the Obama administration and the former Editor of TIME magazine. In the 1990s, he collaborated with Nelson Mandela on the South African’s bestselling autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. That experience was the basis for Stengel's New York Times bestseller, "Mandela's Way." The many hours of taped interviews from that time were the foundation of Stengel’s 10-part award-winning audiobook, “Mandela: The Lost Tapes.” 

“Together with our academic partners we want to build a cohort of change makers and provide a learning platform for social change,” said Jafar Javan, adding that the project was born out of a visit to the University of Cape Town in 2023 to jointly reflect on the need to bridge social and political divides in a world increasingly affected by polarization. “Through the initiative we will provide spaces for dialogue and consensus building to foster greater participation, which is so much needed for good governance and thriving democracies in light of the global challenges facing humanity today.”

Simona Costanzo Sow UNSSC’s Chief of Academic Partnerships added: “Through the initiative and its Global Academy for Social Change, we will provide access to new approaches and forge networks among likeminded policy makers, development practitioners and young people, engaged in initiatives toward social change. The Academy will combine leadership dialogues and substantive inputs with interactive workshops and competency labs to combine theory, practice and networking.”

“Social change is at the heart of CCNY’s mission, and Nelson Mandela was among the most effective leaders for social change of the last century,” said President Boudreau. “We are pleased to be the institutional anchor in the United States for this important partnership with the UN System Staff College. It is particularly fitting, as CCNY was among Nelson Mandela’s first stops during his inaugural trip to the United States in 1990.”

“Nelson Mandela was a transformational figure, and this project represents an extraordinary opportunity to build on his legacy by creating new global opportunities at CCNY that include teaching, research, program building, and leadership development,” said Dean Rich. “It is privilege to work with Jafar Javan and his colleagues at the UN System Staff College on this initiative, and we are thrilled to have Rick Stengel’s leadership at the Colin Powell School.”

“Madiba would have loved this idea of creating a new generation of young global leaders who can address intractable problems in new and innovative ways,” said Mr. Stengel. “City College and the Colin Powell School are the perfect place to do this in the United States. Producing effective leaders for positive social change is one of the great challenges of our time, and I’m honored and humbled to lead this effort inspired by Mandela's own heroic journey."