Washington, D.C.

Washington Leadership Program

The program has a Washington, DC component twice a year sending a class of eight fellows to Washington for four weeks. Hope Fellows attend skill building sessions by professional trainers and practice in real life settings. The curricula is offered based on the assessed importance of a topic for a given location, taking into account current affairs and the prominent concerns of the target participants.

The first and each subsequent group spends the four weeks engaged in a combination of activities such as: Classroom-based skills trainings and project development, strategic site visits and consultations with professionals working on issues of particular interest to participants, conferences, meetings with prominent leaders in their field, participation in a congressional shadow day, and presentations to various think tanks and universities. During the Congress Shadow Day, each fellow is paired with a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, with whom she spends the day as his or her “shadow” to experience a day in the life of a Member of Congress.

The heart of this experience includes action research which empowers and encourages participants to network with individuals and institutions related to the issue of their leadership project. Each fellow is encouraged to develop an individual network of supporters in Washington who can give advice and input on how Americans approach similar problems and challenges faced by the Kosovar women leaders.

Program Activities in Washington, D.C.

Washington Leadership Program (WLP)
-Workshop / Project Guidelines
-Pre-departure Orientation
-Meetings
-Professional Development Sites (PDS)
-Trainings in WLP
-Forums – Public Presentation of HF Fellows
-Congressional Shadow Day
-Project Presentations
-Graduation