Tomicha Tillemann, Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for Civil Society, delivers remarks to participant at the Trans Saharan Congress. The Office of Citizen Exchanges’ Professional Fellows Division hosted its second Trans-Saharan Congress on May 21. This one-day event brought 43 participants from six African nations to the Department for a full-day discussion of key elements in building civil society.

Representatives from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal participated in the program, which included representatives from the Bureau of African Affairs, the Secretary's Office of Global Women's Issues, the Global Partnership Office, and Senior Advisors to the Secretary for Innovation and the Civil Society 2.0 Initiative. Tomicah Tillemann, the Secretary’s Senior Advisor for Civil Society and Emerging Societies delivered the keynote address and Principle Deputy Assistant Secretary Adam Ereli delivered closing remarks.