YSEA supported the Yale Africa Innovation Symposium (YAIS-IV) as a Gold Sponsor in 2026, following its support as a Silver Sponsor in 2025. The symposium convenes participants at Yale around sector-focused innovation labs across disciplines.
YSEA Board Member Milton Young participated in the Biodiversity Innovation Lab, which engages students from colleges and universities across the United States in developing solutions and focused on approaches to valuing and conserving biodiversity in the Congo River Basin rainforest—the second largest rainforest in the world. The session featured Akim Daouda, founder and CEO of Mwaana, who led the discussion.
Discussions emphasized not only conservation of natural resources, but also the importance of protecting and recognizing the knowledge of local communities who rely on the rainforest for their livelihoods and whose longstanding medicinal knowledge draws on the diverse plant, animal, and other natural resources of the rainforest, including consideration of how that knowledge is protected and fairly recognized.
YSEA continues to engage with initiatives that connect research, practice, and real-world problem solving.
Photos: Milton Young