Professional Fellows Exchange Program 2025

Name of the Event: Professional Fellows Exchange Program

Place: United States

Working language: English

Last Date of Application: 15 May 2024

Link to Apply:

Apply Here

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 are partnering with the U.S. Department of State and stakeholders in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka 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 May-June, 2025.

Successful applicants will be placed in professional fellowship placements with Oklahoman small businesses. Placements will be in May-June, 2025 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 exchange 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, NGOs, business education, incubation hubs, community training programs or social entrepreneurship in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka with an interest in shaping the small business, entrepreneurship and economic empowerment landscapes of their countries and beyond.

Through this program, participants will specifically:

• Be exposed to the day-to-day workings of the U.S. business workplace through quality professional experiences over four weeks;

• Gain exposure to a variety of American business organizations and networks in Oklahoma and Washington, D.C.;

• Get a conceptual and practical background for integrating themselves into the American business environment through conceptual lectures, discussions and exercises to expose them to concepts related to budgeting, business plans, strategic communication, leadership and management principles, social media developments, the business/government interface, intellectual property, contracts and business ethics;

• Enhance their leadership skills to facilitate positive change in their workplaces and communities as they develop personally and professionally;

• Participate in weekly face-to-face feedback sessions with University of Oklahoma faculty to reflect on their professional experiences for that week;

• Be exposed to a variety of business networks in Oklahoma designed to support start-up companies and to governmental/media institutions that can influence business;

• Be exposed to rich cultural experiences that represent Oklahoma’s unique environment, especially the Native American experience, and exposure to American family life in a variety of settings;

• Become acquainted with the Bangladeshi-American, Indian-American, Pakistani-American and Sri Lankan-American communities in the Oklahoma City metro area;

• Be exposed to networking opportunities with U.S. placement hosts and partner organizations in an ongoing discussion and exchange of ideas, support and resources;

• Get connected to a network of alumni from previous professional exchange programs, professional placement providers and university faculty to facilitate ongoing discussion and exchange through social networking; and

• Have the opportunity to reconnect with Oklahoma stakeholders who will make reciprocal visits to Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Eligibility:

• Be emerging leaders in either civil society or the private sector in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka 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 Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani or Sri Lankan citizen;

• Be interested in experiencing hands-on 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.

We are not the official organisers of the fellowship. If you have any queries regarding it, kindly contact the organisers at - elanie@ou.edu