The Asia Pacific Leadership Program (APLP) brings together people who value diversity and who are committed to co-creating futures that are peaceful, prosperous, equitable, and just. APLP fellows engage in experiential, place-based learning and explore leadership concepts and practices that enhance personal, team, and community effectiveness. Fellows reflect on the leadership challenges posed by today’s world, and develop strategies to address these challenges in local, regional, and global contexts.

The APLP Approach:

• Place-Based: Focuses on leadership in context and builds on communities’ diversity and abundance
• Experiential: Supports Fellows as they practice leadership together, reflect on results, and refine their strategies for greater impact
• Transformational: Fosters individual and collective growth for emerging and established leaders

For over 20 years, we have been cultivating leaders who are motivated and capable of creating positive impacts in the Asia Pacific region and beyond. Incoming Fellows join a network of 700+ APLP alumni from 45 countries across the globe.

For more information, please visit our website and FAQ section. To contact us, please email APLP@EastWestCenter.org.

2025 Program Information
Program runs: May 15-December 5, 2025

• Pre-residency Virtual Connection: May 15-July 1
• Residency in Hawai`i: July 2-August 8*
• Post-residency Virtual Connection: August 9-December 5

*includes a field study within the Hawaiian Islands

Program Costs (USD): $9,840

• Program Fee: $7,000
• Housing in East-West Center living quarters: $940 (based on 37 nights)
• Estimated living expenses in Hawaii: $1,900 (approximate @ $50/day)
• Note: program cost does not include airfare to/from Hawai`i and visa fees; supplementary scholarships are available to defray the cost of the program fee and housing. More information regarding scholarships are in the application.

**The program is subject to postponement/cancellation due to prevailing and unforeseen circumstances.

Eligibility Criteria

• A demonstrated commitment to promoting peace and prosperity in the Asia Pacific region through professional work, study, or living experience
• Bachelor's degree from an accredited higher education institution in the United States, or equivalent degree representing a full-time program of study of at least 3 years' duration, from an officially-recognized higher education institution outside of the United States.
• At least 5 years of work experience
• There are no citizenship, age, or ethnicity restrictions
• Applicants will be expected to have a fluent level of English. Applicants are encouraged to provide an English language test score (such as IELTS), if one is available.

Desirable Qualifications

• Leadership track record in professional, public, and/or personal realms
• Willingness to engage fully in place-based experiential, and transformational leadership development training
• Deep involvement in a specific organization, business or community impact initiative (applicants must explain how, with their home-based teams, they will experiment with the leadership strategies learned in APLP)
• International experience, including overseas residence, language skills, intercultural and diversity exposure
• Experience of cohort learning, working collaboratively in small teams or in large groups.

Deadline
Applications must be submitted by the extended deadline of  November 1, 2024 @ 11:00 PM Hawai`i Standard Time (HST).
Letters of Reference will be accepted until November 8, 2024.

Letter of Reference
One letter of reference is required to complete your application. Instructions with a link to the Letter of Reference form will be sent to your referee via email upon the submission of your application. Should your referee need assistance, please have them contact our team at aplp@eastwestcenter.org. The program will not accept a Letter of Reference directly from applicants. The program is unable to resend reference requests on an applicant's behalf. To resend a reference request, please follow these instructions.

Submitting Your Application & Instructions
Create a Submittable account today to see the full application and apply for the APLP!  Please refer to application guidelines and specific requirements of the program before completing this form.

• Please complete the application in English.
• Read the instructions for each item carefully before entering your information.
• Applications that use generative AI in short responses, lacking specific context and details, may be disqualified.
• Submittable does not log you out automatically when you exit your browser. Therefore, it is important that you sign out from your Submittable account, especially when you are using a public computer.
• Since you will not be able to edit your application, make sure to thoroughly review your application before submitting. If your application is not ready, you can save it as a draft and submit it at a later time. The saved drafts of your application can be found in your account under My Submissions (or Submissions).
• If after submission you need to change something in your application, contact the APLP staff either through Submittable or at APLP@EastWestCenter.org to request open editing access. Open editing access will only be granted for editing/changing major fields such as Referee information.
• Submittable email notifications can be filtered as junk/spam. Be sure to add Submittable to your list of approved senders.

The Pacific Islands Development Program's quarterly publication Visions & Voices welcomes submissions of essays, articles, commentary, and concise pieces that pertain to the Pacific Islands region.

Relevance: Submissions should focus on Pacific Islands-related issues. The Pacific Islands means the places, peoples, and societies within what is understood today as the Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia sub-regions of Oceania. The subject matter should maintain its relevance for a minimum of six months after publication. To reference current priorities, issues, and concerns relevant to the Pacific Islands region, visit the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.

Quality: Submissions should be original, balanced, thoughtful, and concise.

Tone: Constructive criticism and analysis of issues that takes into account all relevant viewpoints is welcomed. However, strong political bias, sarcasm, personal attacks, cultural insensitivity, and any form of disparagement is not acceptable.

Accessibility: Submissions should be written for a general audience to understand, not just for specialists.

Length: Submissions must be between 800 to 1,200 words, excluding citations and references.

Style: Spelling should follow the 11th edition of the Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Style should follow the 17th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style with two exceptions. The first exception is that languages other than English, especially Indigenous languages, do not need to be italicized. The second exception is that digital journalism and commentary submissions may instead follow the 56th edition of The Associated Press Stylebook.

Citations: Include citations where necessary. Citations should follow the 17th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style unless there is a rational reason to use a different format, such as The Bluebook for legal writing or The Associated Press Stylebook for digital journalism and commentary pieces. Citation formatting should be consistent throughout the document.

AI Transparency: There is a growing consensus among scholarly organizations, including the Committee on Publication Ethics, that artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT or large language models do not fulfill the necessary criteria for authorship, as they lack the capacity to assume ethical and legal responsibility for the content they produce. Thus, as a matter of policy, submissions generated by AI or machine learning tools are not accepted for publication.

Submission: Submit work online via Submittable. Contributors can expect an email notification regarding acceptance or rejection within approximately four to six weeks following the applicable submission deadline. Submissions received after a submission deadline will be considered for the next submission deadline.

• Issue 1: Submissions received by the end of December are considered for publication in February.
• Issue 2: Submissions received by the end of March are considered for publication in May.
• Issue 3: Submissions received by the end of June are considered for publication in August.
• Issue 4: Submissions received by the end of September are considered for publication in November.

Editorial Rights: The Pacific Islands Development Program decides what gets published, and we might edit for length and clarity. No submissions are compensated.

Reprints: We accept previously published pieces. Contributors are responsible for providing verification of the required permissions.

Applications are now OPEN for the Young Professionals Program for spring (January- May) 2025. Please apply by 11:59 pm (Hawai‘i Standard Time) on Sunday October 13, 2024.
 

The East-West Center in Washington (EWCW) offers a chance each semester for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as recent graduates, to gain first-hand training experience at a US-Indo-Pacific research and education organization in Washington, DC.
 

We strive to provide participants with a broad range of education and training opportunities during their time with EWCW. These may include acquiring and analyzing large datasets for our Asia Matter for America publications, writing articles for AsiaMattersforAmerica.org, attending webinars or seminars, and delivering briefs.

 Applicants typically have a strong interest in US-Indo-Pacific relations and may be studying international relations, Asia studies, international economics, international political economy, public policy, international business, journalism or other similar areas of study. However, all students and recent graduates who are interested in learning more about US-Indo-Pacific relations are encouraged to apply.

      The following proven skillsets are beneficial (though not required):

• Research experience with open-source data and working with data in Excel.
• Experience analyzing quantitative data and concisely communicating data outputs.
• Experience living in, studying, or researching the Indo-Pacific
• Experience tracking multiple media sources for news or developments about a particular topic
• Interest in researching and communicating complex international relations topics (i.e., international trade) into a local perspective (i.e., Maine exports of lobster to China).
• Developing graphs/charts/infographics for use online and in print form in support of various research, policy dialogue, publication, and outreach projects
• Basic understanding of economic data analysis (FDI and Greenfield investment)
• Asian language reading fluency
• Experience writing policy analyses, briefs, press releases, or other professional communications
• Public relations/brand management experience

We do not sponsor visas for this program, so non-US-citizen applicants should already be authorized for such a position through US citizenship/permanent residency or existing visas sponsored by a university or other valid third party.
 

Full-time (40 Hours/week) participation in the Young Professionals Program comes with a $2,000 per month stipend for the spring of 2025, subject to applicable taxes and withholding. Stipends are prorated for part-time participation and may count as university credits if your school permits.
 

Applicants located both inside and outside of the Washington DC area are welcome, though residing in the DC metro area is preferred. Participants located in the DC area for the spring term have the option to join either remotely, in person, or hybrid. Participants must be able to attend at least one weekly zoom meeting, dedicate 20-40 hours per week to the program, and be able to be online for the majority of Eastern Time working hours (9 am-5 pm).

The Melvin M.S. Goo Writing Fellowship will award US$10,000 in financial support to up to three individual journalists, authors, or writers from the United States or China in return for the delivery of writing projects that enhance understanding between the two countries. The projects:

• May be produced in either (or both) English or a Chinese language variety (applications must be submitted in English). 
• Must be published or otherwise made publicly accessible in the United States and/or China; potential mediums include publication in print, print or online periodicals, etc.
• Must be an original work; completed or published projects will not be considered. 
• Must be completed and delivered (i.e. published or distributed) by December of 2025. 

Travel is encouraged but not a required component of this fellowship; any travel must be funded by the grant and arranged by the selected Fellow. For additional information, including selection criteria and funding information, please visit the East-West Center website.

Eligibility:

Applicants must be a national or permanent resident of either the United States or the People's Republic of China.

 Application Requirements: 

• Complete all required fields marked with a red asterisk (*); and provide
• Project proposal (maximum six pages) outlining: (1) the main narrative or premise of the project; (2) how the project will serve the Fellowship's mission of fostering understanding between the People’s Republic of China and the United States; (3) the medium(s) in which the project will be presented (e.g. article or series of articles, book, print or online periodical, etc.); (4) anticipated interviewees, collaborators, or other resources; (5) anticipated travel planned for the project; (6) a preliminary budget outlining the allocation of funds; (7) a preliminary timeline and internal deadlines; (8) the project's intended outlet for publication or distribution; and (9) the project's anticipated audience reach (e.g. circulation, viewership, etc.).
• Résumé or Curriculum Vitae (maximum two pages)
• At least three (3) representative examples of prior work (e.g. writing samples, digital portfolio, etc.).
• Two (2) professional references with letters of recommendation.

Extra pages submitted over the maximum limits will not be copied for or read by the selection committee. Late, incomplete, or unsubmitted draft applications will not be considered.