Program Length: 2004-2022
The Alfa Fellowship Program was founded with the aims of fostering a community of emerging leaders who have first-hand experience in the business, public policy, and cultural environments of Russia and the region in order to develop greater intercultural understanding and increase knowledge of Russia in the West. Over 200 Americans, Britons and Germans participants experienced the workplace while living and traveling in Russia through this unique professional opportunity.
The program was funded by Alfa-Bank, and administered in the U.S., U.K., and Germany by Cultural Vistas and in Moscow by the Fund for International Fellowships and Cultural Dialogue.
OJSC Alfa-Bank is incorporated, focused, and based in Russia, and is not affiliated with the U.S.-based Alfa Insurance.
** Cultural Vistas has since its inception sought to advance understanding between communities through initiatives like the Alfa Fellowship Program, which promoted a better understanding of Russia: its language, culture, and, most importantly, its people.
The Russian government’s invasion of Ukraine, coupled with our concern for program participants’ safety and increasing travel restrictions from Russia, compelled Cultural Vistas to suspend the Alfa Fellowship Program. We continue to believe that programs like the Alfa Fellowship Program improve the kind of communication between individuals and institutions that, eventually, prevent tragedies like the one in Ukraine.