scholarship

McCain Global Leaders Program 2024 for Mid-career Professionals (Fully-funded)

February 4, 2024

Application Deadline: March 15, 2024

This fully-funded program is designed to support leaders from around the world who are dedicated to advancing freedom, democracy, and human rights.

Applications for the McCain Global Leaders Program 2024 for Mid-career Professionals are now open.

The McCain Global Leaders Program 2024 for Mid-career Professionals is now accepting applications. This fully-funded program is designed to support leaders from around the world who are dedicated to advancing freedom, democracy, and human rights. The program seeks to uphold Senator John McCain’s legacy of serving a cause greater than oneself. Each cohort will consist of 25 diverse leaders who are working to make a positive impact in their communities. The program spans 12 months and offers training, resources, and access to highly relevant regional and worldwide networks to support the personal and professional growth of each participant. The application deadline for this program is March 15, 2024.

McCain Global Leaders Program 2024 for Mid-career Professionals (Fully-funded)

Supporting leaders with integrity from all around the world who uphold Senator John McCain’s heritage of dedicating oneself to a cause bigger than oneself is the goal of the McCain Global Leaders Program. Each cohort will consist of a diverse group of 25 leaders from around the world who are working “in the arena” to advance freedom, democracy, and human rights. The program is designed as a 12-month fellowship and immersion learning experience. To prepare today’s leaders for tomorrow’s issues, the program is meant to develop each Leader’s personal and professional leadership journey and impact. It does this by offering training, resources, and access to highly relevant regional and worldwide networks.

2024 Global Theme: Defending Democracy

With democracy, human rights, and freedom increasingly under attack globally, the 2024 McCain Global Leaders Cohort will concentrate on protecting democracy. The risks to democracy posed by the emergence of authoritarianism, misinformation, division, violent extremism, and conflict are among the biggest issues facing the international community. Leaders will investigate the main obstacles to democracy in 2024, as well as examine and discover remedies about guaranteeing the stability of democracy globally in the future.

Leaders will set out on a journey to help equip them with the necessary tools to be champions of democracy in their home country and region, following in the footsteps of Senator John McCain’s legacy of being on the front lines of defending and advocating for democracy, freedom, and human rights.

Connecting Leaders from Around the World:

Leaders are chosen via an open, competitive hiring procedure. Each yearly cohort consists of 25 Leaders divided among 4 regional groups. Although there isn’t a set age range, leaders usually range from 25 to 40 years old. Leaders should have a proven track record of dedicating their time to causes bigger than themselves and have firsthand experience working on the worldwide issue of protecting democracy. Diversity in terms of gender, ethnicity, people with disabilities, political opinions, socioeconomic status, and level of education is highly valued by the McCain Institute.

Program Schedule

Three powerful in-person events that will be augmented by online learning will be attended by leaders. In addition to an integrated leadership development program motivated by Senator McCain’s legacy and emphasizing peer mentoring and group problem-solving, they feature expert-led practical skills training.

Summer 2024:

The McCain Leadership Curriculum involves Leaders in an online and in-person curriculum that is offered during the program. The curriculum is developed with lessons and experiences from Senator McCain’s life in mind. It also emphasizes community building and group problem-solving while supporting and enhancing in-person interactions. A dynamic peer-mentorship model, which allows the Leaders to directly support each other’s journeys, is a fundamental component of the curriculum. The program will assist leaders in defining their paths as agents of change and will impart practical skills to help them tackle some of the most challenging issues that confront their home nations and regions.

Fall 2024

(Annapolis, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.): The program’s first in-person event, the Leadership Experience, brings all participants together for the first time at the U.S. Naval Academy in both Washington, D.C. and Annapolis, Maryland. Throughout the 10-day program, leaders are introduced to the guiding principles of Senator McCain’s leadership style and are put in touch with important decision-makers and experts in their respective fields of expertise. Along with collaborating with specialists, leaders will also set their own objectives and leadership philosophies.

Winter

The Changemaker Tour (Host Country in Each Region) is the program’s second in-person event. It brings together members of the Global Advisory Council and each regional cohort for a five-day regional study tour that introduces participants to the global theme of defending democracy in a host nation and concentrates on creating specific regional networks and connections. It also offers a forum for discussing ideas and solutions about the theme. The McCain Institute will actively support any resultant professional collaborations, so leaders are urged, but not compelled, to look into them. Each participant will get access to one Changemaker Tour per region. Changemaker Tours have previously taken place in South Africa, Singapore, Colombia, and Poland.

Spring 2025

The Legacy Experience (Vietnam): The 10-month journey’s culminating program will reunite all Leaders in a nation that holds great significance for Senator McCain’s leadership development for the second time. The Legacy Experience, which will take place in Vietnam, will look at Senator McCain’s travels and his ties with the Vietnamese people. Leaders, MGL Alumni, and members of the Global Advisory Council will get together for a seven-day trip to reflect on their program experiences, exchange insights about how their leadership philosophies have changed, investigate professional partnerships, map out their next leadership steps, and discover resources available to them as program alumni.

Benefits

Participants will receive a stipend meant to cover incidental expenses incurred throughout the program. However, the direct costs of participation in the program (economy class travel, hotels, visas) will be fully covered by the McCain Institute. There will be no cost of participation other than the time commitment that MGLs make to participate in programming.

Eligibility

Applicants should be mid to senior-career professionals, possess working proficiency in English, and actively work on the focus issue areas of the program.

Aspiring McCain Global Leaders (MGLs) should work in a leadership role in their field, and actively be “in the arena” striving to enact change in their home communities.

Applicants should be committed to serving a cause greater than themselves and should be invested in full participants in virtual engagements, in-person programs, and post-program alumni activities.

There is no minimum educational requirement.

There is no specific age requirement, however, typical MGLs range from 25 to 45 years old. Past participants have come from a variety of sectors.

Possess working proficiency in English.