National Albanian American Council

The Hope Fellowship Program is sponsored by the American people through the United States Agency for International Development and it is created and administered by the National Albanian American Council (NAAC). Initiated in 2001, the Hope Fellowship Program began as a pilot program to champion the growth of emerging women leaders in Kosovo by offering fellows a 10-week leadership program in Washington D.C. To date, 140 fellows have completed the program and are actively engaged in leading new initiatives in their jobs and communities in Kosovo. Recognizing the need for more long-term training and building on the success of our program, the Hope Fellowship Program will increase the in-country training opportunities and topics beyond the scope of basic leadership and management. Our vision is that the Hope Fellowship Program will be the preeminent leadership development system in the Balkans, through modeling the principles of leaders, learners and creators. Graduate fellows will be at the forefront of creating and securing democratic practice, economic development and an ethnically integrated society. The Hope Fellowship Program will offer training in five curricular areas: Leadership and Communications; Management and Operations; Advocacy; Anti-Corruption Issues and Strategies; and Youth Issues (aimed at university-aged youth). NAAC will continue to primarily focus on developing the capacities of women leaders from government and civil society through these curricular areas. However, building on lessons learned from the previous phases, we will continue to include men in the program to build their support for the advancement of women as leaders in the workplace. We are also encouraging women who own small businesses or are engaged in entrepreneurship to apply for relevant training. The last addition to our target group is youth, who will be eligible to apply for a special youth-specific curriculum.