The Colin Powell School is thrilled to announce that Rick Stengel, a titan in journalism and public service, has joined our team as a Leader-in-Residence. With a career spanning the editor’s chair at TIME magazine and serving as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs during the Obama Administration, Stengel brings unparalleled experience to our campus. His immediate focus? Helping to launch the exciting new Nelson Mandela Project for Social Change. Learn more about his exciting new projects at the Powell School.
From Mandela’s Side to the Powell School’s Mission
Rick Stengel’s connection to Nelson Mandela is profound and deeply personal. He famously collaborated with Mandela on the South African president’s iconic autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, and later penned the New York Times bestseller Mandela’s Way. More recently, he revisited their extensive interviews for the Audible podcast, Mandela: The Lost Tapes.
It’s this intimate understanding of Mandela’s life and leadership philosophy that will form the bedrock of the new Center.
“My main focus is the Nelson Mandela Project for Social Change… It’s a leadership academy based on Mandela’s experience and principles of leadership.”
Stengel believes strongly in Mandela’s conviction that leaders are made, not born, forged through experience and the courage to step forward. He notes that Mandela, a young man who moved from the countryside to the city, navigating a “strange land,” offers a powerful narrative that will resonate deeply with our diverse student body.
“I think there is a lot to learn from his own story and, arguably, he overcame much greater polarization than we see today. He believed leaders are made, not born, and that he had to teach himself how to lead. His own experience as a young man coming from the countryside to the city and feeling like a stranger in a strange land will, I think, be evocative for students. Developing young leaders was something he cared a great deal about and it’s a way for me to pay back all that I got from him.”
A Homecoming for a Native New Yorker
Rick Stengel’s connection to the Colin Powell School isn’t new. He first visited our campus during the Obama administration, invited by General Colin Powell himself to speak about public diplomacy.
“[I] was blown away by everything about the place, the students, the campus, the mission.”
As a New Yorker and the grandson of immigrants, Stengel feels a deep resonance with CCNY’s mission to uplift and empower. He highlights that both the UN and the Mandela Foundation chose CCNY and the Powell School as the only U.S. institution to join the Nelson Mandela initiative alongside a global community of universities in Argentina, Lebanon, Singapore, South Africa, and Spain precisely because of their shared commitment to developing citizen-leaders from diverse backgrounds who are dedicated to service and transforming society.
Leadership in Action: Beyond Theory
For Stengel, leadership isn’t just an abstract concept; it’s forged in the fires of real-world challenges. He plans to draw on his extensive professional journey to guide students.
“The experiences that I will call on are my many years as a journalist and then editor of TIME magazine, my time in government, my current role as the co-chair of the board of CARE, the humanitarian organization — these are the things that I will refer to in talking about leadership.”
He champions Mandela’s simple yet profound measure of leadership: “the willingness to step forward.” This powerful idea, that anyone can choose to lead, will be a cornerstone of his teaching.
Combating Disinformation in a Polarized World
Beyond the immediate leadership program, Stengel also brings critical insights into one of today’s most pressing issues: disinformation. In his 2019 book Information Wars: How We Lost the Global Battle Against Disinformation and What We Can Do About It, he observes how dramatically the landscape has changed.
“Mis-and-disinformation has become so much more sophisticated and pernicious and ubiquitous—and mainstream! The idea of disinformation seemed new five years ago, now it is part of our lives every day.”
He notes that even during the fraught negotiations with the apartheid government, Mandela operated in a world where there was at least a shared understanding of what constituted a fact. This stark contrast highlights the urgent need for critical thinking and ethical leadership today.
Connect with Rick Stengel
This spring semester marks the very first course of the Nelson Mandela Project for Social Change, as part of the Nelson Mandela Leadership Fellowship, and Rick Stengel will be co-teaching it. This is a truly unique opportunity for students to learn from a living legend who worked intimately with one of history’s most transformative leaders.
Students interested in connecting with Rick Stengel or learning more about the Nelson Mandela Project for Social Change can reach him directly at rstengel@ccny.cuny.edu.
