MISSOULA – The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center at the University of Montana was recently awarded a $10 million grant to strengthen connections between the people of the United States and Southeast Asia.
The grant, awarded by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, will fund the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Academic Fellows Program (YSEALI AFP). If funding is secured, the cooperative agreement will be renewed for an additional two years, bringing the total funding to $30 million over three years.
YSEALI AFP is part of the broader Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative, a signature U.S. government program supporting young people in 11 Southeast Asian countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam.
Deena Mansfield Center executive director Deena Mansour said the initiative aims to strengthen leadership development across the region, engage young leaders on major regional and global challenges and strengthen personal ties between the U.S. and Southeast Asia.
“I am honored to bring my extensive experience in Southeast Asia to support U.S. national security priorities and the Indo-Pacific strategy,” Mansour said. “Our ability to manage this significant grant comes from Mansfield University's longstanding commitment to Southeast Asia, UM's operational and academic excellence, and our track record of successful interactions with the State Department since 2010.”
The Mansfield Center has the highest research funding of any department at the University of Michigan, and this latest grant is the largest ever awarded by the State Department's Office of Academic Exchange to any university in the country.
The fellowship brings approximately 500 outstanding young leaders to the United States each year for five weeks of academic training at 11 U-M managed U.S. universities. Partner universities represent a variety of institutions, including California State University, Chico, East-West Center, James Madison University, Northern Arizona University, Portland State University, Syracuse University, University of Connecticut, University of Kansas, University of Nebraska Omaha, University of Nevada, Reno and Western Washington University.
The institute focuses on one of four themes critical to U.S.-Association of Southeast Asian Nations relations: civic engagement, sustainability and environment, innovation, entrepreneurship, economic empowerment, and society and governance.
The program includes academic training, leadership development, an educational research tour, and community service activities culminating in Washington, D.C. During the fellowship, participants design a project to implement upon returning home to make a difference in their home communities.
The Mansfield Center has hosted a similar program at UM since 2010 and plans to continue hosting 50 fellows annually on the topic of sustainability and the environment. The programming will leverage the unique expertise and attributes of UM and Montana to shape the program and draw parallels between key environmental challenges in the Rocky Mountain West and the Southeast.
During their time at UM, participants will meet with experts from the Confederated Salish-Kootenai Tribes, Glacier National Park, UM's Flathead Lake Biological Laboratory and Butte-Silver Bow County. These study tours provide an opportunity to learn on-site about sustainability, environmental issues and conservation.
For many of the Mansfield Center YSEALI AFP participants, the most memorable part of the exchange was interacting with UM and broader community members, and Mansour said these connections are crucial to deepening intercultural understanding and building lasting international friendships.
“YSEALI enables us to work with our allies, explain our position to other nations, engage with our own people, and reinforce the values of our democracy in shaping the direction of the world,” said Peter Baker, director of international programs at the Mansfield Center. “YSEALI and our programs accomplish this mission with a creative approach born from America's diversity, civil society, democratic values, and strength of partnerships. Montanans play a central role in solidifying America's global leadership, offering their time, expertise, and hospitality.”
Established by an act of Congress in 1983, the Mansfield Center works to develop leaders of integrity and global perspective through intercultural exchange, dialogue, and education. Following the example of Senator Mansfield, the Center's work emphasizes the fair exchange of diverse perspectives, the importance of democratic institutions, the integrity of international relations, and the role of ethical values in public life.
For more information about the YSEALI Academic Fellowship and how to participate, please email Randi Edwards, Associate Director of International Programs, at [email protected].
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Contact: Randi Edwards, associate director of international programs, UM Maureen & Mike Mansfield Center, 406-243-6608, [email protected].
