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: