YSEALI Professional Fellows Program
Twice a year, ACYPL welcomes 25 young leaders from 11 countries in Southeast Asia to participate in the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Professional Fellows Program. With the help of our incredible ACYPL alumni network, we secure individual, four-week long placements for each Fellow, based on their work experience, professional goals, and a project they are working on to improve their community. In fact, since we began work on this program in 2014, ACYPL American alumni have secured over 300 placements for YSEALI Fellows.
YSEALI Fellows are between the ages of 25-35 and come from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste, and Vietnam. They are selected through a highly competitive application and interview process, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Embassies in those countries.
ACYPL’s Professional Fellows Program focuses on the theme of Governance and Society and provides participants with an in-depth exploration of key elements of America’s system of government, politics, and civil society.
Previous placements have included: shadowing a county commissioner in Ohio to learn about the budget process, learning from a judge in Georgia dedicated to reducing recidivism rates, and working with a state senator in Hawaii on protections for indigenous coastal communities.
Every Professional Fellows Program begins in Washington, DC, where Fellows meet with array of experts from government, non-profits, and the private sector, covering topics including the judiciary, lobbying, political organizing, and more. Small groups of Fellows then travel to complete their four-week placements in cities around the country.
After their placements, all Fellows return to Washington for the YSEALI Fellows Forum, a two-day conference to reconvene Fellows to share lessons learned throughout the program before returning home to implement their work.
The Professional Fellows Program serves a foundation on which to establish sustainable two-way partnerships between the Fellows and their American counterparts, with the goal of promoting and strengthening civil society, good governance, mutual understanding, and friendship.
Are you an ACYPL American alum who’s interested in supporting the
YSEALI Professional Fellows Program? Check out ways to support the program.