The application for the IREX Community Solutions Program 2027 is now open from experienced, results-oriented community leaders working to advance locally driven regional economic growth and community prosperity and also offers participants approximately three- to four-month U.S.-based exchange, including a 12-week practicum with a U.S. organization.
The IREX Community Solutions Program is a professional leadership development program for experienced, results-oriented community leaders working to advance locally driven regional economic growth and community prosperity. The Community Solutions Program (CSP) seeks to equip participants or community leaders from eligible countries with practical leadership and technical skills, professional connections, and hands-on experience to strengthen their ability to address economic development challenges in their communities.
Participants get to complete an approximately three- to four-month U.S.-based exchange, including a 12-week practicum with a U.S. organization, and gain practical experience they can apply to their work at home. Following the U.S. exchange, participants return home to implement a community-based SCALE-Up Project that applies their CSP learning to advance local or regional economic development.
SEE MORE: Boustany Harvard MBA Scholarship 2027
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must meet the following requirements:
- You are between the ages of 27 and 39 at the time of application.
- You are a citizen of a country listed on the official application website.
- You have at least five years of experience working on community issues and can demonstrate measurable benefits to local communities.
- You are living and working in your country at the time of application and are not residing or working outside your country, including through an academic, training, or research program.
- You meet the country-of-residence requirements described below
- You have a high level of proficiency in spoken and written English at the time of application
- Semi-finalists who do not already possess a valid TOEFL score of 520, or 213 on the computer-based test, or higher will be required to take an Institutional TOEFL or a comparable English-language proficiency assessment approved for CSP.
- You are able to begin the CSP program in the United States in 2027 and participate in the approximately three- to four-month U.S.-based exchange. Current planning dates are Orientation August 2–5, practicum August 9–October 29, and End-of-Program Workshop November 1–4, 2027, subject to confirmation.
- You are not a citizen or permanent resident of the U.S. and have not applied for U.S. permanent residency within the past three years.
- You are eligible to receive a U.S. J-1 visa
- Applicants who have participated in an exchange program sponsored by the U.S. Government must have fulfilled their two-year home residency requirement.
- You are committed to returning to your home country for a minimum of two years after completing the program and implementing a community-based SCALE-Up Project.
- You meet any additional eligibility criteria established published in the final application materials.
Financial Support
The program covers the cost of most expenses associated with:
- J-1 visa support
- Round-trip travel from participants’ home city to the U.S.
- Monthly allowance to cover housing, meals, and other living expenses while in the U.S.
- Accident and sickness health coverage
- Accessibility accommodations, such as ADA accessible rooms for in-person training, software such as JAWS, and community assistance and community training
Eligible Countries
- Africa: Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia; Ghana; Guinea; Kenya; Liberia; Mozambique; Namibia; Rwanda; Uganda
- East Asia and the Pacific: Cambodia, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Tonga, Vanuatu
- Europe: Albania, Belarus, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, North Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine
- Middle East and North Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Tunisia
- South and Central Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan
- Western Hemisphere: Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, and Venezuela
Method of Application
Interested applicants for the IREX Community Solutions Program 2027 are to submit an online application before the application deadline. Please review the program requirements prior to starting an application to ensure that you are eligible. Further enquiries should be sent via email to apply.csp@irex.org.
Application Deadline: November 24, 2026.
For More Information: Visit the Scholarship Website.
