Youth Leadership Programs foster greater understanding and respect between the youth of the United States and other countries and also help to develop a sense of civic responsibility among teenagers and young adults.

• Exchanges are three to six weeks in duration.
• All projects include activities related to civic education, leadership development, and community service. They also address specific themes, ranging from conflict resolution to media literacy and student government.
• Projects may involve one-way travel of foreign students to the United States or two-way exchanges
• Programs are primarily for high school students, and most include adult participants who are high school teachers or community leaders who work with youth.
• Participants improve their sense of civic responsibility and commitment to community development.
• Participants develop relationships with teenagers from different ethnic, religious, and national groups and engage in building bridges of understanding and respect among the people of the United States and other countries
• Alumni use their newly-acquired skills and knowledge to transform their communities and countries.

  All Youth Leadership Programs include a competitive participant selection process and comprehensive orientations leading into the exchange. During the exchanges, students and educators participate in:

•  workshops
• community service activities
• dialogues, simulations, role plays and other activities related to project themes
• teambuilding exercises
• school visits
• meetings with community leaders
• leadership development
• discussion groups with instruction
• site visits related to civic education, leadership, tolerance and respect for diversity, and community activism
• homestays
• social and cultural activities

Upon their return home, alumni implement projects that promote the themes they explored during the overseas program.

The Youth Programs Divisions is currently sponsoring the participation of approximately 570 international and American high school students and teachers in exchanges under the Youth Leadership Programs umbrella.

Following is a list of current Youth Leadership Programs. The Youth Programs Division issues Request for Grant Proposals (RFGPs), which are published in the Federal Register (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html). The Youth Programs Division does not accept unsolicited Youth Leadership proposals. Grants are awarded via a competitive solicitation process, which maximizes the quality of the proposals received, ensures cost-effectiveness in program implementation, engages new players in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ programs, and ensures fair and equitable dealings with non governmental institutions and constituents.

For information on any of the below programs please contact YLP@state.gov.

Youth Leadership Program with Indonesia
Administering Organization: Legacy International
Website: http://www.legacyintl.org/programs/indonesia_YLP08.html
Date of Exchange: July 2009
Number of Participants: 20

Youth Leadership Program with the Philippines (Mindanao)
Administering Organization: Northern Illinois University
Website: http://www.cseas.niu.edu/
Date of Exchange: April-May 2009
Number of Participants: 23

Youth Visitor Program
Administering Organization: Academy for Educational Development (AED)
Website: http://aed.org/index.cfm
Date of Exchange: April 2009 (Turkey), April 2009 (Belgium and Germany)
Number of Participants: 42 (14 from each country)

Youth Leadership Program with Bosnia and Herzegovina
Administering Organization: Willamette University
Website: http://www.willamette.edu
Date of Exchange: April-May 2009
Number of Participants: 21

Integrating Immigrant and Minority Communities: Youth Component (Western Europe)
Administering Organization: Institute for Training and Development (ITD)
Website: http://www.itd-amherst.org/
Dates of Exchanges: Spain and Netherlands to U.S.: January, February 2009; U.S to Spain and Netherlands: April 2009
Number of Participants: 28

U.S./Poland Parliamentary Youth Leadership Program
Administering Organization: American Councils on International Education
Website: http://www.americancouncils.org/
Date of Exchange: February and June 2009
Number of Participants: 15 Students and 2 Teachers each way

Serbia Youth Leadership Program
This program consists of three one-month-long exchange projects in the United States. In return visits, 15 U.S. teenagers and trainers travel to Serbia.
Administering Organization: World Learning
Website: http://www.worldlearning.org
Date of Exchanges: Spring 2009; Fall 2009
Number of Participants: 65 Serbians and 15 Americans

Youth Leadership Program with Bolivia
Administering Organization: Magee-Womens Research Institute and Foundation
Website: http://www.mwrif.org/
Date of Exchange: April 2009
Number of Participants: 12

Youth Leadership Program with Ecuador
Administering Organization: Washington State University
Website: http://cbdd.wsu.edu/
Date of Exchange: April 2009
Number of Participants: 12

Youth Leadership Program with Nicaragua
Administering Organization: Mississippi Consortium for International Development (MCID)
Website: http://www.mcid.us
Date of Exchange: January 2009
Number of Participants: 15

Youth Leadership Program with Peru and Venezuela
Administering Organization: Partners of the Americas
Website: http://www.partners.net/partners/Default_EN.asp
Date of Exchange: April 2009 (Peru) and August 2009
(Venezuela)
Number of Participants: 24 (12 from Peru and 12 from Venezuela)

Congressionally Mandated One-Time Grants Program
The below programs are the results of a Congressionally-mandated one-time competition for youth leadership programs focused on four themes: media technology and media literacy; cultural leadership; environmental issues; and business and entrepreneurship skills. These projects all include travel to the United States from the listed countries and travel abroad by American participants.

Emerging Youth Leaders: Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia
Administering Organization: Critical Mass Leadership Education (CMLE)
Website: http://www.cyber-reality.com/BoldLeaders/
Date of Exchange: Americans to Europe: June 2009; Europeans to the U.S.: August, 2009
Number of Participants: 42

Emerging Youth Leaders: France and Canada
Administering Organization: Vermont Council on World Affairs
Website: http://www.vcwa.org/
Date of Exchange: Americans and Canadians to France: June-July 2009; Canadians and French to U.S.: July-August 2009
Number of Participants: 42

Emerging Youth Leaders: Israel, Jordan, West Bank
Administering Organization: AFS-USA
Website: http://www.usa.afs.org/usa_en/home
Date of Exchange: April-July 2009
Number of Participants: 24

Emerging Youth Leaders: Nigeria and Ghana
Administering Organization: International Reading Association
Website: http://www.reading.org/
Date of Exchange: Americans to Nigeria and Ghana: November 2009; Nigerians and Ghanaians to U.S.: September, 2009
Number of Participants: 48

Emerging Youth Leaders: Armenia and Azerbaijan
Administering Organization: PH International
Website: http://www.ph-int.org/
Date of Exchange: July 2009-March 2010
Number of Participants: 60

Emerging Youth Leaders: Rwanda
Administering Organization: Facing History and Ourselves
Website: http://www.facinghistory.org/
Date of Exchange: Americans to Rwanda: July 2009; Rwandans to U.S.: March 2010
Number of Participants: 44