U.S. EMBASSY ANNOUNCES 2023 COHORT OF THE YOUNG LEADERS OF THE AMERICAS INITIATIVE (YLAI) FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
The U.S. Embassy in Bridgetown is proud to announce the 2023 cohort for the U.S. Department of State’s Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) Fellowship. Launched in 2015, YLAI empowers emerging entrepreneurs from the Western Hemisphere to enable the full economic potential of the region’s citizens. This year’s YLAI fellowship program launched in December 2022 and will continue through June 2023, bringing together 280 young leaders from 37 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada.
We are pleased to announce that Shanice Murray (Barbados); Daniel Stanisclaus (Grenada); Elesha George (Antigua and Barbuda); Sharine Joseph, Chrishna St. Brice (Saint Lucia); Gemma Moreau (Dominica); Cleon Bradshaw (Saint Kitts and Nevis); and Zendini Bibby (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines have been accepted to the program from a field of over 1,800 applicants.
The 2023 YLAI Fellowship Program, sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, launched in December with a virtual Fellowship Leadership Curriculum and orientation. In May, fellows will split into cohorts and travel to 19 cities across the United States for four-week professional placements with U.S. businesses. They will collaborate with their peers to address shared business challenges, as well as engage in virtual and in-person events and cross-cultural activities. The program concludes with a Closing Forum in Washington, D.C. in June. Fellows return to their ventures with new skills, resources, ongoing support from U.S. counterparts, and a broader network, strengthening business ties between the U.S. and Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada.
Since 2015, more than 1,240 YLAI Fellows have built connections with 900+ U.S. fellowship placement organizations; 84 percent of these Fellows attracted new resources within one year of completing the program. The https://ylai.state.gov/ website includes information about the YLAI Fellows Program and the YLAI Network.
We are now accepting applications for the 2024 program. Apply here: https://ylai.irex.org/
For further information, please contact bridgetownexchanges@state.gov. Follow the fellowship on social media using #YLAI2023.
The Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) Fellowship Program is a program of the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and administered by IREX.