Leadership and Democracy Fellowship
To help achieve its goal of developing the political leadership skills, knowledge, and attitude of promising youth leaders, YouthLed has launched its 2021 Youth Leadership Development Program—the Leadership and Democracy Fellowship (LEAD Fellowship).
What is LEAD?
The LEAD Fellowship is a two-year program that aims to invest in the political leadership skills of 30 select emerging young leaders aged 18-30 from diverse backgrounds. The Fellowship will strengthen its capacity to navigate, engage, and optimize platforms for democratic governance across all levels. Beyond personal skills and knowledge, the program seeks to ground youth leadership in a deeper appreciation of democracy and for democratic values, structures, and systems.
The program is also designed to sustain gains brought about by other USG/USAID programs such as YouthPower, IVLP, YSEALI, and other youth leadership training programs in the country. YouthLed will interact, partner, and engage with alumni of these initiatives and co-develop programs aimed to promote democracy, governance, and civic engagement.
Objectives of the Program
Democratic Values
To establish or reinforce democratic values in the formation of each of the youth leader’s orientation and worldview.
Capacity-Building
To strengthen the capacity of each young leader in the conceptualization, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of their issue-based campaigns and community development programs.
Skills Development
To develop the LEAD Fellow’s skills and knowledge in expanding opportunities and creating venues for increased political and developmental youth engagement within their communities, networks, and institutions.
Fellowship Grants
To give young leaders the opportunity to access LEAD’s Fellowship and Democracy Grants geared towards social development.
Growth & Development
To support the formation and mentoring of a group of informed, engaged, and empowered youth leaders anchored on democratic values and servant leadership—with direction towards enhanced civic engagement and political participation.
Sustainability
To support the growth and establishment of youth organizations and capacitate them towards greater participation and sustainability.
The Youth Leadership Framework
The YouthLed Leadership Framework is grounded on democratic principles that translates to the following core aspects of leadership:
Pagtugon, Pamumuno, and Pamamahagi.
Pagtugon (Responding)
- Can articulate their response to an issue grounded on personal and collective values
- Has a clear understanding of one’s vision for the self and others
- Strikes a balance between stability of responsibilities and openness to changes in their work if it’s for the best interest of their constituents
- Is willing to improve oneself in order to lead others in responding to prominent issues of the time.
Pamumuno (Leading)
- Recognizes that they lead mainly for the people
- Has the ability to listen and connect with their constituents
- Has capability to anchor their actions to serve the best interests of their constituents
- Is able to create virtual or physical platforms to provide spaces for their constituents to provide feedback and suggest ideas
Pamamahagi (Sharing)
- Leads by example
- Has competencies to plan, implement, and improve programs that has positive impact to a particular sector
- Learns about developments of social and political issues fast and comes up with immediate action
- Knowledgeable on the emerging issues globally and locally—particularly those that affect their sector/constituents
Why join LEAD?
Apart from making history by being part of the first long-term leadership program in the country that champions democratic values, participatory governance, and civic engagement, you will also enjoy the following benefits:
Opportunity for all.
YouthLed believes in providing equal opportunities regardless of one’s background, geographical origin, gender, belief system, and social status. The LEAD Fellowship opens its doors to individuals from the PWD sector, indigenous peoples, and LGBTQI+ communities.
A chance to access grants and funding for your organization.
We know how important funding is to make your ideas come to life or sustain your key projects. Participants of the LEAD Fellowship will have access to a Fellowship Grant to support their organizational programs upon onboarding and an opportunity to be one of the recipients of a Democracy Grant to support proposed democracy initiatives.
Access to tailored-fit skills development training.
Each YouthLed Young Leader will be assessed on their individual strengths and capabilities and will be provided with a customized leadership program that will enhance skills, knowledge, and leadership capabilities based on democratic ideals and principles.
Real-world application of training.
We believe that learning through a program is just as important as learning-by-doing. We’ve put up several opportunities for you to apply what you’ll learn in leadership development, project management, and political governance. Get a chance to develop and implement first-hand your project proposals, participate in deliberative youth forums, and attend legislative processes of local government units (LGUs) with us!
Practice your agency as Youth Leaders.
You are our partners, not just beneficiaries. You drive the ideas, priorities, and innovation of the work we do. Hence, we will involve you in all steps of program planning, implementation, and review of our mobilization activities.
Join an expansive network of mentors.
When you join us, you will get access to a strong network of private and public organizations, communities, and local government leaders for further mentoring and training support such as the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), Ateneo School of Government (ASOG), and Ayala Foundation, Inc. (AFI).
Be a part of the YouthLed network!
Being a YouthLed Young Leader will give you access to all YouthLed events, activities, and networks both internationally and locally.
How to Apply
The application period for the 2021 Leadership and Democracy Fellowship is now CLOSED. Applications will reopen in 2023.