The Public Affairs Team at the U.S. Embassy recently had the pleasure to meet with three participants of this year’s Pacific Islands Leadership Program (PILP).
The PILP Fellowship initiative is an East-West Center sponsored program designed to provide opportunities that will enhance the leadership capacities of individuals in the Pacific Islands region and build a network of young leaders who will contribute to lasting people-to-people relationships across the Pacific, Asia, and United States.
The three PIPL Fellowship participants – Panason Talifai and Ednal Palmer from Solomon Islands and Debbie Drorit from Papua New Guinea, will visit both Hawaii and Taiwan during the three-month leadership program, which focuses on developing Pacific regional expertise, leadership capacity, and regional networks to strengthen leadership collaboration efforts across the Pacific region.
Program participants spend two months of intensive collaborative learning and project development at the East-West Center’s campus in Honolulu, Hawaii followed by a month of field study at the Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs in Taiwan.
Now in its third year, the PILP Fellowship empowers up to 125 young leaders from across the Pacific Islands region to exercise leadership and promote cooperation in a variety of cultural, geographical, and institutional environments.
The program looks for candidates who possess outstanding intellectual promise, high leadership potential, and are committed to serve the development needs of their countries.
The PIPL Fellowship strengthens participants’ knowledge and understanding of key economic, social, political, health, educational, and environmental issues affecting the region, and enables them to cultivate the leadership skills, approaches and networks to make meaningful contributions to the region throughout their careers.
The East-West Center promotes better relations and understanding among the people and nations of the United States, Asia, and the Pacific through cooperative study, research, and dialogue.
Established by the U.S. Congress in 1960, the Center serves as a resource for information and analysis on critical issues of common concern, bringing people together to exchange views, build expertise, and develop policy options.
The Center is an independent, public, nonprofit organization with funding from the U.S. government, and additional support provided by private agencies, individuals, foundations, corporations, and governments in the region.