Visitor Programs
Young Leadership Exchange
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, to leadership and youth empowerment. 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
- team building 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 sponsors the participation of approximately 1,275 international and American high school students and teachers in exchanges under the Youth Leadership Programs umbrella.
More about Young Leadership Exchange...→