Help Select Scholarship Exchange Students

American Councils is seeking volunteers in the Washington, D.C. area to evaluate scholarship applications of high school students from more than 29 countries. This is a unique opportunity to change a young person’s life and be part of a worldwide public diplomacy effort.

Youth exchange programs empower the next generation and establish long-lasting ties between the United States and other countries, promoting mutual understanding. Over the past decades, the U.S. Congress and Department of State have created youth exchanges as an important component of U.S. public diplomacy and foreign policy:

• The Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program: initiated in 1992 to ensure long-lasting peace and mutual understanding between the U.S. and the countries of Eurasia and to enable young people to learn about the U.S. and Americans firsthand, and to teach Americans about their countries.
• Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program: established by Congress in October 2002 in response to the events of September 11, 2001 to bring students from countries of strategic importance to the United States for an academic year to advance the U.S. foreign policy goals of promoting civil society, youth leadership development, and lasting ties between Americans and the people of participating countries.
• National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program: launched in 2006 to promote critical language learning among American youth and offers U.S. teens short- and long-term scholarship programs to study Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Hindi, Korean, Persian (Tajik), Indonesian, Russian, and Turkish in countries where these languages are spoken.
• FLEX Abroad and YES Abroad: offer U.S. high school students scholarships to participate in an academic year cultural exchange in a participating FLEX or YES country, the reciprocal to the FLEX and YES Programs.

These programs provide high school students with the opportunity to travel to the U.S. or abroad for an academic year or summer and study and live with a host family. By volunteering to evaluate these student applications, you will help select the next generation of future leaders in these countries. Many of the over 54,000 FLEX, YES, and NSLI-Y alumni have gone on to become successful professionals in their home communities. Alumni of these programs include entrepreneurs, journalists, financial sector leaders, technology leaders, public policy makers, and leaders in their national governments.

Required Training: Volunteers are required to attend a virtual or in-person training session to provide a better understanding of the programs and application process and prepare them to evaluate student applications. New volunteers receive six hours of training

When and Where: In-person evaluation will take place at the American Councils office near Farragut North, from October 2024 to March 2025, with flexible hours, including evenings and Saturdays. Applicants are able to apply for a volunteer position anytime during the evaluation period.

As an alternative, volunteer evaluators will have an opportunity to engage in virtual evaluation via an online portal. Virtual volunteer opportunity is available from anywhere in the US.

Perks:

• Topical lecture series and other cultural events throughout the evaluation season
• Meals and snacks
• Experienced support staff with regional experience
• Volunteers will earn an endorsement on LinkedIn
• Opportunity to meet other professionals involved in international education, exchange, and public diplomacy
• Eligibility to apply for flight leader positions to accompany students as they travel to and from their countries over the summer. This is a highly sought-after opportunity available to active volunteer evaluators

Just as the FLEX, YES and NSLI-Y programs are accessible to and include students with disabilities, American Councils also welcomes volunteers with all abilities. If you have any questions about accommodations for volunteer evaluators, please contact volunteer@americancouncils.org