The U.S. Department of State, in partnership with Cultural Vistas, is pleased to announce that the application for the 2022 Young Pacific Leaders (YPL) Conference is now open.

The eighth Young Pacific Leaders Conference to be held in Honolulu, Hawaii, on July 18-21, 2022, will center on the theme Pacific Engagement 2.0: Carving New Paths for Regional Cooperation. The Conference will bring together leaders from throughout the Pacific region to develop new connections, advance leadership skills, and create opportunities for collaboration in solving regional and global challenges connected to YPL’s four programmatic themes: Education; Environment and Resource Management; Civic Leadership; and Economic and Social Development. Following the Conference, participants and the larger YPL community will participate in YPL LEADS, a month-long event highlighting the YPL program through community service activities in the Pacific.

“Young Pacific Leaders builds strong networks and exposes you to regional issues. You don’t have to be a certain age to take responsibility.” -Eugene Amor, Minister of Finance, Federated States of Micronesia, Young Pacific Leaders Alumni 2013

“Now more than ever, we need regional cooperation in our Pacific on the climate crisis, our ocean, security, and more. I have absolute faith that it is our young Pacific leaders who drive this cooperation.” says U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, and Samoa, Thomas Udall.

Applicants, ages 25-35 from Australia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Islands of French Polynesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna, and the American-affiliated Pacific including American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Hawaii, are invited to apply. Alumni of previous conferences are also invited to apply to participate as mentors.

All applications are due by May 9, 2022, at 11:59 pm (New Zealand Time) and can be completed online at https://bit.ly/2022YPLConference .

For any questions about the 2022 YPL Conference or to request a fillable PDF version of the application, please contact ypl@culturalvistas.org.

The Young Pacific Leaders (YPL) Initiative focuses on strengthening leadership development for emerging leaders in Australia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Islands of French Polynesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna, and the American-affiliated Pacific including American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Hawaii. For more information on the Young Pacific Leaders Initiative, please visit https://nz.usembassy.gov/young-pacific-leaders/.