Houston Area Urban League hosts a poignant conversation with Late South African President’s grandson, Zondwa Mandela

The Houston Area Urban League (HAUL) hosted a fireside chat with Zondwa Mandela, Chairman of the Mandela Legacy Foundation and grandson to Nelson & Winnie Mandela on Monday, October 18, 2021, at the Houston Area Urban League’s downtown location. The event was a hybrid activation live-streamed on Zoom and social media.  

The conversation with Mandela, led by Eric Goodie, HAUL’s Area Vice President, focused on the foundation’s job creation initiatives, HAUL’s Workforce Development and Training programs, and the need to highlight what Mandela aptly called the “pandemic of unemployment in Africa.” 

Mandela and Goodie placed emphasis on solutions that both organizations use to help advance job creation and workforce training of unemployed and underemployed populations to include job creation for youth and young adults, the importance of women in leadership, comprehensive job training, and financial literacy. “Unemployment has become such a major issue that it actually has no status now. You can’t say the have-nots are the only ones affected by unemployment. The reality is that you’ve got highly-educated, young privileged people with accessibility who are currently unemployed,” says Mandela. The Mandela Legacy Foundation seeks to partner with global organizations to help advance this mission and was here in Houston to continue advocacy for the initiative.  

This event was hosted in partnership with Asurion, a sponsor of the Houston Area Urban League, during Asurion’s “Week of Compassion.” The event is part of a larger Center for Social Justice and Education program that the Houston Area Urban League uses to advocate for the rights and education of Blacks and other marginalized communities here in the Greater Houston Area.  

To view the full event, please visit: https://youtu.be/7LTxgiRuY7U