The Legacy of YSEALI Continues with the YSEALI Institute on Civic Engagement at UNO

The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) will host the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Academic Fellows Program (YSEALI AFP) focused on Civic Engagement, funded by a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. Beginning in April 2025, UNO’s YSEALI Institute on Civic Engagement will host 25 young leaders from Southeast Asia in Omaha for a five-week intensive academic exchange. The UNO program will be led by an experienced and interdisciplinary team led by PI Jody Neathery-Castro, Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Global Engagement and Professor of Political Science; Academic Director Whitney Gent, Assistant Professor of Communication; and Administrative Director Julie Jimenez, Assistant Director of Global Grants.

The YSEALI Academic Fellows Program is part of the wider Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative, which is the U.S. government’s signature program to strengthen leadership development and networking in Southeast Asia. The YSEALI Academic Fellows Program provides skills training to youth, aged 18-25, from eleven countries in Southeast Asia including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam. The program is designed to strengthen leadership development across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), deepen engagement with young leaders on key regional and global challenges, and strengthen people-to-people ties between the U.S. and Southeast Asia.

The Fellowship brings approximately 500 exceptional young leaders per year to the United States for five-week academic Institutes at U.S. universities and colleges. Institutes focus on one of four themes: Civic Engagement; Sustainability and Environment; Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Empowerment; and Society and Governance. Institutes include an academic residency, leadership development, an educational study tour, and community service activities, and the institutes conclude in Washington, DC.

During the Fellowship, participants learn to design and implement projects to be completed upon returning home and may receive small grants to fund their implementation. Programs occur twice per year, in the fall and spring. To date, the Academic Fellows Program has nearly 2,000 alumni who are actively engaged across the region.

Some highlights of the YSEALI Institute on Civic Engagement at UNO program will include connecting with local partners during community site visits and gaining insight from campus and local leaders to support the fellows’ collaborative projects. Fellows will contribute to the community through service with local nonprofits.

The Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Academic Fellows Program is a program of the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and administered by the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center at the University of Montana.

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