Submit Your Applications for Professional Fellows Exchange Program

Deadline: 15 December 2019

Applicants are invited to submit their applications for Professional Fellows Exchange Program.

The Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Ronnie K. Irani Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth (ICCEW) at the University of Oklahoma is partnering with the U.S. Department of State and stakeholders in Pakistan, India, Nepal and Kazakhstan to host a five-week professional exchange in the United States that includes a professional fellowship placement at an American small business organization. The Professional Fellows Exchange program is scheduled for April-May, 2020.

This program, funded by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ Professional Fellows Program, will inject Pakistani, Indian, Nepali and Kazakhstani mid-level emerging leaders in small or start-up business ventures, business administration, government, NGOs, business education, incubation hubs, community training programs or social entrepreneurship into working small businesses in Oklahoma and associate them with one of America’s leading universities. The program aims to provide professional experience and training that will nurture participants’ talent and prepare them for more responsible leadership positions in their businesses, communities and society in general as they return to their countries. In addition, the program will provide U.S.-based small business stakeholders an opportunity to collaborate with their Pakistani, Indian, Nepali and Kazakhstani counterparts as they participate in a two-week outbound exchange to the respective countries in 2020/21.

Successful applicants will be placed in professional fellowship placements with Oklahoman small businesses. Placements will be in April-May, 2020 and participants will spend four weeks with these businesses. The first week of the program will be spent at both the professional placements and on the University of Oklahoma campus where fellows will participate in lectures, discussions and practical sessions focused on the role of entrepreneurship, economic empowerment and small business in society, the importance of budgeting, business plans, strategic communication, leadership and management principles, social media developments, the business/government interface and business ethics. The final week of the program will be spent in Washington, D.C. where participants will potentially visit their respective embassies and tour some of the cultural activities the city has to offer. Participants will also, before leaving for their home countries, participate in a three-day professional fellows conference with participants in professional exchanges programs from around the world.

Participants selected for the program will be mid-level emerging leaders in small or start-up business ventures, business administration, government, NGOs, business education, incubation hubs, community training programs or social entrepreneurship in Pakistan, India, Nepal and Kazakhstan with an interest in shaping the small business, entrepreneurship and economic empowerment landscapes of their countries and beyond.

Theme

Economic Empowerment

Eligibility Criteria

Interested applicants must adhere to the following requirements to be eligible to apply:
- Be emerging leaders in either government, civil society or the private sector in Pakistan/India/Nepal/Kazakhstan who have demonstrated expertise in economic empowerment and entrepreneurial/small business development in the respective countries;
- Have relevant experience and expertise in the small business/entrepreneurship/economic empowerment profession;
- Be either a Pakistani, Indian, Nepali or Kazakhstani citizen;
- Be interested in experiencing hands-on the activities in a U.S. business or economic empowerment organization;
- Be committed to the importance of a sustainable and empowering business sector in a democracy;
- Be proficient in written and spoken English as the entire exchange program and professional placements will be conducted in English;
- Be computer-literate;
- Be between the ages of 25 and 40.
In selecting participants, the grantee organization and its partner organizations will also give preference to candidates who are:
- Self-directed;
- Able to work independently, as well as in a teamwork environment;
- Able to adjust to changing cultural settings and environments;
- Considered leaders in their profession and their community;
- Genuinely interested in developing and/or expanding on an individual project of their own selection in their home workplace or community; and
- Innovative and open to new ideas.