Request for Proposals: Leaders Asia-Pacific Program 2025-26

Leaders Asia-Pacific is a six-month, hybrid leadership development program. For 8-12 hours a month, the program brings together a small cohort of 35 emerging leaders from across sectors and issue areas to step outside of what they lead, to examine how they lead.

Obama Leaders can expect to come out of the program with a stronger understanding of values-based leadership; of how to lead change and lead together; and how to leverage themselves as leaders to realize inclusive and lasting change.

Benefits

• Participants (known as “Obama Leaders” or “Leaders”) will take part in weekly sessions that include:
  • Practical tools and training for deepening values-based leadership
  • Leadership coaching
  • Community groups
  • Conversations with thought leaders
  • Cultural programming that showcases the richness of diversity in the region
  • Curated spaces for deep personal reflection and interpersonal learning with peers

Geographic Focus

• Your work is geographically focused on creating positive change for local communities, an eligible nation or territory, and/or the broader Asia-Pacific region. You demonstrate a strong commitment to continue to focus your work in the Asia-Pacific region.

Eligibility Criteria

• You must meet one of the following criteria:
  • Citizen of an eligible country or territory OR
  • Permanent resident of an eligible country or territory OR
  • A refugee or asylum seeker in an eligible Asia-Pacific nation or territory OR
  • Have lived in an eligible country or territory for at least the last 5 years, regardless of citizenship or permanent residence status
• Language Proficiency & Age:
  • You are professionally proficient in English and you will be between 24 and 45 years of age on September 1, 2025.
• Leadership Experience:
  • You can demonstrate at least 3 years of relevant experience in your issue area.
• Jurisdiction and Ability to Participate in a U.S.-Based Program:
  • The Obama Foundation is based in the United States. To participate in the program, you must be under no legal or regulatory restrictions that would limit your participation in virtual Foundation programming or travel to the U.S. for in-person programming (if any).
• They seek to assemble cohorts of individuals who can learn from each other based on a range of experiences, approaches, and backgrounds. They work to recruit values-driven changemakers who hold a variety of views and perspectives so that they can create a learning environment that is both supportive and intellectually challenging for Leaders who will need to apply their skills in a diverse set of contexts and with many stakeholders.
• They welcome Leaders from diverse backgrounds, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, spiritual beliefs, socioeconomic status, gender identity, sexual orientation, political affiliation, and ability. They are committed to building inclusive and diverse cohorts with Leaders from different nationalities, issues of focus, sectors of work, personal backgrounds, leadership ranks and titles, and life experiences. They are also committed to making this program accessible to Leaders with disabilities, from the application process through the entire program experience.
• Across the spectrum of diversity, they endeavor to identify applicants and invite Leaders to the program who:
  • Possess a clear issue of focus and can describe or measure their impacts.
  • Hold a leadership position in their change making work, whether full-time or volunteer (there are no leadership rank or title requirements).
  • Demonstrate a deeply ethical, values-based, equitable, and collaborative approach to leadership.
  • Demonstrate a willingness to learn from and share with other Leaders in a group setting.

For more information, visit Barack Obama Foundation.