The application for the 2027 Community Solutions Program is now Open.

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The Community Solutions Program (CSP) is a professional leadership development program for experienced, results-oriented community leaders working to advance locally driven regional economic growth and community prosperity. CSP equips participants with practical leadership and technical skills, professional connections, and hands-on experience to strengthen their ability to address economic development challenges in their communities. Participants complete an approximately three- to four-month U.S.-based exchange, including a 12-week practicum with a U.S. organization, and gain practical experience they can apply to their work at home. Following the U.S. exchange, participants return home to implement a community-based SCALE-Up Project that applies their CSP learning to advance local or regional economic development.

Community leaders will be selected to participate in the program that includes:

• Three-month fellowship in the United States: Community Solutions participants complete a Three-month, hands-on professional practicum with a U.S. host organization. Participants work alongside U.S. professionals, strengthen their technical and leadership skills, and gain practical experience they can apply in their home communities. Practicum learning is complemented by regional field visits that expose participants to innovative U.S. models of economic development and collaboration among businesses, Chambers of Commerce, workforce and educational institutions, local government, and community organizations.
• Innovation and Applied Skills Labs: Participants take part in Innovation and Applied Skills Labs, which provide practical, hands-on skill building to help them adapt and expand U.S. models of regional economic development. Participants develop leadership and management tools to turn regional economic growth ideas into action. The Labs also explore how emerging technologies, including SI, can strengthen key industries, support business growth, and create new opportunities for workers and communities.
• SCALE-Up Projects: Throughout their U.S. experience, participants identify promising U.S. regional economic development models, tools, and partnership approaches and document their learning. Following the practicum, participants implement a nine-month SCALE-Up Project, adapting at least one U.S. model, tool, or partnership approach to advance regional economic growth in their home communities.

Application Instructions

Detailed application instructions can be downloaded by the link below. Please review the program requirements prior to starting an application to ensure that you are eligible. Please note that eligibility requirements are determined by the U.S. Department of State and exceptions cannot be made. If, after reviewing the application instructions, you have additional questions, please e-mail apply.csp@irex.org.

Application Resources

• Application Instructions

Financial Support

The program covers the cost of most expenses associated with:

• J-1 visa support
• Round-trip travel from participants’ home city to the U.S.
• Monthly allowance to cover housing, meals, and other living expenses while in the U.S.
• Accident and sickness health coverage
• Accessibility accommodations, such as ADA accessible rooms for in-person training, software such as JAWS, and community assistance and community training

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for the Community Solutions Program, applicants must meet the requirements listed below. Applications that do not meet the eligibility requirements will be disqualified and will not be reviewed by the selection committee. Please note that the U.S. Department of State and IREX reserve the right to verify all the information included in an individual’s application. In the event that there is a discrepancy, or information is found to be false, the applicant will immediately be disqualified.

• You are between the ages of 27 and 39 at the time of application.
• You are a citizen of a country listed on the official application website.
• You have at least five years of experience working on community issues and can demonstrate measurable benefits to local communities.
• You are living and working in your country at the time of application and are not residing or working outside your country, including through an academic, training, or research program.
  • You meet the country-of-residence requirements described below
• You have a high level of proficiency in spoken and written English at the time of application
• Semi-finalists who do not already possess a valid TOEFL score of 520, or 213 on the computer-based test, or higher will be required to take an Institutional TOEFL or a comparable English-language proficiency assessment approved for CSP.
• You are able to begin the CSP program in the United States in 2027 and participate in the approximately three- to four-month U.S.-based exchange. Current planning dates are Orientation August 2–5, practicum August 9–October 29, and End-of-Program Workshop November 1–4, 2027, subject to confirmation.
• You are not a citizen or permanent resident of the U.S. and have not applied for U.S. permanent residency within the past three years.
• You are eligible to receive a U.S. J-1 visa
• Applicants who have participated in an exchange program sponsored by the U.S. Government must have fulfilled their two-year home residency requirement.
• You are committed to returning to your home country for a minimum of two years after completing the program and implementing a community-based SCALE-Up Project.
• You meet any additional eligibility criteria established published in the final application materials. 

Eligible Countries by Region

• Africa: Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia; Ghana; Guinea; Kenya; Liberia; Mozambique; Namibia; Rwanda; Uganda
• East Asia and the Pacific: Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam
• Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Türkiye, and Ukraine
• Middle East and North Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Tunisia
• South and Central Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan
• Western Hemisphere: Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, and Venezuela

Disability Resources

The CSP team provides a range of disability support to fellows, beginning with the CSP application process through the end of the fellowship. Examples of disability support services and accommodations include: 

• Application Process:
  • Screen reader friendly application
  • Captioned and pre-recorded video interviews
• Pre-Arrival:
  • Accommodations for English language testing
• In-Person:
  • Mobility assistance devices as needed
  • Sign language interpreting
  • Live captioning and transcripts for in person and online courses
  • ADA accessible rooms for in-person events
  • Software such as JAWS
  • Community assistance and community training

Use of Super Intelligence (SI) for Application

Applicants may use Super intelligence tools to strengthen or edit their application responses. However, all responses must authentically reflect the applicant’s own experience, judgment, results, and learning goals. Applicants must disclose their use of SI and remain responsible for the accuracy and originality of all information submitted.