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Emerging Political Leaders Program

Are you a young politician with the passion to make a positive difference in your community and a desire to develop your leadership skills?

Conducted in partnership between Search for Common Ground and Outward Bound Center for Peacebuilding (see descriptions of organizations, below), the Palestinian-Israeli Emerging Political Leaders Program offers you an exciting and rewarding experience of professional guidance, training, and mentoring to advance your skills to excel as a political leader.  

The program includes:

  • One ten-day outdoor wilderness expedition overseas (early 2010)
  • Two four-day retreats overseas (late spring and early summer 2010)
  • Leadership, conflict resolution, and communication training
  • One-to-one leadership coaching
  • Opportunities for professional networking

To be eligible applicants must:

  • Be between the ages of 30 to 40 years old
  • Have Israeli or Palestinian citizenship
  • Be senior level employee in public office, governmental ministry, or political party
  • Be of average fitness (example: walking for 1 hour three times per week) and/or be willing to prepare oneself for expedition.
  • Have a valid passport and be able to travel abroad
  • Speak English
  • Be willing to share experiences with other participants
  • Commit to the entire program (be able to take necessary time off from work)
  • Be open and willing to take risks, learn, and develop
  • Have a strong personal vision that can inspire others
  • Be creative, persistent, and committed to positive political and social change

    To apply:

    • Download application: Click here to download
    • Deadline for submission: November 15, 2009. Late applications will not be accepted.
    • Potential candidates will be contacted for further interviews.
    • Send applications and/or questions to: eplp@sfcg.org

    Program Partners

    Search for Common Ground

    Founded in 1982, Search for Common Ground works to transform the way the world deals with conflict - away from adversarial approaches and towards collaborative problem solving.  We have been working in the region since 1991 with local partners to find culturally appropriate means to strengthen societies' capacity to deal with conflicts constructively: to understand the differences and act on the commonalities.  For more information, visit www.sfcg.org.

    Outward Bound Peacebuilding

    Outward Bound Peacebuilding applies the principles and methodology of experiential education to the work of conflict mitigation and reconciliation. By applying a proven technique and pedagogy employed by Outward Bound to develop outstanding leaders and teams for over 60 years and in more than 30 countries around the world, Outward Bound Peacebuilding programs bring together individuals of diverse ethnic, religious and political backgrounds to develop leadership, forge positive relationships, build trust and understanding, and address the causes of instability and conflict with respect and empathy in a safe, structured environment. The successful transference of the Outward Bound experience to the participants’ everyday world is addressed by providing a long-term context for relationship-building to occur over time with the support of a local partner, and within a framework that encourages and allows meaningful cross-conflict cooperation to develop and yield positive results.  For more information, visit www.outwardboundpeace.org.

    Search for Common Ground
    1601 Connecticut Ave. NW, #200
    Washington, DC 20009-1035
    Phone: (+1 202)265-4300
    Fax: (+1 202)232-6718
    E-mail: search@sfcg.org
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