Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
CITIZEN EXCHANGES
YOUTH PROGRAMS DIVISION
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Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) Program
View the FLEX newsletter, The Bradley Herald.*
[updated 04/30/2008]
The Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) was established in 1992 as the centerpiece
of the NIS Secondary School Initiative with FREEDOM Support Act funding
from the State Department and USAID. Its goal is to provide an opportunity
for high school students from the countries of the former Soviet Union
to experience life in a democratic society in order to promote democratic
values and institutions in Eurasia.
Over 14,000 students from the former Soviet Union have spent one academic
year attending schools and living with host families throughout the
United States. The recruitment and selection process for this program
is conducted by the American
Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS. American Councils
also provides cross-cultural materials, such as a Cultural Handbook,
and serves as a liaison between the students and their families in their
home countries. (View
the Cultural Handbook and other ACTR resources.)
Participants are chosen through a multi-layered, merit-based open
recruitment and selection process totally unprecedented in Eurasia.*
The selection is based upon English ability, personality factors, social
skills, academic achievement, and leadership potential. All students
undergo extensive orientation to life in America and pursue a full course
of study at an American high school. The Department of State awards
grants for school and host family placement and overall student monitoring
to private U.S. organizations, including AFS-USA,
Inc., AIFS,
ACTR/ACCELS, ASPECT
Foundation, ASSE
International,
AYUSA, Center
for Cultural Interchange, Council
on International Educational Exchanges, International
4-H Youth Exchange (IFYE) Foundation, Nacel
Open Door,
Pacific Intercultural Exchange, PAXProgram
of Academic Exchange, and World
Link, Inc.
After their exchange year has ended and they have returned home, students
have the option to participate in one of the numerous alumni associations
active throughout each of the countries of Eurasia.
Countries participating in the FLEX program include: Armenia,
Azerbaijan,
Belarus,
Georgia,
Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan,
Moldova,
Russia,
Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, and
Ukraine.
*"Eurasia," as used on the Youth Programs Division website,
refers to countries that were republics of the Soviet Union. The exchange
programs of the Youth Programs Division in these countries are jointly
funded by the FREEDOM Support Act (FSA) of 1992 and State Department
base funding.
*The newsletter above is a PDF and requires the free
Adobe
Acrobat Reader.
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