The Asia Pacific Leadership Program (APLP), established in 2000, is a premier leadership development program focused on the Indo-Pacific region. APLP brings together mid-career professionals from across the region to develop strategic leadership skills for complex times by examining the forces shaping the region today, exploring the types of leadership needed to address these challenges, and building personal, team, and community capacity. 

For 25 years the APLP has cultivated leaders who have gone on to positions of influence in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. Graduates join a dynamic network of more than 700 leaders from 45 countries, engaged in advancing the region’s most pressing priorities.

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

2026 Program Information
      Program runs: June 1-September 2, 2026

• Pre-residency Virtual Connection: June 1-23
• Residency in Hawai`i: June 24-July 31*
• Post-residency Virtual Connection: August 1-September 2

*includes a field study within the Hawaiian Islands

      Program Costs (USD): $11,678

• Program Fee: $8,500
• Housing in East-West Center living quarters: $1,278 (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. 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 15, 2025 @ 11:00 PM Hawai`i Standard Time (HST). Letters of Reference will be accepted until November 20, 2025.

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.