Arab American Business Fellowship Program opens door to the world for promising young professionals

Young Arab Leaders (YAL) is now accepting applications for the Arab American Business Fellowship program, a business and cultural exchange program to the US jointly organized by Young Arab Leaders and Business for Diplomatic Action, sponsored by the Dow Chemical Company.

The program is aimed at fostering mutual understanding and respect between Arab and American societies as well as training and developing the skills of promising young leaders from the Middle East and the US through two key elements - education and learning.

Successful Arab candidates will be hosted in the US for three weeks in October and rotated among leading corporations in the US such as Time Warner, Bloomberg, NASDAQ, Microsoft and Boeing.

In return, young professionals from the US will be hosted in various countries in the Middle East. Both sets of fellows will be exposed to leaders, local communities as well as the culture - ultimately helping shape the future of their national economies.

Chairman of Young Arab Leaders Bahrain, Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, encouraged young professionals to make the most of this opportunity.

"Participants will gain valuable insight into a critical and diverse region of the world and will have the opportunity to share that knowledge with their colleagues when they return,"Shaikh Mohammed said.

"We are looking for the very best of young professionals to represent Bahrain in this highly competitive program. This is a unique opportunity for people who are committed to contributing to the socio-economic development of their country and I encourage young professionals to take this challenge."

Applicants should have at least five years work experience, be between 28 and 35 years of age, be established in their career with a track record of excellence, have the potential to be a leader and be committed to sharing their knowledge on their return.

They will need to provide a current curriculum vitae, a recommendation letter from their employer and a 2000-word statement of intent.