Stephanie Busari has been selected alongside twelve (12) others into the Class of 2020 for the annual Yale’s World Fellow Program.
The 2020 cohort include: Stephanie Busari, Sally Abi Khalil, Ambroise Brenier, Hamish Falconer, Ying Lun “Allen” FUNG, Mohammad “Musa” Mahmodi, Evan Mawarire, Mauro Mondello, Edwan Ngum Tah, Hyppolite Ntigurirwa, Jorge Soto, Jovitta Thomas, and Ann Thomas.
This cohort brings the total number of World Fellows since the program’s start in 2002 to 359 Fellows, representing 91 countries. This year marks the 19th cohort of World Fellows.
Stephanie Busari is a journalist and editor at CNN Worldwide. She heads up CNN’s Nigeria bureau where she pioneered CNN’s first digital and multiplatform bureau. She also reports on-air for CNN International and led the network’s 2019 Nigeria presidential election coverage. Stephanie oversees CNN Africa’s digital editorial and operational strategy, crafting a new narrative for Africa and chronicling the continent’s changemakers and innovators.
In April 2016 Stephanie exclusively obtained the ‘proof of life’ video that showed that the missing Chibok schoolgirls were still alive. This video kickstarted crucial negotiation talks with Boko Haram that led to the eventual release of more than 100 of the kidnapped schoolgirls. She was also an instrumental member of the CNN team that won a Peabody Award in May 2015 for the network’s coverage of the missing Nigerian schoolgirls. Stephanie won a Hollywood Gracie Award in 2017 for her persistence in covering this story and is also a previous recipient of the Outstanding Woman in the Media Awards.
The World Fellows program is Yale University’s signature global leadership development initiative and a core element of Yale’s ongoing commitment to internationalization. Each year, the University invites a group of exemplary practitioners from a wide range of fields and countries for an intensive four-month period of academic enrichment and leadership training.
The mission of World Fellows is to cultivate and empower a network of globally engaged leaders committed to making the world a better place.
