Nomination and application form for the 2026 Minnesota and national Young American Leaders Program (MYALP and YALP) will officially open on September 16th! Nominations will be taken through October 30th, and applications are due no later than November 20th.
Since 2015, the Itasca Project has sent cohorts of ten rising leaders to Harvard Business School (HBS) for the Young American Leaders Program. In 2019, the Itasca Project partnered with the University of Minnesota’s Center for Integrative Leadership to create the Minnesota Young American Leaders Program, which is inspired by the national Young American Leaders Program. The two Programs share themes, as well as selected faculty and content. There is no cost to attend either Program. Both focus on the US and regional competitiveness, shared prosperity, and cross-sector collaborations; both Programs seek to create relationships among civically focused rising leaders in our region and state.
Minnesota YALP – Launched in 2019 out of a partnership between the Itasca Project, University of Minnesota’s Center for Integrative Leadership, and Harvard Business School, MYALP convenes every May and brings together leaders from six regions across the state of Minnesota, specifically from Greater Fargo-Moorhead, Greater Mankato, Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul, Greater Rochester, Greater St. Cloud, and Northeast MN. MYALP 2026 will take place Sunday, May 17 to Wednesday, May 20, 2026 at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus.
Each region has its own local lead selection organization who distributes the call for nominations and coordinates the selection process. The Itasca Project serves as the Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul regional selection partners.
National YALP – Launched in 2015 out of Harvard’s US Competitiveness Project and convening every June, YALP brings together 10 leaders from each of 14 cities across the country, throwing them into a full-on, nonstop HBS experience, from case discussions to speaker presentations to whiteboard sessions that ask participants to collaborate on solutions to a target issue their city is facing. Cohorts gain insight into where America and American cities stand today, understand models for cross-sector collaborations, learn personal lessons about collaborative leadership, and City Sessions that envision future collaborations in one’s hometown. YALP 2025 will take place Tuesday, June 23 to Friday, June 26, 2025 at HBS in Boston. Only nominees from the Minneapolis-St. Paul region can apply to the national Young American Leaders Program due to the nature and requirements of the Program.
Participating Cities
Participating cities include:
Birmingham
Boston
Chattanooga
Columbus
Detroit
Miami
Milwaukee
Minneapolis – St. Paul
Nashville
Pittsburgh
Salt Lake City
San Antonio
San Jose
Seattle
Nomination & Application Information
We welcome nominees who live or work in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area to fill out the joint application form for the Minnesota and national Programs. There is a unified selection process for the MSP cohorts for these locations. The application asks nominees whether (and why) they are more interested in connections with other rising leaders across Minnesota or across the U.S. and whether they have a program location preference. We create balanced cohorts for each Program and cannot guarantee that applicants will be offered their first-choice program.
As you think about nominations or encourage others to apply, keep in mind that we are seeking high potential individuals who:
- Have a minimum of 7 years full-time professional work experience, including one or more of the following:
- Experience leading five or more other people comprising a function, working group, committee, task force, department, division, or organization
- Experience leading a cross-organizational, cross-divisional, or cross-departmental process
- Experience representing an organization, constituency, geography or community in a multi-stakeholder initiative, process, or body
- Designation by their organization as a “high potential” employee (or similar designation reflecting assessment as someone who has the ability, commitment, and motivation to succeed in more senior positions in the organization)
- Have an interest and/or demonstrated experience in all of the following activities
- Collaborating across the for-profit cross the for-profit, government, and non-profit sectors for the good of their city, state, or region
- Working across differences such as race, profession, political perspective, and sector
- Making time available on an ongoing basis to collaborate with other leaders for public good
Once nominated, the Center for Integrative Leadership at the University of Minnesota’s staff will reach out to the nominees to confirm their interest, provide them with more information about the Program(s), and the application to apply. Nominees will be notified who nominated them for the Program, as well as hearing what the nominator felt the person would contribute or gain from the Program. Those interested in applying must be willing to commit to attending the entirety of the Program. Nominees will then complete a short application. The selection committee for each region will work to select a balanced cohort that represents the rich and particular diversity of our region and state. We plan to have cohorts identified by early March 2026.
Nominations and applications will open on September 16th, and applications will be due no later than November 20th.
For more information, please visit the MYALP website
