The Washington Leadership Program (WLP) is pleased to announce that it is accepting applications from high-potential South Asian college students for the 2012 summer leadership program scheduled to take place from June 9, 2012 to August 3, 2012.
The WLP cultivates the South Asian American community’s next generation of leaders by placing them in Congressional offices or Government Agencies for eight-week summer internships and a structured leadership-training curriculum. The students gain a firsthand view of the policy-making and legislative process, as well as gain access to high-profile South-Asian leaders in the nation’s capitol. Applications are available online at www.thewlp.com. The deadline for submitting applications is January 20, 2012.
The Washington Leadership Program continues to grow and prosper. The program in its third year continues to remain the most prestigious and elite program for the community. The Program, founded in 1995 and re-started in 2008 by the Alumni, brings the best and brightest college students from the community to Washington, DC to intern on Capitol Hill and in Government agencies to learn and become leaders in policy and politics. The students go through a rigorous weekend long orientation program where they meet with Capitol Hill staffers and agency officials to get an understanding on how to prepare and succeed during their internship.
Not only do the students get a unique opportunity to work for a Member of Congress or for a South Asian appointed official in an agency, they get to meet trailblazers in the community in the arena. For instance the scholars get sit down meetings with leaders like Sonal Shah, Founder of Indicorp and Director of Office of Social Innovation at the White House, and Priya Dayandana, ranked as one of the top lobbyists in the country.
Last year, the WLP also partnered with the Network of South Asian Professionals (NetSAP) to conduct a series of Summer Speaker Series to allow the DC community and the WLP Scholars to create a dialogue with experts from the community. For instance the WLP put on a panel discussion on the Outlook of the U.S. economy with current President Obama’s senior economic advisor and WLP Alum Dr. Aaron Chatterjee along with former President Bush senior economic advisor Dr. Korok Ray. The program also held a discussion on US-India trade with Assistant Secretary of Commerce Ro Khanna and Dr. Kalpana Kochhar, Chief Economist for South Asia.
The program continues to strive to build the next generation of leaders. The summer experience for these WLP scholars is just the first step, they are also connected with a greater network of supporters and alumni who want to see members of this community succeed.
For more information, check out www.thewlp.com