Both the Minnesota and national Young American Leaders Program are hosted by graduate-level university programs: the University of Minnesota’s Center for Integrative Leadership and Harvard Business School’s U.S. Competitiveness Project. Required pre-reading and Program teaching are at the graduate or professional course level.

The quality of the Program is dependent on full attendance, active engagement (four days), as well as completion of the required pre-reading materials (approximately 30 hours). This preparation and engagement are necessary to ensure that participants get the most from and contribute to the experience.

It is critical that participants are able to attend the full Program. Partial attendance will not be allowed. All lodging, meals, and travel expenses to and from the Program will be covered, and participants will be expected to stay in the lodging provided on campus for the duration of the Program.

Pre- and Post- Program

In addition to the main Program, there are pre-and post- expectations of participants. Participants are expected to attend a Program orientation via zoom in March to meet with their city cohort along with Program faculty, join an in-person cohort gathering and alumni reception in April hosted by the local selection partner, and complete the required readings ahead of the Program. Following the Program, participants are invited to join a debrief call with their faculty advisor in early June via Zoom regarding their Minimum Viable Benefit (MVB) project and further develop their project through consistent touch bases and a presentation in September (if they so choose).