Young Leaders Initiative

The Young Leaders Initiative Program

In response to Member Committees’ express desire to increase their engagement with young people, the ACFR started the Young Leaders Initiative (YLI) in 2018.

The American Committees on Foreign Relations seeks to expand the involvement of students from across the Member Committees in furtherance of ACFR’s mission: Serving the foreign affairs and national security interests of the U.S. through constructive face-to-face dialogue between citizens and foreign policy experts and other professionals.

The centerpiece of YLI is the annual Young Leaders Program in Washington, D.C., for university-level students chosen by the Member Committees. The summer Program features 15-20 Young Leaders who meet with policy practitioners, experts, and officials at U.S. government agencies and other foreign policy institutions in interactive “conference table” briefing sessions.

Following the Washington, D.C. visit, Young Leaders through their network aid each other in their career interests and support the ACFR family of Committees.

Participants

General guidleines for the Young Leaders participants are that they are undergraduate university students who demonstrate high academic achievement, potential career interest in international affairs, and strong leadership qualities. The ACFR Local Committees nominate the Young Leaders and sponsor their participation.

Benefits

The benefits of this program have accrued both to the Young Leaders and to their sponsoring Committees. A number of Committees have featured their Young Leaders in programs and have hosted the D.C.-based policy experts who have briefed the students.

The ACFR Young Leaders Initiative is organized by Ms. Michèle McManus, reached at michele.mcmanus@acfr.org.