From September 6-9, 2007, eight Legislative Education and Practice (LEAP) Program Fellows implemented two highly successful Youth Legislative Institutes in Barnual and Pskov, Russia. The Institutes were a culmination of a series of presentations they conducted among their peers across Russia upon their return from the U.S. in May 2007 after completing six-month internships with U.S. state legislatures. The eighty young Institute participants represented 19 Russian universities, 23 non-governmental and youth organizations, 9 regional and municipal governmental institutions and 6 youth parliaments across Russia's 11 time zones. Massachusetts State President Pro Tempore Senator Stanley Rosenberg, who hosted two of the LEAP Fellows, joined the Pskov Institute as an expert advisor. Alexey Ekard, Vice-Chair of the Russian Altai Region Legislative Council Committee on Education, Culture and Youth Affairs sums up nicely the goal of the Institutes: "The Youth Legislative Institute in Barnaul is a true embodiment of the intersection of cultures and a great example of dialogue between our two nations. It is marvelous that people from different countries, regions and cities have such an opportunity to discuss contemporary legislative issues in Russia and in the United States."

LEAP Fellows are young Russian FLEX Alumni with careers in the public sector. They served in U.S. state legislatures across the country from December 2006 to May 2007. The third class of ten Fellows arrives in the U.S. in December 2007. Due to overwhelming success, the program has been expanded to include Fellows from Russia, Georgia and Ukraine.